Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.18.2
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
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gopāla-chadma-māyayā
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by the illusion of the cowherd-boy disguise
Gopāla (cowherd) + chadma (cover, disguise) + māyā (concealing potency). Yogamāyā wraps Bhagavān in the gopāla form so the sakhās can wrestle with Him without flinching. The chadma is not deception of the devotees — it is the consent by which intimacy becomes possible.
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vikrīḍatoḥ
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while the two of Them were sporting
Dual present participle of vi+√krīḍ — playing intensively. The verb of Vraja: not karma, not yoga, but krīḍā. Bhagavān's activities in Vraja are categorized as līlā, not duty.
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grīṣmaḥ
—
summer
The harsh season — the one that, in śāstra, normally drives ascetics to caves. In Vraja it becomes the canvas on which Kṛṣṇa's presence-effect is most visible by contrast.
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śarīriṇām
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of embodied beings
Genitive plural of śarīrin — those identified with the body. The verse quietly marks the boundary the chapter is about to break: Vraja's residents are also embodied, but their bodies are not śarīrin in the bondage sense, because their identification has shifted to seva.
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māyayā
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by the illusion
Here māyā is yogamāyā, not mahāmāyā — the internal potency that conceals divinity to enable rasa, distinct from the external potency that conceals divinity to enable bondage. A foundational Gauḍīya distinction.
In Chapter Eighteen, of Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Śrīla Prabhupāda comments as follows: “The summer season in India is not very much welcomed because of the excessive heat, but in Vṛndāvana everyone was pleased because summer there appeared just like spring.”
Herding the cows was a pretense for going to the forest and playing with the other boys. By cheating materialistic men with this pretense, Krsna and Balarama played with the young girls. That Balarama had separate gopis is described in Ananda Vrndavana Campu. This will also be described later in Bhagavatam.
They played, cheating those who speak with deception about cow herding. Or gopāla-cchadma-māyayā means they used cow herding as an excuse for playing, thus cheating people. They carried out special playing (vi-krīḍatoḥ). Summer then appeared fully (nāma). It was not too pleasing. It was a little pleasing however because there was opportunity for water sports.
The two boys played in Vraja, reversing their previous attempts to hide their powers, while herding the cows, or hiding their powers from the cowherd boys (gopāla-cchadma-māyayā). Now they showed their powers as Bhagavān. Or they played intensely (vikrīḍatoḥ) with mercy (māyayā) to the cowherds on the pretext of herding cows. Summer was previously indicated with the words “dry forest” (SB 10.17.21) and the statement is repeated to emphasize that the season was fully manifested. The summer season manifested in name only (nāma), without the negative features, or the season summer manifested conspicuously (nāma). That will become clear later. The season is not pleasing because of the heat. However it is a little pleasing because of water sports. And in this chapter there will be a description of special sports during this season.
- Which 'summer' am I currently dreading that would change tone if I felt His presence in it?
- Where am I postponing joy until the season improves rather than letting Him improve the season?
For embodied souls summer is a furnace; for the bodies of those who live around Kṛṣṇa it is a screen on which He paints spring. The season has not changed — the eyes that see it have, because the Lord disguised as a cowherd boy has rearranged what counts as harsh.
My note
Source: vedabase.io