Verse Text
yathā –
vraja-yuvatiṣu śauriḥ śaurasenīṁ surendre
praṇata-śirasi saurīṁ bhāratīm ātanoti |
ahaha paśuṣu kīreṣv apy apabhraṁśa-rūpāṁ
katham ajani vidagdhaḥ sarva-bhāṣāvalīṣu ||66||
Translation
Kṛṣṇa, śauri, expresses Himself in the vernacular to the young gopīs of Vraja, in saṁṣkṛta to the respectful Indra, and in the colloquial dialect to the animals, to the people of Kāśmīra and to the parrots. How amazing! How has he become expert in all these languages?
Purport (Jiva Goswami)
This is the statement of an elderly, observant resident of Vraja. It may be asked how the residents could address Kṛṣṇa as śauri, indicating that He was the son of Vasudeva, when the fact was hidden from them until Kṛṣṇa went to Mathurā. However, Garga informed Nanda during the name-giving ceremony that in previous lifetimes He had been the son of Vasudeva:
prāgayaṁ vasudevasya kvacij jātas tavātmajaḥ
vāsudeva iti śrīmān abhijṣāḥ sampracakṣate
For many reasons, this beautiful son of yours sometimes appeared previously as the son of Vasudeva. Therefore, those who are learned sometimes call this child Vāsudeva. SB 10.26.17
Thus there is no contradiction if the residents address Him as the son of Vasudeva. Though the young girls of Vraja are mentioned, it is understood that all the residents are included. He spoke to them all in the vernacular---a special dialect of that particular region called śaurasenī (language of Mathurā). Vraja and Mathurā of course were practically the same place with the same dialect. The word saurīm, from the word sura, means saṁskṛta, the language of the devas. He also spoke to animals, including the cows and buffalos. Kīreṣu refers to the people of Kashmir and to parrots. Apabhraṁśa refers to a very low form of colloquial language. According to the situation, He spoke the particular language.
Purport (Nectar of Devotion)
An old woman in Vṛndāvana, present at the time of Kṛṣṇa’s pastimes, once stated in surprise, “How wonderful it is that Kṛṣṇa, who owns the hearts of all the young girls of Vrajabhūmi, can nicely speak the language of Vrajabhūmi with the gopīs, while in Sanskrit He speaks with the demigods, and in the language of the animals He can even speak with the cows and buffalo! Similarly, in the language of the Kashmir Province, and with the parrots and other birds, as well as in most common languages, Kṛṣṇa is so expressive!” She inquired from the gopīs as to how Kṛṣṇa had become so expert in speaking so many different types of languages.