Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.25.12
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
-
pāda - mūlam
—
the base of the lotus feet
pāda (foot) + mūla (root, base). The exact phrase used in Vaiṣṇava stotras as the only safe refuge — pāda-mūlaṁ vinā kvāpi nāsti gatiḥ. The cows of Vraja perform without philosophy what the śāstras prescribe.
-
kāyena
—
by their bodies
Instrumental of kāya. The cows' bodies become umbrellas for their calves — vātsalya in flesh. Gauḍīya rasa-shastra notes: the cow's love for the calf is the archetype on which Yaśodā's love for Kṛṣṇa is patterned.
-
sutān
—
their children (calves)
Generic 'sons' — here calves. The verse refuses any sharp boundary between human and bovine parenthood in Vraja; vātsalya is one rasa whose body is shared by Yaśodā, Nanda, and every cow at the gate of the storm.
-
bhagavataḥ
—
of the Supreme Personality of Godhead
From bhaga (six opulences). Used here at the precise moment when Kṛṣṇa is about to manifest aiśvarya within the heart of mādhurya. The cows approach pāda-mūla — and the next verses will show why bhagavān is the right title.
The cows covered their heads and their calves with their bodies.
With great effort they covered their heads and children. “How did their knowledge of doing this arise?” They developed this realization of compassion because of the inconceivable qualities in the Lord (bhagavataḥ). They came very close (upāyayuḥ) to Kṛṣṇa.
With great effort they covered their heads and their children. Another version has prasādhya with the same meaning. They took shelter of Kṛṣṇa’s feet, approaching very close, out of affection and with a desire to protect him. This would reveal his unlimited powers in protecting his devotees and his affection for the miserable. Bhagavataḥ means “of the lord who is the object of great affection.”
- Whose 'calves' am I covering with my own body right now, and is that bringing me to His feet?
- Where could I let parental self-giving deepen into devotional shelter-seeking?
Cows shield their calves with their own bodies, water sluicing off their backs, and walk to Kṛṣṇa's lotus feet — not a herd but a procession. They have done before what philosophers spend lifetimes failing to do: place the calf they love at the Lord's feet, not in their own.
My note
Source: vedabase.io