FolioCorpusŚrīmad-Bhāgavatam

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.31.11

चलसि यद् व्रजाच्चारयन् पशून् नलिनसुन्दरं नाथ ते पदम् । शिलतृणाङ्कुरै: सीदतीति न: कलिलतां मन: कान्त गच्छति ॥ ११ ॥
calasi yad vrajāc cārayan paśūn
[chalasi yad vrajaach chaarayan pashoon]
nalina-sundaraṁ nātha te padam
[nalina-sundaram naatha te padam]
śila-tṛṇāṅkuraiḥ sīdatīti naḥ
[shila-trinaankuraih seedateeti nah]
kalilatāṁ manaḥ kānta gacchati
[kalilataam manah kaanta gachchati]
calasi — You go yat — when vrajāt — from the cowherd village cārayan — herding paśūn — the animals nalina — than a lotus flower sundaram — more beautiful nātha — O master te — Your padam — feet śila — by sharp edges of grain tṛṇa — grass aṅkuraiḥ — and sprouting plants sīdati — are experiencing pain iti — thus thinking naḥ — us kalilatām — discomfort manaḥ — our minds kānta — O lover gacchati — feel .
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
calasi yad vrajāc cārayan paśūn
calasi
You go
yat
when
vrajāt
from the cowherd village
cārayan
herding
paśūn
the animals
nalina-sundaraṁ nātha te padam
nalina
than a lotus flower
sundaram
more beautiful
nātha
O master
te
Your
padam
feet
śila-tṛṇāṅkuraiḥ sīdatīti naḥ
śila
by sharp edges of grain
tṛṇa
grass
aṅkuraiḥ
and sprouting plants
sīdati
are experiencing pain
iti
thus thinking
naḥ
us
kalilatāṁ manaḥ kānta gacchati
kalilatām
discomfort
manaḥ
our minds
kānta
O lover
gacchati
feel .
  • vrajāt — from the cowherd village
    Ablative of vrajaḥ. The same Vraja named in verse 1 as glorified by His birth is now the place He leaves each morning. The gopīs' love measures absence in geography: He goes from vraja to kānana, and their minds go with His feet.
  • nalina-sundaram — more beautiful than a lotus
    Compound: nalina (lotus) + sundaram (more beautiful). Comparative-construction without explicit suffix — the very lotus that is Kṛṣṇa's standard of comparison everywhere else is here defeated by His own feet. Gauḍīya rhetoric: the standard yields to the thing it measures.
  • śila-tṛṇa-aṅkuraiḥ — by sharp grain-edges, grass, and sprouting plants
    Compound: śila (sharp edges of grain) + tṛṇa (grass) + aṅkura (sprout). The catalog is forensic — they have walked the path themselves; they know exactly what is on it. Vātsalya-tinged mādhurya: their love mothers Him even mid-romance.
  • sīdati — are pained
    Present indicative of √sad, 'to sink, suffer'. The verb of suffering applied not to themselves but to His feet — they relocate their own pain into His soles. The gopī signature: their grief is always grief for Him, not grief for themselves.
  • kalilatām — discomfort, agitation
    Abstract noun from kalila — 'confused, agitated, entangled'. Their minds are not merely sad; they are tangled — the verb's image is of brambles inside the mind that mirror the brambles under His foot. Inner and outer landscape echo each other.
Dear master, dear lover, when You leave the cowherd village to herd the cows, our minds are disturbed with the thought that Your feet, more beautiful than a lotus, will be pricked by the spiked husks of grain and the rough grass and plants.
Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura Gauḍīya
Translation
Dear master, dear lover, when You leave the cowherd village to herd the cows, our minds are disturbed with the thought that Your feet, more beautiful than a lotus, will be pricked by the spiked husks of grain and the rough grass and plants.
Commentary

"Not only do you give us sorrow now, but by making yourself unhappy, you try to make us unhappy." When you feet, more delicate than a lotus (nalina sundaram), are injured by the hard spikes (sila), grass and shoots, our minds become more pained (kalilatam)." Another meaning of kali lata is accepting (lati) quarrel (kali). "Thus our minds quarrel with us as follows:. " O mind, why are you uselessly lamenting. If Krsna gets pain in walking in the forests, then why does he daily go into the forest from Vraja?" "O unintelligent cowherd women! The soles of his feet are more tender than the sthala padma. As the forest is spread with cut crops, thorns and grass sprouts, will he not get pain?" "O foolish mind! He is walking on the very soft sandy pathways." "O undiscerning cowherd women! The cows are wandering on those paths eating the grass." "O mind, blind with prema! Why should one with eyes step on the sharp grass and sprouts?" "O gopis cheated of even a touch of prema! What will happen if by mistake or because of haste, he steps on those sharp things?" "O mind, our brother, you have said correctly. We live, just to experience such pain. We have been created for that purpose." "O distressed gopis! You should remain alive. But I will now leave, departing from your body with your life airs."

Jīva Gosvāmī Gauḍīya
Commentary

You give us pain both in meeting and separation. It is not a temporary phenomenon. This is explained in two verses. Our minds are disturbed from the time you being to depart from Vraja till the time you return. To herd the unlimited number of cows, you leave the path and feel pain because of sharp plants when you wander here and there. The cows, beings with no intelligence, wander on paths difficult for your lotus feet. Śila refers to the sharp stubs of wild grasses. Hari-vaṁśa says ajhilli-kaṇṭaka-vanam: the thick forest was filled with thorns. Because there were not thorns everywhere, they are not mentioned in Bhāgavatam. O lord of Vraja! This is not befitting you. O beloved! Those feet should be touched by our soft hands! They call out to Kṛṣṇa in prema. This is the cause of the pain in their hearts. Or, as the master (natha) all the people of Vraja, the people of Vraja all feel pain, and as our lover (kanta), we feel pain. Or, natha can mean “giver of pain to your beloveds.” “You are intelligent. You should not worry concerning my situation.” Even if one is intelligent, one cannot give up worry for one’s lover (kanta). Or, the cause of being troubled in mind is explained: you are the lord of the prāṇas (natha). (Therefore if you suffer, everyone suffers.) “Viṣṇu Purāṇa says: yāvataḥ kurute jantuḥ sambandhān manasaḥ priyān. tāvanto'sya nikhanyante hṛdaye śoka-śaṅkavaḥ Aas long as living begins think of another person as a beloved they will be afflicted by lamentation. Having a love will produce problems. One should thus reject affection. Our minds have become fixed in determination (kalilatām) and have no discriminating power. “Consider that this is only your minds acting like this.” There is no fault in the mind. O Kṛṣṇa, attractive to the mind (kanta)! Give up wandering the forest and quickly come here.

Related values
Anahankarah (Freedom from False Ego)Kshama (Forgiveness / Patience)Udyama (Industriousness / Effort)Atma Nigraha (Self-control)
Related verses
The gopīs worry that Kṛṣṇa's tender feet will be pricked by sharp grass and husks as He herds cows. Love attends to the smallest details — true devotion notices what others overlook in the beloved's daily life.
Reflection Questions
  • Where could you bring more tender attention to Kṛṣṇa's daily presence in your worship?
  • What kind of love notices the small hurts of those it serves?

A child watching her father go barefoot into thorned scrub does not consider whether the father is invincible; she winces at every step her eyes can see. The gopīs say: we know You are God — we just cannot bear that grass-blade against that sole.

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