Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.44.29
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
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vayasyān
—
age-mates, friends
From vayas (age) — those of His same age. The technical sakhya-vocabulary: Kṛṣṇa's cowherd friends are vayasya, not 'devotees'. The relationship is structured by equality of age, not asymmetry of worship.
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saṁsṛjya
—
having mingled with
Gerund of sam + √sṛj. To pour together, to mix. The same root as visarga (creation by pouring forth). Kṛṣṇa pours Himself in among His friends — sakhya is pourable; aiśvarya is not.
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valgantau
—
the two dancing
Dual present participle of √valg (cf. verse 11, valgataḥ). The same dance-verb that the women used for His arena-footwork — now used for the post-victory dance with the gopas. The poet collapses the two dances into the same word.
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ruta - nūpurau
—
with sounding ankle-bells
Compound: ruta (sounding) + nūpura (ankle-bell). The same ankle-bells that the gopīs would hear from afar in Vraja. The Bhāgavatam reminds the listener of the sound of Vraja in the moment of Mathurā's liberation.
Nowadays we see that in championship boxing matches, as soon as there is a victory, all the friends and relatives of the victorious boxer rush into the ring to congratulate him, and often the champion will dance about in great happiness. Exactly in this mood, Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma danced about, celebrating Their victory with Their friends and relatives.
Krsna and Balarama began dancing around (valgantau) with their friends.
They mocked the wrestlers with laughter and then called the cowherd boys. They were shy to enter suddenly, and thus were brought to the arena by force and all joined together, holding one another (saṁsṛjya). They jumped about (valgantau) like wrestlers. Though they were wearing cloth ornaments, they had jewelled ankle bells since these would not get crushed by the opponent in wrestling. They kept them because the sound nourished their jumping and incited their limbs to move. The two boys brought the other boys into the arena for fun and to make Kaṁsa angrier.
Out of fear of Kaṁsa or because of shyness the boys did not come, but he forcibly pulled them there and met them because they were friends. They played at fighting. The two boys moved here and there (valgantau) while their ankle bells sounded. They played in the huge arena to show the beauty of their play wrestling and to show the superiority of the cowherds over Cāṇūra and others and make Kaṁsa angry, in order to kill him. This would also counteract later suffering of himself and the boys (on separation). bala-kṣayaṁ vivṛddhiṁ ca dṛṣṭvā cāṇūra-kṛṣṇayoḥ / vārayāmāsa tūryāṇi kaṁsaḥ kopa-parāyaṇaḥ // mṛdaṅgādiṣu tūryeṣu pratiṣiddheṣu tat-kṣaṇāt / khe saṁgatāny avādyanta deva-tūryāṇy anekaśaḥ // jaya govinda cāṇūraṁ jahi keśava dānavam / antardhānagatā devās tam ūcur atiharṣitāḥ // Seeing the destruction of Cāṇūra’ strength and the increase of Kṛṣṇa’s strength, Kaṁsa, full of anger, stopped the music. When the mṛdaṅgas and other instruments stopped, at that moment in the sky the devatas’ many instruments began to sound together. The devatās spoke in joy in the sky “Victory to Govinda! Keśava! Kill the demon Cāṇūra.” Viṣṇu Purāṇa Hari-vaṁśa says: tataḥ prasvinna-vadanaḥ kṛṣṇa-praṇihitekṣaṇaḥ / nyavārayata tūryāṇi kaṁsaḥ savyena pāṇinā // With sweating face, Kaṁsa glared at Kṛṣṇa and stopped the music with his left hand. svayam eva pravādyanta tūryaghoṣāś ca sarvaśaḥ All the instruments began playing on their own.
- Where do you under-celebrate spiritual victories with your community?
- When did you last actually dance after a hard task was finished?
The wrestlers dead, Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma call Their cowherd friends and dance — ankle-bells ringing, musical instruments still playing, the killing already turning into a Vraja-style village festival. The arena becomes a courtyard. Only Vraja-rasa can absorb violence this fast.
In Vraja, before all this, Kṛṣṇa would dance with His sakhā cowherd boys in the forest — ankle bells ringing, flute in hand, instruments echoing off Govardhana. The boys never doubted Him; their friendship needed no proof.
Now, in the Mathurā arena, with five wrestlers dead at His feet, He immediately calls those same boys forward and dances with them again. Gauḍīyas read this as a doctrinal statement: even in the most aiśvarya-heavy scene (demon-killing), He instantly reverts to sakhya-rasa as soon as His friends are present. The friends are the rasa.
My note
Source: vedabase.io