Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.15.48
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
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nidāgha-ātapa
—
by the glaring summer sun
nidāgha (hot season) + ātapa (heat, glare). Gauḍīya: the heat is part of the līlā-setup — without thirst there is no drinking, without drinking no poison, without poison no revival. The Lord arranges every prerequisite.
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duṣṭam jalam
—
contaminated water
duṣṭa (spoiled) + jala (water). Gauḍīya: same root duṣṭ that named Dhenuka durātmā in verse 22 and the duṣṭa-nibarhaṇa in verse 21. The poison in the Yamunā is the work of a duṣṭa-sarpa, Kāliya — about to be addressed in chapter 16.
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tṛṣa-ārtāḥ
—
tormented by thirst
tṛṣ (thirst) + ārta (afflicted). Gauḍīya: tṛṣṇā is one of the great saṁsāra-symbols; in Vraja, ordinary thirst becomes the trigger for the Lord's protective līlā. Every saṁsāra-condition is repurposed as a līlā-occasion.
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viṣa dūṣitam
—
spoiled by poison
viṣa (poison) + dūṣita (spoiled). Gauḍīya: viṣa is the venom of Kāliya, whose lake has overflowed and ruined the Yamunā-water. The next chapter resolves; this chapter sets up. Bhāgavatam composes pastimes in pairs.
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papuḥ
—
they drank
Perfect plural of √pā — to drink. Gauḍīya: the same root that gives nara-pa, gopa, paśu-pā (drinker as in to drink water; pā also means to protect — same root differentiated). The verb's irony: those who normally pā (protect) are pā-ing (drinking) and being poisoned.
Ignoring Krsna, who was walking slowly behind, the cows in great thirst ran quickly towards the water. The other cowherd boys were running after the cows.
The cows and then later (atha) the boys drank the water. Though the cows tended to wander about, because of thirst due to the summer heat, seeing the water from high on the bank, the cows ran into the water without knowing about the poison. The boys were also afflicted by the heat, but knew the water was poisonous, but seeing that the cows had died they also drank wanting in order to give up their lives. Thus the cows are mentioned first and the boys are mentioned second. The cows and boys went ahead of Kṛṣṇa a little, since they could not bear leaving him alone. It was also practical to go in groups, since there were unlimited numbers of cows. Kṛṣṇa went behind. It would have been impossible for him to permit the cows to drink that water if he had seen it. The reason for the bad water was the poison.
After going there (atha), without considering the matter, they drank the water. Or atha can indicate a new topic—a description of great suffering. The use of the word ca twice that both the cows and the boys were of equal importance: they drank together, at once. Otherwise on seeing the first group drink the water and die, the second group would not drink. Why did they drink the water in Kṛṣṇa’s absence? They were thirsty because of the summer heat. The cause of the evil in the water was poison (viśa-dūṣitam).
- What 'poisoned water' have I drunk in good faith recently, only realizing afterward?
- Am I trusting the Lord to bring me back from drinking what I didn't see was tainted?
A summer noon, sun glaring, throat parched — animals and boys drink from a familiar river without testing. But the river has been poisoned. The verse stages the catastrophe: ordinary thirst, ordinary trust, extraordinary contamination. The Lord lets the scene develop fully so that His response in 49-50 will be measured against the full disaster.
My note
Source: vedabase.io