SB 10.7.4 · Srimad Bhagavatam

Devanagari

श्रीशुक उवाच कदाचिदौत्थानिककौतुकाप्लवे जन्मर्क्षयोगे समवेतयोषिताम् । वादित्रगीतद्विजमन्त्रवाचकै- श्चकार सूनोरभिषेचनं सती ॥ ४ ॥

Verse text

śrī-śuka uvāca kadācid autthānika-kautukāplave janmarkṣa-yoge samaveta-yoṣitām vāditra-gīta-dvija-mantra-vācakaiś cakāra sūnor abhiṣecanaṁ satī

Synonyms

śrī — śukaḥ uvāca — Śrī Śukadeva Gosvāmī continued to speak (at the request of Mahārāja Parīkṣit) ; kadācit — at that time (when Kṛṣṇa was three months old) ; autthānika — kautuka — āplave — when Kṛṣṇa was three or four months old and His body was developing, He attempted to turn around, and this pleasing occasion was observed with a festival and bathing ceremony ; janma — ṛkṣa — yoge — at that time there was also a conjunction of the moon with the auspicious constellation Rohiṇī ; samaveta — yoṣitām — (the ceremony was observed) among the assembled women, a ceremony of mothers ; vāditra — gīta — different varieties of music and singing ; dvija — mantra — vācakaiḥ — with chanting of Vedic hymns by qualified brāhmaṇas ; cakāra — executed ; sūnoḥ — of her son ; abhiṣecanam — the bathing ceremony ; satī — mother Yaśodā .

Translation

Śukadeva Gosvāmī said: When mother Yaśodā’s baby was slanting His body to attempt to rise and turn around, this attempt was observed by a Vedic ceremony. In such a ceremony, called utthāna, which is performed when a child is due to leave the house for the first time, the child is properly bathed. Just after Kṛṣṇa turned three months old, mother Yaśodā celebrated this ceremony with other women of the neighborhood. On that day, there was a conjunction of the moon with the constellation Rohiṇī. As the brāhmaṇas joined by chanting Vedic hymns and professional musicians also took part, this great ceremony was observed by mother Yaśodā.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

Śukadeva Gosvāmī said: When mother Yaśodā's baby was slanting His body to attempt to rise and turn around, this attempt was observed by a Vedic ceremony. In such a ceremony, called utthāna, which is performed when a child is due to leave the house for the first time, the child is properly bathed. Just after Kṛṣṇa turned three months old, mother Yaśodā celebrated this ceremony with other women of the neighborhood. On that day, there was a conjunction of the moon with the constellation Rohiṇī. As the brāhmaṇas joined by chanting Vedic hymns and professional musicians also took part, this great ceremony was observed by mother Yaśodā KB 10.7.4 When Kṛṣṇa grew up a little more, He began to turn Himself backside up; He did not merely lie down on His back. And another function was observed by Yaśodā and Nanda Mahārāja: Kṛṣṇa’s first birthday. They arranged for Kṛṣṇa’s birthday ceremony, which is still observed by all followers of the Vedic principles. (Kṛṣṇa’s birthday ceremony is observed in India by all Hindus, irrespective of different sectarian views.) All the cowherd men and women were invited to participate in the jubilant celebration. A nice band played, and the assembled people enjoyed it. All the learned brāhmaṇas were invited, and they chanted Vedic hymns for the good fortune of Kṛṣṇa. During the chanting of the Vedic hymns and playing of the bands, Kṛṣṇa was bathed by Mother Yaśodā. This bathing ceremony is technically called abhiṣeka, and even today this is observed in all the temples of Vṛndāvana on Janmāṣṭamī Day, or the birthday anniversary of Lord Kṛṣṇa.

Purport

There is no question of overpopulation or of children’s being a burden for their parents in a Vedic society. Such a society is so well organized and people are so advanced in spiritual consciousness that childbirth is never regarded as a burden or a botheration. The more a child grows, the more his parents become jubilant, and the child’s attempts to turn over are also a source of jubilation. Even before the child is born, when the mother is pregnant, many recommended ritualistic ceremonies are performed. For example, when the child has been within the womb for three months and for seven months, there is a ceremony the mother observes by eating with neighboring children. This ceremony is called svāda-bhakṣaṇa. Similarly, before the birth of the child there is the garbhādhāna ceremony. In Vedic civilization, childbirth or pregnancy is never regarded as a burden; rather, it is a cause for jubilation. In contrast, people in modern civilization do not like pregnancy or childbirth, and when there is a child, they sometimes kill it. We can just consider how human society has fallen since the inauguration of Kali-yuga. Although people still claim to be civilized, at the present moment there is actually no human civilization, but only an assembly of two-legged animals.

Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

Kadacit (some time) means when three months had passed after the birth of the child this incident took place, for in the second canto (2.7.27) it is mentioned that the breaking of the cart occurred when Krsna was three months old. When the child was able to turn over (autthanik), the women became overjoyed and when the moon entered his birth star (rohini), Yasoda, surrounded by the gopis, celebrated the event with bathing of the child to the accompaniment of music and songs and chanting by brahmanas

Purport (Jiva Goswami)

Pleased by Parīkṣit’s words Śukadeva began describing in order Kṛṣṇa’s childhood pastimes. This event happened when he was three months old. Trai-māsikasya ca padā śakaṭo ‘pavṛttaḥ: he overturned the cart with his three- month-old foot. (SB 2.7.27) It also happened that the moon was in Rohiṇī and thus three months from his birth according to the lunar calendar (since his birth also occurred with the moon in Rohiṇī). The event was a bath on the occasion of his raising himself from the bed. Some say this refers to going outside, but that ceremony occurs during the fourth month according to the scriptures and is calculated according to the solar calendar. Yaśodā was attached to this ceremony out of affection, since Kṛṣṇa was her only son. Yaśodā (satī) was expert in all ceremonies. Since this was a ceremony predominantly for the women, Yaśodā did this rather than Nanda, who had done the birth ceremony.

Purport (Sanatana Goswami)

Pleased by Parīkṣit’s words Śukadeva began describing in order Kṛṣṇa’s childhood pastimes. This event happened when he was three months old. Trai-māsikasya ca padā śakaṭo ‘pavṛttaḥ: he overturned the cart with his three- month-old foot. (SB 2.7.27) It also happened that the moon was in Rohiṇī and thus three months from his birth according to the lunar calendar (since his birth also occurred with the moon in Rohiṇī). The event was a bath on the occasion of his raising himself from the bed. Some say this refers to going outside, but that ceremony occurs during the fourth month according to the scriptures and is calculated according to the solar calendar. Yaśodā was attached to this ceremony out of affection, since Kṛṣṇa was her only son. Yaśodā (satī) was expert in all ceremonies. She bathed him by sprinkling water on him, as brāhmaṇas chanted mantras, after establishing a pot. Since this was a ceremony predominantly for the women, Yaśodā did this rather than Nanda, who had done the birth ceremony.