Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.20.2
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
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vismitāḥ
—
astonished
Vismaya — the natural attendant of līlā-śravaṇa. Even hearsay of Kṛṣṇa's deeds produces it; this is why the Bhāgavatam recommends hearing as the first limb of bhakti.
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deva-pravarau
—
two of the chief demigods
Compound: deva (god) + pravara (foremost). The elders' best guess. Gauḍīyas use this verse to show that Kṛṣṇa's Vraja-form is so unguarded in sweetness that even those who love Him cannot easily place Him above Indra or Brahmā.
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kṛṣṇa-rāmau
—
Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma
Dvandva compound naming the two Lords together. Balarāma is ādi-guru and Kṛṣṇa's first expansion (svayaṁ-prakāśa); Gauḍīyas always honour Him in the breath before Kṛṣṇa, never separately.
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vrajam
—
to Vraja
The accusative of destination. Vraja is not a backdrop but a destination — even for the elders' speculation about the Lord. In Gauḍīya theology, Vraja is the topmost dhāma, and the verb 'come' (gatau) carries the whole descent-doctrine.
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gopa-vṛddhāḥ
—
the elder cowherd men
Compound: gopa + vṛddha (elder). The Vraja-elders — Nanda, Upananda, the senior cowherds — bear vātsalya-rasa toward both Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma. Their bewilderment is itself a rasa, not a deficiency.
The inhabitants thought of Krsna and Balarama as the best of the devas. Hearing of their extraordinary strength, they were still not aware that they were God because of their strong bond of love. Their exploits nourished the sweet relationship even more. Nowhere is it stated that the parent’s love decreased. This would have happened had they been aware of Krsna and Balarama as god.
This verse describes the emotions of those who heard. Though young people also heard the elders are specifically mentioned since they experienced the greatest astonishment. The young gopīs also had the same experience. They considered that Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma were two eminent devatās of some sort, but did not bother to identify which devatās they were, since their hearts were overcome with prema for them as friends.
They heard near (upa) the two boys, or heard partially (upa). They thought that the best of the devatās, Viṣṇu and Śiva had come to Vraja and were born there. This is a statement uttered out of great devotion, not considering that Viṣṇu and Śiva are not born like jīvas. However they had personally appeared by their mercy. But they were to be worshipped with prema, as their offspring. Or, O exalted Parīkṣit (deva)! These boys have come to Vraja as the best of the Vraja inhabitants (pravarau). Or they have appeared in Vraja like the best of devatās, and therefore will always protect us. The elder cowherds refers to Nanda, Upananda and others. Even when Kṛṣṇa was very young, the younger inhabitants of Vraja would go with Kṛṣṇa to the forest to play, attracted by the rasa of playing. Or the younger cowherds and gopīs, absorbed in special rasa, did not have astonishment, when he displayed his greatness. They are not mentioned here at all. Along with the elder cowherds, the elder women also were astonished (indicated by the word ca). The young gopīs’ prema did not decrease when Kṛṣṇa displayed powers, but rather increased. That was pointed out earlier.
- Where do I prefer to keep the Lord smaller in identity to keep Him intimate?
- What balance between awe and friendship is right for me right now?
Hearing the rescue from the boys' own mouths, the elders mistake Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma for visiting devatās. It is the standard Vraja-paradox — His sweetness so masks His Godhood that the people closest to Him guess at it from a hand's breadth away. The covering of vātsalya is Kṛṣṇa's own arrangement; svayaṁ-bhagavān consents to be merely 'someone exalted' so that intimacy is not interrupted by awe.
Later in the canto, Nanda Mahārāja repeatedly hears confirmation that his son is the Supreme Personality — from Garga Muni, from the rescued residents of Vraja, from Vasudeva — and each time he sets it gently down to feed Kṛṣṇa his morning milk. Gauḍīyas explain that yogamāyā keeps the elders' aiśvarya-perception muffled so that vātsalya-rasa is not destroyed by awareness of Godhood.
The villagers' 'they must be demigods' is the same protective mistake — a step away from the unbearable knowledge that Bhagavān is their child.
My note
Source: vedabase.io