SB 10.11.40 · Srimad-Bhagavatam

Devanagari

क्‍वचिद्वादयतो वेणुं क्षेपणै: क्षिपत: क्‍वचित् । क्‍वचित्पादै: किङ्किणीभि: क्‍वचित्कृत्रिमगोवृषै: ॥ ३९ ॥ वृषायमाणौ नर्दन्तौ युयुधाते परस्परम् । अनुकृत्य रुतैर्जन्तूंश्चेरतु: प्राकृतौ यथा ॥ ४० ॥

Verse text

kvacid vādayato veṇuṁ kṣepaṇaiḥ kṣipataḥ kvacit kvacit pādaiḥ kiṅkiṇībhiḥ kvacit kṛtrima-go-vṛṣaiḥ vṛṣāyamāṇau nardantau yuyudhāte parasparam anukṛtya rutair jantūṁś ceratuḥ prākṛtau yathā

Synonyms

kvacit — sometimes ; vādayataḥ — blowing ; veṇum — on the flute ; kṣepaṇaiḥ — with a device of rope for throwing ; kṣipataḥ — throwing stones to get fruit ; kvacit — sometimes ; kvacit pādaiḥ — sometimes with the legs ; kiṅkiṇībhiḥ — with the sound of ankle bells ; kvacit — sometimes ; kṛtrima — go — vṛṣaiḥ — by becoming artificial cows and bulls ; vṛṣāyamāṇau — imitating the animals ; nardantau — roaring loudly ; yuyudhāte — They both used to fight ; parasparam — with one another ; anukṛtya — imitating ; rutaiḥ — by resounding ; jantūn — all the animals ; ceratuḥ — They used to wander ; prākṛtau — two ordinary human children ; yathā — like .

Translation

Sometimes Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma would play on Their flutes, sometimes They would throw ropes and stones devised for getting fruits from the trees, sometimes They would throw only stones, and sometimes, Their ankle bells tinkling, They would play football with fruits like bael and āmalakī. Sometimes They would cover Themselves with blankets and imitate cows and bulls and fight with one another, roaring loudly, and sometimes They would imitate the voices of the animals. In this way They enjoyed sporting, exactly like two ordinary human children.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

Sometimes Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma would play on Their flutes, sometimes They would throw ropes and stones devised for getting fruits from the trees, sometimes They would throw only stones, and sometimes, Their ankle bells tinkling, They would play football with fruits like bael and āmalakī. Sometimes They would cover Themselves with blankets and imitate cows and bulls and fight with one another, roaring loudly, and sometimes They would imitate the voices of the animals. In this way They enjoyed sporting, exactly like two ordinary human children. KB 10.11.39-40 While taking charge of the calves, sometimes the two brothers played on Their flutes. And sometimes They played with āmalaka fruits and bael fruits, just as small children play with balls. Sometimes They danced and made tinkling sounds with Their ankle bells. Sometimes They made Themselves into bulls and cows by covering Themselves with blankets. Thus Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma played. The two brothers also used to imitate the sounds of bulls and cows and play like two bulls fighting. Sometimes They used to imitate the sounds of various animals and birds. In this way, They enjoyed Their childhood pastimes apparently like ordinary, mundane children.

Purport

Vṛndāvana is full of peacocks. Kūjat-kokila-haṁsa-sārasa-gaṇākīrṇe mayūrākule . The Vṛndāvana forest is always full of cuckoos, ducks, swans, peacocks, cranes and also monkeys, bulls and cows. So Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma used to imitate the sounds of these animals and enjoy sporting.

Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

Sometimes using slings(ksepanayatraih) they would throw (ksipatam) amalaki and bel fruit to a far distance. Sometimes they would kick each other with their bangled feet. Sometimes covering themselves with blankets, they pretended they were bulls, and making bull sounds they would fight each other. They would also imitate other animals like swans and peacocks.

Purport (Jiva Goswami)

After mentioning the boys, Śukadeva describes their playing in two verses. Sometimes, or in some places, as was suitable, they performed these actions. Thus they played the flute at convenient places, when they were of proper age. They threw bilva and āmalaki fruits to a great distance using slinging. They danced, using their feet equipped with ankle bells. Acting like bulls they roared loudly along with other boys dressed like cows and bulls, arranged in herds. Just as normal boys they wandered about. This shows that they were absorbed in their childhood pastimes. Their main goal was to wander about and play using their flutes and other equipment. Herding the calves was secondary. Viṣṇu Purāṇa describes their dress: barihi-patra kṛtāpīḍau vanya- puṣpāvataṁsakau gopa-veṇu krṭatodyau patra-vādyakṛta-svanau kākapakṣa-dharau bālau kumārāv iva pāvakī hasatau ca ramantau ca ceratus tan mahadvanam kvacid dhasantav anyo nyaṁ krīḍamānau tathāparaiḥ gopa-bāḷaiḥ samaṁ vatsāṁś cārayantau viceratuḥ The two boys had peacock feathers in the crowns decorated with wild flowers. They played their cowherd flutes and made music using leaves. Their hair was in the kāka-pakṣa style. Shining like sons of the fire god, laughing and enjoying they wandered in the large forest. Sometimes the two laughed and played by themselves .With other cowherd boys wandered about herding the calves. parṇa-vādyaṁ śṛuti-sukhaṁ vādayantau varānanau śuśubhate vana-gatau triśīrṣāv iva pannagau mayurāṅgaja-karṇau tau pallavāpīḍa-dhāriṇau vana-mālākuloraskau druma-potāv ivodgātau aravinda-krṭāpīḍau rajju-yajñopavītinau saśikya-tumba-karakau gopa-veṇu-pravādakau kvacid dhasantav anyonyaṁ krīḍamānau kvacit kvacit parṇa-śayyāsu saṁsuptau kvacin nidrāntaraiśiṇau evaṁ vatsān palāyantau śobhayantau mahāvanam caṁcūryantau ramantau sma kiśorāv iva cañcalau The two with beautiful faces played music using leaves, pleasing to hear. They wore three braids as they went into the forest. They had peacock feathers in their ears and new shoots in their crowns. They had garlands over the chests and appeared like young trees. They had lotus flowers in their hair and ropes and sacred threads over their shoulders. They carried bundles on strings and gourds water pots. They played flutes and sometimes laughed and played with each other. They lay down on leaf beds and desired to sleep. In this way they herded the calves in Mahāvana. They wandered about playfully enjoying like boys of kaiśora age. This describes their activities on the first day of herding the calves but they did the same on other days also.