Verse Text
tathā ca śrī-daśame –
aho bhāgyam aho bhāgyaṁ nanda-gopa-vrajaukasām |
yan-mitraṁ paramānandaṁ pūrṇaṁ brahma sanātanam ||293||
Translation
Another example, from the Tenth Canto: How greatly fortunate are Nanda Mahārāja, the cowherd men and all the other inhabitants of Vrajabhūmi! There is no limit to their good fortune, because the Absolute Truth, the source of transcendental bliss, the eternal Supreme Brahman, has become their friend. SB 10.14.32
Purport (Jiva Goswami)
The repetition of aho bhāgyam expresses wonder. It is therefore not redundant. Or else it expresses the daily appearance of good fortune for the inhabitants of Vraja. Yad can mean “that,” “because,” or “whose.” It is good fortune that the Supreme brahman is their friend. Or, it is good fortune because the Supreme brahman is their friend. Or, it is good fortune of the inhabitants of Vraja, whose friend was the Supreme brahman. The brahman was their friend, and the perfect, full brahman at that. What kind of brahman can be full? Brahman is full because of being a form completely full of bliss. Brahman without form cannot be full. Therefore, the statement implies the beautiful form of Kṛṣṇa by mentioning the fullness of bliss. This is proven by the fact that even those persons expert in impersonal brahma-jṣāna later developed ecstatic bodily symptoms from experiencing the form of the Lord. For instance:
tasyāravinda-nayanasya padāravinda-
kiṣjalka-miśra-tulasī-makaranda-vāyuḥ
antar-gataḥ sva-vivareṇa cakāra teṣāṁ
saṅkṣobham akṣara-juṣām api citta-tanvoḥ
When the breeze carrying the aroma of tulasī leaves from the toes of the lotus feet of the Personality of Godhead entered the nostrils of those sages, they experienced a change both in body and in mind, even though they were attached to the impersonal Brahman understanding. SB 3.15.43
And further, what specific type of brahman is this? It is the highest bliss (paramānandam), and it is the highest bliss because of its type of bliss. The highest status of bliss comes from bliss with a form rather than without form, which is understood from the statement concerning Sanaka and the other Kumāras just quoted. Therefore, both words, full (pūrṇa) and highest bliss (paramānanda), indicate the type of bliss which has a form. Otherwise, what is the significance of describing brahman with these two additional words.
Having described brahman with these two words, the word “friend” (mitram) is described by the word “eternal” (sanātanam). What type of friend is this brahman? He is an eternal friend, a friend extending over all three phases of time--in past, present and future. The implication of Lord Brahmā is that “Just as You, the Lord, are perfected in all three phases of time, so the people of Vraja are also perfected in all three phases of time.” Since You are their eternal friend, how can anyone describe their good fortune?
Purport (Nectar of Devotion)
In the Tenth Canto, Fourteenth Chapter, verse 32, of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam there is this statement: “How wonderful are the fortunate residents of Vṛndāvana, such as Nanda and the other cowherd men. The Supreme Personality of Godhead, the Supreme Brahman, has actually become their intimate friend!”