SB 10.35.22 · Srimad-Bhagavatam

Devanagari

वत्सलो व्रजगवां यदगध्रो वन्द्यमानचरण: पथि वृद्धै: । कृत्‍स्‍नगोधनमुपोह्य दिनान्ते गीतवेणुरनुगेडितकीर्ति: ॥ २२ ॥ उत्सवं श्रमरुचापि द‍ृशीना- मुन्नयन् खुररजश्छुरितस्रक् । दित्सयैति सुहृदासिष एष देवकीजठरभूरुडुराज: ॥ २३ ॥

Verse text

vatsalo vraja-gavāṁ yad aga-dhro vandyamāna-caraṇaḥ pathi vṛddhaiḥ kṛtsna-go-dhanam upohya dinānte gīta-veṇur anugeḍita-kīrtiḥ utsavaṁ śrama-rucāpi dṛśīnām unnayan khura-rajaś-churita-srak ditsayaiti suhṛd-āsiṣa eṣa devakī-jaṭhara-bhūr uḍu-rājaḥ

Synonyms

vatsalaḥ — affectionate ; vraja — gavām — to the cows of Vraja ; yat — because ; aga — of the mountain ; dhraḥ — the lifter ; vandyamāna — being worshiped ; caraṇaḥ — His feet ; pathi — along the path ; vṛddhaiḥ — by the exalted demigods ; kṛtsna — entire ; go — dhanam — the herd of cows ; upohya — collecting ; dina — of the day ; ante — at the end ; gītā — veṇuḥ — playing His flute ; anuga — by His companions ; īḍita — praised ; kīrtiḥ — His glories ; utsavam — a festival ; śrama — of fatigue ; rucā — by His coloring ; api — even ; dṛśīnām — for the eyes ; unnayan — raising ; khura — from the hooves (of the cows) ; rajaḥ — with the dust ; churita — powdered ; srak — His garland ; ditsayā — with the desire ; eti — He is coming ; suhṛt — to His friends ; āśiṣaḥ — their desires ; eṣaḥ — this ; devakī — of mother Yaśodā ; jaṭhara — from the womb ; bhūḥ — born ; uḍu — rājaḥ — moon .

Translation

Out of great affection for the cows of Vraja, Kṛṣṇa became the lifter of Govardhana Hill. At the end of the day, having rounded up all His own cows, He plays a song on His flute, while exalted demigods standing along the path worship His lotus feet and the cowherd boys accompanying Him chant His glories. His garland is powdered by the dust raised by the cows’ hooves, and His beauty, enhanced by His fatigue, creates an ecstatic festival for everyone’s eyes. Eager to fulfill His friends’ desires, Kṛṣṇa is the moon arisen from the womb of mother Yaśodā.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

Out of great affection for the cows of Vraja, Kṛṣṇa became the lifter of Govardhana Hill. At the end of the day, having rounded up all His own cows, He plays a song on His flute, while exalted demigods standing along the path worship His lotus feet and the cowherd boys accompanying Him chant His glories. His garland is powdered by the dust raised by the cows' hooves, and His beauty, enhanced by His fatigue, creates an ecstatic festival for everyone's eyes. Eager to fulfill His friends' desires, Kṛṣṇa is the moon arisen from the womb of mother Yaśodā. KB 10.35.22-23 “Kṛṣṇa is very kind to the inhabitants of Vrajabhūmi, Vṛndāvana, and when He returns with His cows and friends, He is remembered as the lifter of Govardhana Hill. Taking advantage of this opportunity, the most exalted demigods like Lord Brahmā and Lord Śiva come down to offer their evening prayers, and they accompany the cowherd boys in glorifying the qualities of Kṛṣṇa. “Kṛṣṇa is compared to the moon, born in the ocean of the womb of Devakī. When He returns in the evening, it appears that He is fatigued, but He still tries to gladden the inhabitants of Vṛndāvana by His auspicious presence.

