Verse Text
te tu tasyātra kathitā vraja-rājṣī vrajeśvaraḥ |
rohiṇī tāś ca vallavyo yāḥ padmaja-hṛtātmajāḥ ||10||
devakī tat-sapatnyaś ca kuntī cānakadundubhiḥ |
sāndīpani-mukhāś cānye yathā-pūrvam amī varāḥ |
vrajeśvarī-vrajādhīśau śreṣṭhau gurujaneṣv imau ||11||
Translation
The elders of Kṛṣṇa are Yaśodā, Nanda, Rohiṇī, the gopīs whose sons were stolen by Lord Brahmā, Devakī and the other wives of Vasudeva, Kunti, Vasudeva, and Sāndīpani Muni. Among the elders, the first ones on the list are superior to the later ones.
Purport (Jiva Goswami)
This list should also mean others elderly male and female associates. Devakī, Vasudeva and his other wives are considered lesser in status because their affection is less. This lesser degree of affection is caused by a prominence of jṣāna in their bhakti and awareness of Kṛṣṇa as the Lord. Yaśodā is considered the best because she possesses pure affection and nothing else. This is expressed in the following verse.
itarau nānvavindetāṁ kṛṣṇodārārbhakehitam
gāyanty adyāpi kavayo yal loka-śamalāpaham
Although Kṛṣṇa was so pleased with Vasudeva and Devakī that He descended as their son, they could not enjoy Kṛṣṇa’s magnanimous childhood pastimes, which are so great that simply chanting about them vanquishes the contamination of the material world. Nanda Mahārāja and Yaśodā, however, enjoyed these pastimes fully, and therefore their position is always better than that of Vasudeva and Devakī. SB 10.8.47
Purport (Nectar of Devotion)
Following is a list of respectful personalities who enjoy parental affection toward Kṛṣṇa: (1) Mother Yaśodā, the Queen of Vraja, (2) Mahārāja Nanda, the King of Vraja, (3) mother Rohiṇī, the mother of Balarāma, (4) all the elderly gopīs whose sons were taken away by Lord Brahmā, (5) Devakī, the wife of Vasudeva, (6) the other fifteen wives of Vasudeva, (7) Kuntī, the mother of Arjuna, (8) Vasudeva, the real father of Kṛṣṇa and (9) Sāndīpani Muni, Kṛṣṇa’s teacher. All these are considered respectable elderly personalities with parental love for Kṛṣṇa. This list is in order of superior importance, and thus we can see that Mother Yaśodā and Mahārāja Nanda are considered to be the supermost of all elderly personalities.