Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.13.21
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
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tat-tat-vatsān
—
each set of calves respectively
Reduplicated tat (this-this) + vatsa. The grammatical signature for distribution — 'each to its own.' Vraja-līlā preserves individuality even at the level of grammar: every calf returns to its particular cow.
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tat-tat-goṣṭhe
—
into each respective cow-shed
Reduplicated tat + goṣṭha (cow-shed). Gauḍīyas treasure the word goṣṭha — Vraja's economic and ritual heart. The goṣṭha is not merely a barn; it is the locus of Vraja's daily rhythm, the source of milk for Kṛṣṇa Himself.
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tat-tat-ātmā
—
as the (apparent) self of each
Compound: tat-tat (each) + ātmā (self). He becomes the 'self' of each calf — but Gauḍīyas insist on the apparent in this: He does not destroy the original calf-souls (they sleep on Brahmā's bed, as verse 41 will confirm); He stands in for them in their roles.
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praviṣṭavān
—
He entered
Perfect of pra-√viś. He 'entered' every house, every shed. Gauḍīyas read this as the same verb Kṛṣṇa uses of the soul's entry into the body — pravesa is His characteristic mode.
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rājan
—
O King
Vocative of rājan — Śuka pauses to address Parīkṣit. The address marks the verse as a particularly important pivot in the narration; the storyteller is asking the listener to attend.
Kṛṣṇa had many, many friends, of whom Śrīdāmā, Sudāmā and Subala were prominent. Thus Kṛṣṇa Himself became Śrīdāmā, Sudāmā and Subala and entered their respective houses with their respective calves.
Krsna, playing the role of each calf and cowherd boy (tat tad atma), herded each calf into its respective pen, and, expanded as Sridama, Sudama, Subala and others, entered their respective houses.
With each particular form (tat-tad-ātmā) he entered each house. Or entering the house with each of the forms he took great care (tat-tad-ātmā). That means that, as each boy, he confined the calves, called the cows, and played a flute as a signal. According to Amara-koṣa the word ātmā can mean effort, determination, intelligence, nature, Brahmā or body.
With each particular form (tat-tad-ātmā) he entered each house. Or entering the house with each of the forms he took great care (tat-tad-ātmā). That means that, as each boy, he confined the calves, called the cows, and played a flute as a signal. O king! Śukadeva calls out in astonishment. Or O devotee shining (rājan) with bhakti! You can understand this. Or Kṛṣṇa was shining, to receive the affection of his mother.
- Have I made room for Kṛṣṇa in the smallness of my own household, or only in the temple?
- Where am I keeping the Lord 'too grand' to enter my actual home?
Like one actor wearing a hundred costumes at once, walking into a hundred dressing rooms in the same theater — Kṛṣṇa enters every cow-shed as the calf of that cow, and every household as the son of that mother. The single līlā fans out into a hundred private homes, each one a complete return.
My note
Source: vedabase.io