FolioCorpusŚrīmad-Bhāgavatam

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.11.7

गोपीभि: स्तोभितोऽनृत्यद् भगवान्बालवत्‍क्‍वचित् । उद्गायति क्‍वचिन्मुग्धस्तद्वशो दारुयन्त्रवत् ॥ ७ ॥
gopībhiḥ stobhito ’nṛtyad
[gopeebhih stobhito ’nrityad]
bhagavān bālavat kvacit
[bhagavaan baalavat kvachit]
udgāyati kvacin mugdhas
[udgaayati kvachin mugdhas]
tad-vaśo dāru-yantravat
[tad-vasho daaru-yantravat]
Word-for-word
gopībhiḥ — by the gopīs (by flattery and offers of prizes) stobhitaḥ — encouraged, induced anṛtyat — the small Kṛṣṇa danced bhagavān — although He was the Supreme Personality of Godhead bāla - vat — exactly like a human child kvacit — sometimes udgāyati — He would sing very loudly kvacit — sometimes mugdhaḥ — being amazed tat - vaśaḥ — under their control dāru - yantra - vat — like a wooden doll .
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
gopībhiḥ stobhito ’nṛtyad
gopībhiḥ
by the gopīs (by flattery and offers of prizes)
stobhitaḥ
encouraged, induced
bhagavān bālavat kvacit
anṛtyat
the small Kṛṣṇa danced
bhagavān
although He was the Supreme Personality of Godhead
bāla - vat
exactly like a human child
kvacit
sometimes
udgāyati kvacin mugdhas
udgāyati
He would sing very loudly
kvacit
sometimes
mugdhaḥ
being amazed
tad-vaśo dāru-yantravat
tat - vaśaḥ
under their control
dāru - yantra - vat
like a wooden doll .
Important Words
  • gopībhiḥ — by the gopīs
    Instrumental — the agents who induce Kṛṣṇa are the gopīs. Gauḍīya doctrine: the gopīs of Vraja are the highest rasa-vessels (mādhurya-rasa); even in this vātsalya-tinged scene, their proto-presence is what enables the deepest bhakta-vaśya. Their love is the only force Bhagavān cannot resist.
  • stobhitaḥ — encouraged, induced
    Stobh — to praise, to spur. Stuti-induced. The 'praise' of His devotees is a force on Him. The Gauḍīya emphasis: Kṛṣṇa is naṭa — actor — and the gopīs' affection is the script He delights to follow.
  • bhagavān — the Supreme Personality of Godhead
    The verse uses bhagavān precisely at the moment of His dancing on command — to mark the doctrinal point. He does not become small by dancing; He remains svayaṁ-bhagavān (SB 1.3.28) while dancing. Both are simultaneously real — the acintya in acintya-bhedābheda.
  • dāru - yantra - vat — like a wooden puppet
    Dāru-yantra — a wooden mechanism, a marionette. 'Vat' (like) — the simile is deliberate. He is not literally a puppet (impersonalism); He is like one (rasa-staging). The grammatical caution preserves the personalist truth while honoring the prema-aesthetic.
The gopīs would say, “If You dance, my dear Kṛṣṇa, then I shall give You half a sweetmeat.” By saying these words or by clapping their hands, all the gopīs encouraged Kṛṣṇa in different ways. At such times, although He was the supremely powerful Personality of Godhead, He would smile and dance according to their desire, as if He were a wooden doll in their hands. Sometimes He would sing very loudly, at their bidding. In this way, Kṛṣṇa came completely under the control of the gopīs.
Gauḍīya Ācāryas
Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura Gauḍīya
Translation
The gopīs would say, "If You dance, my dear Kṛṣṇa, then I shall give You half a sweetmeat." By saying these words or by clapping their hands, all the gopīs encouraged Kṛṣṇa in different ways. At such times, although He was the supremely powerful Personality of Godhead, He would smile and dance according to their desire, as if He were a wooden doll in their hands. Sometimes He would sing very loudly, at their bidding. In this way, Kṛṣṇa came completely under the control of the gopīs.
Commentary

Who can describe the good fortune of Nanda and Yasoda , Krsna’s father and mother? Though he is the controller of Brahma and Siva and others, Krsna is controlled at every step by the inhabitants of Vraja. This is described in three and a half verses. "If you dance I will give a sweet!" Inspired by the gopis (stobhitah), the Lord sometimes danced just a normal boy (balavat). Sometimes without showing his powers because of the gopis’ love (mugdha,innocent) he would sing like a wooden puppet.

Jīva Gosvāmī Gauḍīya
Commentary

Not only was he controlled by the prema of his mother and father having the highest affection for him. Other gopīs also controlled him. Previous events are described in two verses. These gopīs were generally elderly. Though Bhagavān was full of all powers, he was like other boys. He forgot his own powers by being absorbed in his childhood pastimes, controlled by the rasa of its prema. Instead of bālavat sometimes bālakaḥ is seen. Then it means that he acted according to his childhood pastimes. Sometimes he sang, sometimes he danced, and sometimes appeared ignorant. As a small child he knew dancing a little, sometimes showing himself to be ignorant ( mugdhaḥ). Or in dancing he was charming (mugdhaḥ). He danced because he was controlled by them like a puppet on strings.

Related values & verses
Related values
Vairagya (Detachment / Dispassion)Anahankarah (Freedom from False Ego)Achapalya (Steadiness / Non-fickleness)Vinaya (Humility / Modesty)Dhriti (Resilience / Steadfastness / Fortitude)Titiksha (Forbearance / Endurance)Discriminative WisdomSatya (Truthfulness)Kartavya (Duty / Responsibility)
Related verses
SB 10.11.4 SB 10.11.5 SB 10.11.6 SB 10.11.8 SB 10.11.9 SB 10.11.10 BG 16.1 BG 9.29 BG 16.4 BG 13.8 BG 12.1 BG 7.1
Concepts
RasaChit
Related lectures
Personal Guidance
Out of pure bhakti, Kṛṣṇa lets Himself be 'controlled' like a wooden doll by the gopīs — surrender melts the Lord into intimacy.
Practical Applications
  • Offer one act of japa or kīrtana today not for results but as a small coaxing — let Kṛṣṇa be 'bribed' by your sincerity, however clumsy.
  • Notice where you approach Kṛṣṇa with awe-at-a-distance and instead address Him today with the simple, affectionate familiarity of a child speaking to a parent.
  • Refuse the impersonalist instinct that says God is too vast to be near — read this verse aloud and let it correct your image of Him as the Person who delights in being claimed by His devotees.
Analogy

A great king at a children's puppet show lets the puppeteer's tug move his royal hand for a moment — not because the strings have power, but because his pleasure lies in the play. Kṛṣṇa dances on the gopīs' offer of half a sweet not because He is induced, but because being 'induced' by His devotees is the deepest sweetness available to Him.

Stories
Caitanya's mādhurya-rasa absorption

Caitanya Mahāprabhu, in His later Purī years, would dance at the calling of devotees in the same dāru-yantra-vat mode — eyes half-closed, body moved by the kīrtana, His own self apparently absent. Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja in the Caitanya-caritāmṛta describes Him exactly as the Bhāgavatam describes the small Kṛṣṇa here: under the control of His devotees' love.

The Gauḍīya reading: Caitanya's behavior is the same līlā re-enacted — Kṛṣṇa as His own devotee, demonstrating to the world what bhakti-vaśya looks like. The wooden-doll image is the iconography of prema's mastery over the Master.

📝 My note

Source: vedabase.io

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