Purport

According to the ācāryas, at this point the gopīs climbed into the watchtowers of Vṛndāvana’s houses so they could see Kṛṣṇa as soon as possible when He returned home. Mother Yaśodā was very anxious for her son to come back, and therefore she had the tallest of the beautiful young gopīs climb up to see when He would arrive. It is implied here that Kṛṣṇa was somewhat delayed on the way home because His lotus feet were being worshiped by great demigods along the path.

Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

"Seeing that my son has not come back at the end of twilight, I will now kill myself." Fearing this response from Mother Yasoda, the gopis then gave reasons why Krsna would come quickly in order to calm her. Being affectionate to the bulls tied up in Vraja, remembering this suffering in separation from him, he has ignored the worship of the upadevatas, and is coming quickly. One cannot say that for a cowherd boy the skilful singing of the lowly gandharvas is more attractive than giving grass to the cows or seeing, tickly or touching their bodies. Krsna lifted Govardhana Hill to protect the cows. From this we see he has great affection for the cows. Though the gandharvas may have heaps of qualities, Krsna has not a morsel of affection for them. "If that is so, then he would have been here immediately." Thus the gopis give the reason for his lateness. "Brahma, Siva and others are now offering their respects along the path. The devatas, coming from their houses and situating themselves close by in the sky, watch Krsna all day in bliss. When Krsna returns in the evening, they also return to their houses, but not before descending from the sky to earth to offer their respects to his lotus feet to obtain his mercy. What can he do in this circumstance? This request from the devatas is a greater cause of his lateness. But do you not see the good fortune in the devatas’ offering their respects to your son’s feet? Why do you lament?" Yasoda with choked voice said, "O young women, please go quickly to the roof and see how far my son is distant." Going to the roof, the gopis then spoke to her in loud voices. "Stopping all the cows in one place with the sound of his flute, to fulfill the desires of well wishers, Krsna is now coming. He is brilliant in his fatigue, a festival for the eyes, with garland covered by dust raised by the cows’ hooves." Whatever was said for the benefit of Mother Yasoda was also for the benefit of other gopis, to whom they threw indirect glances. Though dust is mentioned in relation to the garland, it did not exist in other places, because the gopis were diligent to clean all the dust using pieces of cloth. There was some dust on the garland because, though the gopis cleaned the garland, they feared breaking the petals to remove the dust completely. Even if it were a garland of jewels, or a new garland protected by cloth offered by servants, Krsna would were no other garland. Krsna was particular to show those dusty garlands on his neck which were made by the gopis with their own hands and sent to him while he was in the forest. Devaki in this verse means Yasoda. Krsna, the moon, was born from the milk ocean womb of Yasoda. According to the Ganodesa dipika, quoting Adi Purana, Nanda’s wife had two names: Devaki and Yasoda.

Purport (Jiva Goswami)

