SB 10.19.8 · Srimad Bhagavatam

Devanagari

तमापतन्तं परितो दवाग्निं गोपाश्च गाव: प्रसमीक्ष्य भीता: । ऊचुश्च कृष्णं सबलं प्रपन्ना यथा हरिं मृत्युभयार्दिता जना: ॥ ८ ॥

Verse text

tam āpatantaṁ parito davāgniṁ gopāś ca gāvaḥ prasamīkṣya bhītāḥ ūcuś ca kṛṣṇaṁ sa-balaṁ prapannā yathā hariṁ mṛtyu-bhayārditā janāḥ

Synonyms

tam — that ; āpatantam — setting upon them ; paritaḥ — on all sides ; dava — agnim — the forest fire ; gopāḥ — the cowherd boys ; ca — and ; gāvaḥ — the cows ; prasamīkṣya — intensely watching ; bhītāḥ — afraid ; ūcuḥ — they addressed ; ca — and ; kṛṣṇam — Lord Kṛṣṇa ; sa — balam — and Lord Balarāma ; prapannāḥ — taking shelter ; yathā — as ; harim — the Supreme Personality of Godhead ; mṛtyu — of death ; bhaya — by fear ; arditāḥ — troubled ; janāḥ — persons .

Translation

As the cows and cowherd boys stared at the forest fire attacking them on all sides, they became fearful. The boys then approached Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma for shelter, just as those who are disturbed by fear of death approach the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The boys addressed Them as follows.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

As the cows and cowherd boys stared at the forest fire attacking them on all sides, they became fearful. The boys then approached Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma for shelter, just as those who are disturbed by fear of death approach the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The boys addressed Them as follows. KB 10.19.8 All the cows and the boys became very frightened, and they looked toward Balarāma and Kṛṣṇa the way a dying man looks at the picture of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

The cowherd boys spoke to Krsna. Why? Because they remembered that Garga had said, " This boy will protect you from all dangers." There are three readings: gopas ca gava, cowherds and cows, gopas sma gava the cowherds and certainly the cows, and gopas sa gava, cowherds with cows.

Purport (Jiva Goswami)

Seeing the fire quickly approaching, considering it fierce and difficult to escape, the ordinary boys engaged in herding spoke. Śrīdāmā and others would not make such a request since they were close to Kṛṣṇa. When the fire came close, they surrendered to Kṛṣṇa. They were frightened because they were with the cows. One version has sa-gāvaḥ instead of ca gavaḥ. Sa-gāvaḥ is used instead of sa-gavaḥ by the rule go-striyor upasarjanasya. Another version has gopāḥ sma gāvaḥ. The word harim indicates the powerful aṁśa of Kṛṣṇa. People, suffering because of fear of samsāra, not just immediate death, surrender to the Lord. The boys were afraid of separation from Kṛṣṇa, not death, as in the previous fire. That will be clear later.

Purport (Sanatana Goswami)

Seeing the fire quickly approaching, considering it fierce and difficult to escape, the ordinary boys engaged in herding spoke. They were frightened (bhītāḥ) for the cows. They surrendered to Kṛṣṇa, who removes all suffering and produces the highest bliss, who had power (sabalam), crying out loudly, “Please protect us.” Or they called to Kṛṣṇa with Balarāma to help him (sabalam), just like people pained by fear of death or of saṁsāra call to the Lord in fear. The cowherds called out without fear of death. They only feared separation from the Lord. This is made clear later.