SB 10.17.16 · Srimad-Bhagavatam

Devanagari

रामश्चाच्युतमालिङ्‌‌ग्य जहासास्यानुभाववित् । प्रेम्णा तमङ्कमारोप्य पुन: पुनरुदैक्षत । गावो वृषा वत्सतर्यो लेभिरे परमां मुदम् ॥ १६ ॥

Verse text

rāmaś cācyutam āliṅgya jahāsāsyānubhāva-vit premṇā tam aṅkam āropya punaḥ punar udaikṣata gāvo vṛṣā vatsataryo lebhire paramāṁ mudam

Synonyms

rāmaḥ — Lord Balarāma ; ca — and ; acyutam — Kṛṣṇa, the infallible Supreme Personality of Godhead ; āliṅgya — embracing ; jahāsa — laughed ; asya — His ; anubhāva — vit — knowing well the omnipotence ; premṇā — out of love ; tam — Him ; aṅkam — up on His own lap ; āropya — raising ; punaḥ punaḥ — again and again ; udaikṣata — looked upon ; gāvaḥ — the cows ; vṛṣāḥ — the bulls ; vatsataryaḥ — the female calves ; lebhire — they attained ; paramām — supreme ; mudam — pleasure .

Translation

Lord Balarāma embraced His infallible brother and laughed, knowing well the extent of Kṛṣṇa’s potency. Out of great feelings of love, Balarāma lifted Kṛṣṇa up on His lap and repeatedly looked at Him. The cows, bulls and young female calves also achieved the highest pleasure.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

Lord Balarāma embraced His infallible brother and laughed, knowing well the extent of Kṛṣṇa's potency. Out of great feelings of love, Balarāma lifted Kṛṣṇa up on His lap and repeatedly looked at Him. The cows, bulls and young female calves also achieved the highest pleasure. KB 10.17.16 Balarāma also embraced Kṛṣṇa, but He was laughing because when everyone else had been so overwhelmed with anxiety, He had known what would happen to Kṛṣṇa. All the trees on the bank of the Yamunā, along with all the cows, bulls and calves, were full of pleasure because of Kṛṣṇa’s appearance there.

Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

Balarama smiled. "You have done just the right thing." Though he was knowledgeable of Krsna’s strength, he looked at him intently again and again (udaiksata). He looked to see if Krsna had incurred any injuries from fighting Kaliya.

Purport (Jiva Goswami)

He then met with Balarāma who had given an opportunity for the people of Vraja who were grieving to meet him. That is described in this verse. The word ca indicates that Balarāma internally dried up because of the people’s sorrow. Later meeting Kṛṣṇa, who never loses his powers (acyutam), taking his hand, he laughed. Why did he laugh? He knew that Kṛṣṇa could accomplish anything by his will alone (anubhāva-vit). As a scolding he laughed, as if saying “You have done well, making your people of Vraja suffer like this!” Besides this, other men and women, bulls and calves also rejoiced (narā nāryāḥ vṛṣā vatsā). Instead of this gāvo vṛṣā vatsatarā is sometimes seen.

Purport (Sanatana Goswami)

After describing the actions of devotees having affection, Śukadeva describes the meeting with Balarāma, endowed with great affection and also knowledge of Kṛṣṇa’s powers. The word ca indicates that Balarāma also internally dried up. Later meeting Kṛṣṇa, who never loses his powers (acyutam), taking his hand, he laughed. Acyutam indicates that Kṛṣṇa was never devoid of his hair arrangements etc. or he never falls from his greatness. He knew the various powers (anubhāva) of Kṛṣṇa. His own powers to manifest the fire to destroy the universe was nothing compared to Kṛṣṇa’s powers. He remembered Kāliya squeezing him in his coils. Or he knew how Kṛsṇa could cleverly ascertain (anubhāva) how to release himself from Kāliya. Another version has nārāḥ nāryo vṛṣaḥ vatsāḥ. Nārāḥ refers to people in general, or to Nanda’s servants and the Pulina men. Another version has mṛgāḥ first. This indicates that the cows recovered first. Or the sequence indicates the intensity of bliss. Thus nārāḥ placed first indicates Nanda’s intense bliss, but other’s bliss depended on his bliss.