Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.24.34
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
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anāṁsi
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wagons
Nominative plural of anas — bullock-cart. The everyday vehicle of Vraja becomes the vehicle of festival. Gauḍīya note: bhakti uses what is at hand — no separate transport, no separate equipment, the daily cart becomes the temple float.
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anaḍut - yuktāni
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yoked with oxen
Compound: anaḍut (ox) + yukta (yoked). The bulls themselves pull the gopīs to Govardhana. The cows' male counterparts have a place in the procession; the entire bovine family participates.
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gopyaḥ
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the gopīs
Nominative plural of gopī. The gopīs make their first chapter-appearance here as singers of Kṛṣṇa's glories. Gauḍīya weight: the gopīs are the supreme bhaktas; their voice naturally rises to kṛṣṇa-vīrya. The verse is a quiet flag that mādhurya is awakening.
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kṛṣṇa - vīryāṇi
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the heroic deeds of Kṛṣṇa
Compound: kṛṣṇa + vīrya (valor, heroic deed). The gopīs already have a repertoire of kṛṣṇa-vīrya to sing — Pūtanā, the cart, Tṛṇāvarta, Yamalārjuna, Aghāsura, Brahmā's bewilderment. Each previous Canto-10 chapter becomes lyrics in this verse.
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gāyantyaḥ
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singing
Present participle feminine plural of √gai. Kīrtana enters the ritual flow. Gauḍīya doctrine: kīrtana is the chief of bhakti's nine limbs in this age (CC Ādi 7.74). The verse plants kīrtana inside the first Govardhana-pūjā itself.
Yoking bulls on the oxcarts and getting in the carts, the cowherd men and women went around the hill. While the brahmanas intoned blessings, they also sang the glories of Krsna.
This verse describes how they went. The details are described in Hari-vaṁśa. tato nīrājanārthaṁ vai vṛndeśo gokulāni vai paribabrur girivaraṁ savṛṣāni samantataḥ tā gāvaḥ pradrutā hṛṣtāḥ sāpīḍa-kanakāṅgadāḥ sahasrāpīḍa-śṛṅgāgrāḥ śataśo ‘tha sahsraśaḥ anujagmuś ca gopālāḥ pālayanto dhanāni ca bhakti-cchedānuliptāṅgā rakta-pītāsitāmbarāḥ māyura-citrāṅgadino bhujaiḥ praharaṇāvṛtaiḥ mayura-patracitraiś ca keśabandhaiḥ suyojitaiḥ babhrājur adhikaṁ gopāḥ samavāye tadā tu te anye vṛṣāṇ ārur ahur nrtyanti sma pare mudā gopālās tv apare gā vai jagṛhur vega-gāminaḥ The people of Gokula and the Lord of Vṛndāvana then began circumambulating Govardhana in order to worship it, surrounded by many bulls. The thousands of cows had golden crowns and bracelets, with gold tipped horns, and moved quickly in joy. The cowherds followed them, protecting their treasures. Decorated with tilaka, red, yellow and dark colored cloth, and peacock feathers, with weapons in their hands, with peacock feathers in their hair, they appeared splendid. Some rode on bulls and others danced in joy. Others, moving quickly, herded the cows. The cowherds took their best bulls with them. The women rode on carts and went around Govardhana. The word ca is repeated to indicate that both the men and women participated in this important event without distinction. The women especially are described as singing the glories of Kṛṣṇa in starting the sacrifice for Govardhana. The brāhmaṇas went along with the women.
- Whose 'songs' in my community have I been treating as less liturgical than the priestly versions?
- Where could integration of differently-voiced devotion enrich my next gathering?
A bridal procession in a village winds along the road with bullocks pulling carts and women singing — the labor of the day becomes festival, and the labor is itself the song. The gopīs ride their bullock-carts, ornamented, and the songs they sing are not of Indra and not of cows — they sing kṛṣṇa-vīrya. The whole new yajña has, by this verse, already become kṛṣṇa-kīrtana on wheels.
Centuries later in Navadvīpa and Purī, Mahāprabhu walked through the streets at the head of a saṅkīrtana procession — women on rooftops, men in the road, dancing, singing kṛṣṇa-nāma. The crowd became the offering.
This verse in chapter 24 is the prototype: the procession itself is the bhakti; the gopīs' songs are the heart of the sacrifice. Govardhana-pūjā ends not in silence but in kīrtana, and Mahāprabhu's saṅkīrtana movement is its direct heir.
My note
Source: vedabase.io