Devanagari
पितर्युवाभ्यां स्निग्धाभ्यां पोषितौ लालितौ भृशम् ।
पित्रोरभ्यधिका प्रीतिरात्मजेष्वात्मनोऽपि हि ॥ २१ ॥
Verse text
pitar yuvābhyāṁ snigdhābhyāṁ
poṣitau lālitau bhṛśam
pitror abhyadhikā prītir
ātmajeṣv ātmano ’pi hi
Synonyms
pitaḥ
—
O Father
;
yuvābhyām
—
by you two
;
snigdhābhyām
—
affectionate
;
poṣitau
—
maintained
;
lālitau
—
coddled
;
bhṛśam
—
thoroughly
;
pitroḥ
—
for parents
;
abhyadhikā
—
greater
;
prītiḥ
—
love
;
ātmajeṣu
—
for their children
;
ātmanaḥ
—
than for themselves
;
api
—
even
;
hi
—
indeed .
Translation
[Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma said:] O Father, you and mother Yaśodā have affectionately maintained Us and cared for Us so much! Indeed, parents love their children more than their own lives.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
[Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma said:] O Father, you and mother Yaśodā have affectionately maintained Us and cared for Us so much! Indeed, parents love their children more than their own lives.
KB 10.45.21
“Dear Father and Mother, although We were born of Vasudeva and Devakī, you have been Our real father and mother, because from Our very birth and childhood you raised Us with great affection and love. Your affectionate love for Us was more than anyone can offer one’s own children.
Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Balarama, being elder, spoke first in two verses. "O father! We were cared for and protected by you two (Nanda and Yasoda). That of course is natural. Mothers and fathers have excessive affection for offspring of their own bodies." Balarama used the dual form to indicate that Nanda and Yasoda felt the same affection for both children. "You were as much my parents as you were Krsna’s parents." By revealing this he also reveals that he cannot remain in the house of unfamiliar Devaki and Vasudeva in the city of Mathura without his two loving parents and his dearmost brother Krsna.
Purport (Jiva Goswami)
With that purpose in mind, they spoke to Nanda. O father! You, with the greatest affection, nourished us with food and cared for us by bathing us and doing other services, since (hi) parents have more affection for their offspring (ātmajeṣu) than for themselves. That is not astonishing.
Purport (Sanatana Goswami)
O father! He recognizes Nanda as his father. Though Yaśodā is not present he remembers her with great affection, as if she were present (yuvābhyām). The boys were made blissful by the care and embraces of Nanda and Yaśodā because their affection was causeless, since (hi) parents have more affection for their offspring (ātmajeṣu) than for themselves. This negates the idea that they were only foster children, as suggested by the word poṣitau (nourished).