Devanagari
श्रीगोपा ऊचु:
राम राम महाबाहो कृष्ण दुष्टनिबर्हण ।
एषा वै बाधते क्षुन्नस्तच्छान्तिं कर्तुमर्हथ: ॥ १ ॥
Verse text
śrī-gopa ūcuḥ
rāma rāma mahā-bāho
kṛṣṇa duṣṭa-nibarhaṇa
eṣā vai bādhate kṣun nas
tac-chāntiṁ kartum arhathaḥ
Synonyms
śrī
—
gopāḥ ūcuḥ — the cowherd boys said
;
rāma rāma
—
O Lord Rāma, Lord Rāma
;
mahā
—
bāho — O mighty-armed one
;
kṛṣṇa
—
O Lord Kṛṣṇa
;
duṣṭa
—
of the wicked
;
nibarhaṇa
—
O destroyer
;
eṣā
—
this
;
vai
—
indeed
;
bādhate
—
is causing distress
;
kṣut
—
hunger
;
naḥ
—
to us
;
tat
—
śāntim — its counteraction
;
kartum arhathaḥ
—
You ought to do .
Translation
The cowherd boys said: O Rāma, Rāma, mighty-armed one! O Kṛṣṇa, chastiser of the wicked! We are being harassed by hunger, and You should do something about it.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
The cowherd boys said: O Rāma, Rāma, mighty-armed one! O Kṛṣṇa, chastiser of the wicked ! We are being harassed by hunger, and You should do something about it.
KB 10.23.1
“Dear Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma, You are both all-powerful; You can kill many, many demons, but today we are much afflicted with hunger, and this is disturbing us. Please arrange for something that will mitigate our hunger.”
Purport
The cowherd boys jokingly implied that since Śrī Kṛṣṇa is the subduer of all bad things, the Lord should subdue their hunger by arranging for them to eat. In this statement by the cowherd boys, we observe the intimate loving friendship they enjoyed with the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
This chapter describes how the cowherd boys went to the brahmanas performing sacrifice to ask for food, how they were disrespected and how they went to the wives of the brahmanas and gained their affection. After this the brahmanas repented.
The sruti says: hunger is man’s worst enemy. If you can destroy our hunger now, then you will be successful in conquering this enemy. This is their logic.
Purport (Jiva Goswami)
Being hunger, taking support of their friendly mood, not giving heed to the fact that trees yielded all good and that men should also give all things, the boys begged Kṛṣṇa for food when he brought them to another forest. O Rāma, you should give us enjoyment! They repeat his name out of hunger. O Balarāma with strong arms, you are capable of anything! Another version has mahā-vīrya, with the same meaning. O Kṛṣṇa, form of the highest bliss! It is not proper that your followers should suffer. Being more specific they say “O chastiser of the wicked!” Śruti says kṣut khalu vai manuṣyasya bhrātṛvyaḥ: hunger is the enemy of mankind. Destroy this hunger which is giving us pain. They pray to both out of affection. They call Balarāma first and repeatedly since Kṛṣṇa is pleased when Balarāma is respected, following the rules of etiquette. Kṛṣṇa also instructs them to do this in verse 4. This hunger we are experiencing to be intolerable. You are capable of giving it relief. You must do this. In reality this is just play.