Eagerly the gopīs climb to the roof tops to see him. That is shown in this verse. To describe his arrival they first indicate with intense joy the cause of his coming—his outstanding mercy. He is affectionate to the cows of Vraja. They give an example. He is affectionate because (yat) he lifted Govardhana to protect the cows though his body is very soft. They use the present tense (dhraḥ) because this pastime is always present in their vision because of their feelings of gratitude. By this they indicate to Yaśodā that he will protect her from sorrow on this day also. They then describe his coming. The devatās worship him on the path, since they will not do so within Vraja. The present tense is used (vandyamānaḥ) to indicate that they never stop worshipping him. They do this though he does not desire it, since he feels reserved and shy. Ah, see his excellent qualities! He plays his flute with rāga and rhythm to gather the cows and to inform the people of Vraja that he is coming. He is praised by the boys who make gestures according to the song telling stories like the killing of Pūtanā. Or he is praised for the activities he performed that day. He creates joy for all eyes by the natural beauty of drops of perspiration on his limbs, or by his limbs radiating fatigue. What to speak of our eyes then! There is such beauty in seeing him. The garland is covered with dust raised by the cows’ hooves, appearing like pollen. By mentioning the dust on his garland it is understood there is no dust on his limbs. His friends use their upper cloths to brush way constantly the dust from his limbs. But still the dust is clinging to his garland. Or he forbids them from wiping away the dust for fear that the petals of the garland which has been offered by a dear friend will break. Or, though they point out details like dust from far away, out of prema because of his coming they have this vision of him (which may not be completely accurate). Previously they hinted at the cause of his coming and now they state it directly. He has a desire to fulfill the wishes of his friends. Otherwise he would not be happy in the previously described activities in the forest. The gopīs mention friends. If he wants to give happiness to all his friends, he must want to give us happiness! They point him out with their fingers. There he is (eṣaḥ)! The word devakī here means Yaśodā (since that is her other name). They use this name out of great respect. Since Nanda is a king he is called deva or devaka. His wife is called Devakī. With the intention of pacifying her they refer to her as his mother as previously with tava sutaḥ satī (verse 14) and nanda-sunuḥ (verse 4 and 21). If would be contradictory for the gopīs say that Kṛṣṇa was born from the womb of Devakī, wife of Vasudeva instead of Yaśodā, in her presence. In the next verse in another gathering the phrase yadu-patiḥ, if it means the lord of the Vṛṣṇis, would also produce indifference instead of devotion. Therefore Devakī is a name of Yaśodā. Similarly another name of Merudevī is Sudevī. It is also said dva nāmnī nanda bhāryāyā yaśodā devakī ca: Nanda’s wife is called Yaśodā and Devakī. Kṛṣṇa is called the moon (lord of the stars) since takes away suffering just as the moon takes away the heat of the day. His friends are like the stars. Kṛṣṇa being born in the womb of Yaśodā, which is most pure, made of viśuddha-sattva, is like the moon being born from the Milk Ocean.

Purport (Sanatana Goswami)

The gopīs speak among themselves as previously while Yaśodā becomes absorbed in preparing a meal for Kṛṣṇa. The devatās worship his feet on the path since they do not get this opportunity when he enters Vraja. Present tense is used to indicate that they do not stop the worship. The descriptions given in the verses occur daily with Kṛṣṇa and his friends, or going there on different occasions they see him directly. The wealth of the cows are together since it is the end of the day. The word “wealth” is uttered with hatred because he is attached to herding the cows during the day (ignoring them). He plays the flute to gather the cows and to announce that he is coming to Vraja. His friends glorify him by reciting his pastimes such as killing Pūtanā or the pastimes of that particular day. Or they glorify him to remove the suffering they experience at night because of separation from him, just as the gopīs suffer separation during the day. He creates joy for the eyes of all, or for the gopīs. They do not mention themselves directly to avoid bold behavior on their part. The beauty of his fatigue consists of the perspiration on his face and his dried lips. Though it is possible that the dust from buffalos or other animals could also settle on his garland, here it refers to the dust that came from cows’ hooves, since they are closest to him. That dust is considered auspicious. Since it is obvious, they do not mention the cows directly. The garland alone is mentioned but it is inferred that his locks of hair also were covered with dust. He desires to fulfill the wishes of all his friends (gopīs are not specifically mentioned). As he has come close they point to him with their fingers (eṣaḥ). He appeared in Devakī’s womb, but was the son of Yaśodā since she raised him. Or Devakī can also mean Yaśodā. This was previously explained. He is the moon because he relieves the gopīs of the suffering experienced during the day. Because Kṛṣṇa was born there, the womb is pure sattva, most pure. The milk ocean is suggested. He is most affectionate to all the cows, bullocks and calves. At the end of the day he gathers all the cows with effort since they are a treasure. His actions cannot be limited by praises (vandyamāna-caraṇaḥ). Nanda and the elders have approached on the road. Or his forest pastimes are worshipped by priests and elder cowherds with knowledge. He is beautiful even with his fatigue. He desires to satisfy his friends or all the gopīs. He is the king of the stars: he is the master of the gopīs or is surrounded by his friends. The example is suitable for all. This is Citsukha’s explanation.