Devanagari
गोपवृद्धाश्च गोप्यश्च तदुपाकर्ण्य विस्मिता: ।
मेनिरे देवप्रवरौ कृष्णरामौ व्रजं गतौ ॥ २ ॥
Verse text
gopa-vṛddhāś ca gopyaś ca
tad upākarṇya vismitāḥ
menire deva-pravarau
kṛṣṇa-rāmau vrajaṁ gatau
Synonyms
gopa
—
vṛddhāḥ — the elder cowherd men
;
ca
—
and
;
gopyaḥ
—
the cowherd ladies
;
ca
—
also
;
tat
—
that
;
upākarṇya
—
hearing
;
vismitāḥ
—
surprised
;
menire
—
they considered
;
deva
—
pravarau — two eminent demigods
;
kṛṣṇa
—
rāmau — the brothers Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma
;
vrajam
—
to Vṛndāvana
;
gatau
—
come .
Translation
The elder cowherd men and ladies were amazed to hear this account, and they concluded that Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma must be exalted demigods who had appeared in Vṛndāvana.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
The elder cowherd men and ladies were amazed to hear this account, and they concluded that Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma must be exalted demigods who had appeared in Vṛndāvana.
KB 10.20.2
… and all were struck with wonder. They concluded that Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma were demigods who had kindly come to Vṛndāvana to become their children.
Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
The inhabitants thought of Krsna and Balarama as the best of the devas. Hearing of their extraordinary strength, they were still not aware that they were God because of their strong bond of love. Their exploits nourished the sweet relationship even more. Nowhere is it stated that the parent’s love decreased. This would have happened had they been aware of Krsna and Balarama as god.
Purport (Jiva Goswami)
This verse describes the emotions of those who heard. Though young people also heard the elders are specifically mentioned since they experienced the greatest astonishment. The young gopīs also had the same experience. They considered that Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma were two eminent devatās of some sort, but did not bother to identify which devatās they were, since their hearts were overcome with prema for them as friends.
Purport (Sanatana Goswami)
They heard near (upa) the two boys, or heard partially (upa). They thought that the best of the devatās, Viṣṇu and Śiva had come to Vraja and were born there. This is a statement uttered out of great devotion, not considering that Viṣṇu and Śiva are not born like jīvas. However they had personally appeared by their mercy. But they were to be worshipped with prema, as their offspring.
Or, O exalted Parīkṣit (deva)! These boys have come to Vraja as the best of the Vraja inhabitants (pravarau). Or they have appeared in Vraja like the best of devatās, and therefore will always protect us. The elder cowherds refers to Nanda, Upananda and others. Even when Kṛṣṇa was very young, the younger inhabitants of Vraja would go with Kṛṣṇa to the forest to play, attracted by the rasa of playing. Or the younger cowherds and gopīs, absorbed in special rasa, did not have astonishment, when he displayed his greatness. They are not mentioned here at all. Along with the elder cowherds, the elder women also were astonished (indicated by the word ca). The young gopīs’ prema did not decrease when Kṛṣṇa displayed powers, but rather increased. That was pointed out earlier.