SB 10.46.36

"Oh, so great is our misfortune that there is delay in our truthful son coming to Vraja." To answer the lamenting parents, Uddhava replies with this verse. "You should not lament. Very soon you will be able to see Krsna." "You say we will see him, but when will that be, tomorrow, the next day, or ten days later? With some consolation, we will keep our life airs from leaving our bodies till that day. But if he is not coming, you should tell us truthfully. As it is difficult to prevent the life airs from leaving, then let them leave." Uddhava, hearing Nanda speak like this, then began to consider. "One should advise those who are suffering separation from their material sons in this way: ‘Why are you immersed in the illusion of family attachment like this? False attachment to wife and sons is a cause of trouble. Give that up and attach yourself to the Lord.’ "But how can I advise Nanda, who is attached to the Lord as his son? He is not like Vasudeva, who on seeing the godly powers of Krsna, weakens his attachment to him as his son. Rather, by showing them Krsna’s powers, Nanda and Yasoda’s attachment to their son will become stronger. ‘When parents lose sight of the son playing in their house, they die out of sorrow. By our good fortune, the Lord himself plays about as our son in our house. If we cannot care for him for even a moment, we lament. How will we live, not seeing that child in our house? We are so unfortunate, having been separated from such a child.’ This is how Nanda and Yasoda feel. "Vasudeva and Devaki however, on realizing the godly powers of Krsna, say, ‘He is worshipable, he is not our son.’ They thus refrain from embracing and fondling him. Not only is Nanda and yasoda’s possessiveness of Krsna tied tightly, but Krsna, though the supreme Lord, has strong possessiveness of them as well. His pain for his devotee I have seen when he said, ‘Go to Vraja and make my father and mother happy. Remove the pain of separation from the women of Vraja by giving news about me.’ (Sb 10.46.3) ‘O Nanda, we people of Vraja have a natural attachment for your son. Also he has great attachment for us. What is the cause?’(Sb 10.26.13) I remember hearing these words of the cowherd men. "If I go to Mathura and bring Krsna here tomorrow, Jarasandha will come to destroy Mathura, angry because Kamsa’s wives are left as widows. Who then will protect Vasudeva and the other Yadavas? If Krsna then again goes to Mathura to protect them, then those in Vraja will certainly die. If I say that Krsna will come in four or five years, they will not be patient for that long. If I lie and tell them that he will come after four or five days, when the time expires and they discover I lied, they will die. "As there is no other means, I will now weaken their prema by telling them that as supersoul Krsna is neutral to everyone, as impersonal Brahman he is without relationships with father, mother, body, karma or birth, and will teach meditation on the soul to realize that. If on revealing all this, Nanda and Yasoda’s unlimited, unfathomable, uncontrollable prema increases even more, then I will go to Mathura and simply glorify their incomparable prema again and again to the assembly of Krsna, Vasudeva, Ugrasena and others and astonish them all. I should rather just criticize Krsna." Having made this decision he then began to speak about Krsna as the supersoul. "Like fire within wood, Krsna is present within the hearts of all living beings. Then why can no one see him? One does not see fire in wood without kindling it. Krsna can also be seen by proper method." Uddhava’s implication is "If you did not perform devotional activities as vaisnavas for Krsna, your son, would he appear in your house?" Nanda and Yasoda then thought, "Some how or other Krsna must appear in our house. We must perform devotional service." Thus, when Uddhava returned to Mathura, Nanda and the cowherd men with tearful eyes told him, "O fortunate one, may our minds rest on his lotus eyes, may our voices sing his name and may our bodies offer him respects."