FolioCorpusŚrīmad-Bhāgavatam

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.12.6

यदि दूरं गत: कृष्णो वनशोभेक्षणाय तम् । अहं पूर्वमहं पूर्वमिति संस्पृश्य रेमिरे ॥ ६ ॥
yadi dūraṁ gataḥ kṛṣṇo
[yadi dooram gatah krishno]
vana-śobhekṣaṇāya tam
[vana-shobhekshanaaya tam]
ahaṁ pūrvam ahaṁ pūrvam
[aham poorvam aham poorvam]
iti saṁspṛśya remire
[iti samsprishya remire]
Word-for-word
yadi — if dūram — to a distant place gataḥ — went kṛṣṇaḥ — the Supreme Personality of Godhead vana - śobha — the beauty of the forest īkṣaṇāya — for visiting and enjoying tam — unto Kṛṣṇa aham — I pūrvam — first aham — I pūrvam — first iti — in this way saṁspṛśya — by touching Him remire — they enjoyed life .
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
yadi dūraṁ gataḥ kṛṣṇo
yadi
if
dūram
to a distant place
gataḥ
went
kṛṣṇaḥ
the Supreme Personality of Godhead
vana-śobhekṣaṇāya tam
vana - śobha
the beauty of the forest
īkṣaṇāya
for visiting and enjoying
tam
unto Kṛṣṇa
ahaṁ pūrvam ahaṁ pūrvam
aham
I
pūrvam
first
aham
I
pūrvam
first
iti saṁspṛśya remire
iti
in this way
saṁspṛśya
by touching Him
remire
they enjoyed life .
Important Words
  • vana-śobha — the beauty of the forest
    Compound: vana (forest) + śobhā (beauty). Vṛndāvana's beauty is itself a līlā-character; Kṛṣṇa goes to 'see' the forest, but the forest is also seeing Him. Acintya-bhedābheda: the dhāma and its Lord are simultaneously one and different.
  • aham pūrvam — I first! I first!
    Pronoun + adverb: 'me, first.' Repeated twice in the verse. This is the entire grammar of sakhya-rasa — a healthy competition where Kṛṣṇa is the unanimous prize and every devotee gets to win.
  • saṁspṛśya — touching
    From sam + spṛś- (to touch fully). Physical contact with Kṛṣṇa — what the yogīs in verse 12 explicitly cannot attain. Gauḍīyas read Vraja-rasa as the rasa of touch: Yaśodā binds Him, the gopas climb on Him, the gopīs embrace Him. Bhagavān is touchable.
  • remire — they enjoyed
    Aorist middle of ram- (to delight). The same root as Rāma and as rāsa. The boys' enjoyment is not 'fun' in a thin sense — it is the technical rati of sakhya-bhāva exercising itself.
Sometimes Kṛṣṇa would go to a somewhat distant place to see the beauty of the forest. Then all the other boys would run to accompany Him, each one saying, “I shall be the first to run and touch Kṛṣṇa! I shall touch Kṛṣṇa first!” In this way they enjoyed life by repeatedly touching Kṛṣṇa.
Gauḍīya Ācāryas
Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura Gauḍīya
Translation
Sometimes Kṛṣṇa would go to a somewhat distant place to see the beauty of the forest. Then all the other boys would run to accompany Him, each one saying, "I shall be the first to run and touch Kṛṣṇa! I shall touch Kṛṣṇa first!" In this way they enjoyed life by repeatedly touching Kṛṣṇa.
Commentary

When Krsna wandered off in the forest to see the beauty of the forest with a few boys, the others would run after him to see who could touch him first, shouting "I will touch him first" "No, I will." "No, I will."

Jīva Gosvāmī Gauḍīya
Commentary

Five verses show the special love and complete devotion to Kṛṣṇa while the boys played. Kṛṣṇa did not generally leave the boys and go far away, but if he sometimes went far off with a few friends, to see the beauty of the forest, the other boys would obtain happiness by touching him with embraces (sam—spṛśya). The attractiveness of the forest is suggested.

Related values & verses
Related values
Vairagya (Detachment / Dispassion)Maitri (Friendship / Goodwill)Guru Bhakti (Reverence for Teacher)Anahankarah (Freedom from False Ego)Samata (Equanimity / Even-mindedness)Discriminative Wisdom
Related verses
BG 5.4 BG 6.13 SB 1.2BG 7.1 BG 18.55 BG 18.1 BG 16.1 BG 12.1 BG 9.34 BG 13.3 BG 15.7 BG 6.47 BG 15.20 BG 5.7
Related lectures
Personal Guidance
The boys race to be the first to touch Kṛṣṇa, again and again. Devotional life is not 'achieving' Kṛṣṇa once but joyfully reaching for Him repeatedly through the same day.
Reflection Questions
  • What is my next moment of 'racing to touch Kṛṣṇa' today — a prayer, a verse, an act of service?
  • Have I started treating Kṛṣṇa as already touched and so no longer worth running toward?
Analogy

Picture a group of children racing toward a magnet — except the magnet is a boy, and the prize is not winning but touching Him first. Sakhya-rasa is competitive without being cruel: each boy wants to reach Kṛṣṇa first, and Kṛṣṇa lets every one of them think they did.

📝 My note

Source: vedabase.io

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