Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.26.15
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
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śrūyatām
—
please hear
Passive imperative of √śru. Bhakti begins with śravaṇa (SB 7.5.23). Nanda's first word to the troubled gopas is the first limb of bhakti — and the entire resolution of their doubt flows through the ear.
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vacaḥ
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words
Vacas — speech, statement. Nanda's vacas is not his own opinion but a transmission of Garga's vacas. The Gauḻīya line is exactly this: paramparā, words received and re-spoken without invention.
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śaṅkā
—
the doubt
Same word as v.14 — picked up to be dissolved. Bhāgavatam structure: doubt named, then named again as the elder begins to answer. The repetition is therapeutic.
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arbhake
—
concerning the boy
Locative of arbhaka — small child. Nanda keeps the word 'boy' even while preparing to identify Him as Nārāyaṇa. Vraja-vātsalya never surrenders its diminutives, even to theology.
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gargaḥ
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the sage Garga
Gargācārya — purohita of the Yadus, ṛṣi-paramparā voice. Gauḻīyas honor him as the channel through whom Kṛṣṇa's identity was first communicated to His own household. Without his words, even Nanda would have only suspicion.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Svāmī comments, “The words previously heard from Gargācārya awakened Nanda Mahārāja to the truth about Kṛṣṇa, and thus, by Nanda’s constantly remembering His activities, all thoughts about their being impossible ceased in him. Now he is instructing the cowherd men with these same words.”
"I will relieve your doubts by reciting what I heard from Garagamuni. Narayana has entered my son by the force of my performance of past pious activities, to deliver me most mercifully from danger."
Fearing there would be a decrease in affection because of fear and respect in realizing that Kṛṣṇa was the Lord, by directly revealing that he had directly appeared to display unlimited qualities of the Lord, Garga had not directly stated Kṛṣṇa’s supreme position of power. Nanda informed the cowherds by Garga’s words which he understood to mean that Kṛṣṇa was a child but had some extraordinary qualities similar to the Lord. You should hear my words which are potent since I heard from Garga. Your (vaḥ) doubts should disappear about this boy (arbhake). He makes it understood that Kṛṣṇa is his child by using the word arbhake. Or your doubts about your (vaḥ) son should disappear. To increase their affection for Kṛṣṇa he identifies Kṛṣṇa as their son as well as his. Hear what Garga said concerning this (enam) son of mine. By using the word enam (this) he speaks as if Kṛṣṇa were present, though he was actually absent since he was the object of great attraction for them and was present in their hearts at all times. By repeating words like arbhake and kumāram he indicates that Kṛṣṇa is none other than his son. Or, hear what Garga said clearly (ha) about this boy to me, not by hints.
- Which received teaching could settle a current doubt of mine if I bothered to recall it?
- Where am I improvising answers when a sage's word would serve better?
When the village elder finally speaks, the room settles — not because he raises his voice but because he begins to remember what a wandering ṛṣi told him years ago. Nanda lifts the puzzle off the gopas' shoulders by handing it to a higher authority: Gargācārya.
Earlier (SB 10.8), Vasudeva had quietly sent Gargācārya — purohita of the Yadu dynasty — to Vraja to perform Kṛṣṇa's and Balarāma's nāma-karaṇa-saṁskāra. Garga warned Nanda: if Kaṁsa learns the truth, he will strike; therefore the ceremony must be private.
In that secret naming Garga revealed Kṛṣṇa's identity to Nanda alone. The cowherd father has carried this knowledge in his heart for seven years; now, asked, he releases it. Gauḻīyas teach śravaṇa from a senior Vaiṣṇava is the only resolution for such doubts.
My note
Source: vedabase.io