FolioCorpusŚrīmad-Bhāgavatam

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.36.5

पशवो दुद्रुवुर्भीता राजन्सन्त्यज्य गोकुलम् । कृष्ण कृष्णेति ते सर्वे गोविन्दं शरणं ययु: ॥ ५ ॥
paśavo dudruvur bhītā
[pashavo dudruvur bheetaa]
rājan santyajya go-kulam
[raajan santyajya go-kulam]
kṛṣṇa kṛṣṇeti te sarve
[krishna krishneti te sarve]
govindaṁ śaraṇaṁ yayuḥ
[govindam sharanam yayuh]
paśavaḥ — the domestic animals dudruvuḥ — ran away bhītāḥ — afraid rājan — O King santyajya — abandoning go - kulam — the dairy pasture kṛṣṇa kṛṣṇa iti — “Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa” te — they (the inhabitants of Vṛndāvana) sarve — all govindam — to Lord Govinda śaraṇam — for shelter yayuḥ — went .
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
paśavo dudruvur bhītā
paśavaḥ
the domestic animals
dudruvuḥ
ran away
bhītāḥ
afraid
rājan santyajya go-kulam
rājan
O King
santyajya
abandoning
go - kulam
the dairy pasture
kṛṣṇa kṛṣṇeti te sarve
kṛṣṇa kṛṣṇa iti
“Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa”
te
they (the inhabitants of Vṛndāvana)
sarve
all
govindaṁ śaraṇaṁ yayuḥ
govindam
to Lord Govinda
śaraṇam
for shelter
yayuḥ
went .
  • bhītāḥ — afraid
    Fear in Vraja is always context-dependent: the residents fear for Kṛṣṇa or are made to fear by demons sent against Him. They never fear samsāra in the abstract — their bhāva is too concrete for that.
  • kṛṣṇa kṛṣṇa iti — crying, 'Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa'
    The doubled name is itself the verse's centerpiece. For Gauḍīyas this is the proto-form of harināma — uncalculated, repeated, emerging directly from love and need.
  • govindam — Govinda, Lord of the cows
    Go (cow, also senses, also earth) + vinda (one who finds, protects, pleases). Of all His names this one is invoked by the residents because the threat is to the cows; bhakti chooses Kṛṣṇa's name by the rasa of the moment.
  • śaraṇam — shelter, refuge
    Śaraṇa-gati — taking shelter — is the doorway of bhakti. Here the whole village does it spontaneously; in Bhagavad-gītā 18.66 Kṛṣṇa will ask for the same thing explicitly. Vraja does without asking.
The domestic animals fled the pasture in fear, O King, and all the inhabitants rushed to Lord Govinda for shelter, crying, “Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa!”
Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura Gauḍīya
Translation
The domestic animals fled the pasture in fear, O King, and all the inhabitants rushed to Lord Govinda for shelter, crying, "Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa!"
Jīva Gosvāmī Gauḍīya
Commentary

The animals left Vraja, though they should not have done so in the evening, out of great fear. They were pursued by the demon as they fled. Śukadeva calls out to Parīkṣit in astonishment at what happened or from fear. They called out to Kṛṣṇa who was called Govinda because he had been enthroned as the king of Gokula with that name. Thus they took shelter of him. They approached him as he was coming from Govardhana where there was a place for the rāsa dance, because he heard the commotion. They shouted only his name, since they could say nothing else out of great fear. This was how they all acted.

Related values
Anahankarah (Freedom from False Ego)
Related verses
Concepts
Jiva
Domestic animals flee and all inhabitants rush to Govinda crying, 'Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa!' In real danger devotees don't theorize — they run to a single shelter and call a single name.
Reflection Questions
  • When threatened, do you run to Kṛṣṇa or to your usual coping strategies?
  • Whose example of running-to-Kṛṣṇa could you imitate this week?

When the herd is spooked, every cow runs in its own direction; only the cowherds know to run toward the cowherd. Vraja's whole spiritual instinct in one line: when terror comes, the name 'Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa' is already on the tongue before the mind has chosen it.

Gajendra's single cry

In SB 8.2–3, the elephant-king Gajendra, seized by the crocodile, exhausts every strategy and finally simply cries out to the Lord. Viṣṇu comes immediately, on Garuḍa, and lifts him out by the trunk.

The Vraja-version of that cry is shorter still: not a Sanskrit hymn but just the name — 'Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa.' Gauḍīyas read this verse as the prototype of nāma-bhakti as the natural refuge of those who already love.

📝 My note

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