FolioCorpusŚrīmad-Bhāgavatam

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.45.29

ततश्च लब्धसंस्कारौ द्विजत्वं प्राप्य सुव्रतौ । गर्गाद् यदुकुलाचार्याद्गायत्रं व्रतमास्थितौ ॥ २९ ॥
tataś ca labdha-saṁskārau
[tatash cha labdha-samskaarau]
dvijatvaṁ prāpya su-vratau
[dvijatvam praapya su-vratau]
gargād yadu-kulācāryād
[gargaad yadu-kulaachaaryaad]
gāyatraṁ vratam āsthitau
[gaayatram vratam aasthitau]
tataḥ — then ca — and labdha — having received saṁskārau — initiation (Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma) dvijatvam — twice-born status prāpya — attaining su - vratau — sincere in Their vows gargāt — from Garga Muni yadu - kula — of the Yadu dynasty ācāryāt — from the spiritual master gāyatram — of celibacy vratam — the vow āsthitau — assumed .
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
tataś ca labdha-saṁskārau
tataḥ
then
ca
and
labdha
having received
saṁskārau
initiation (Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma)
dvijatvaṁ prāpya su-vratau
dvijatvam
twice-born status
prāpya
attaining
su - vratau
sincere in Their vows
gargād yadu-kulācāryād
gargāt
from Garga Muni
yadu - kula
of the Yadu dynasty
ācāryāt
from the spiritual master
gāyatraṁ vratam āsthitau
gāyatram
of celibacy
vratam
the vow
āsthitau
assumed .
  • labdha - saṁskārau — having received initiation
    Saṁskāra here = upanayana. The Lords are 'now initiated' — śāstra's grammar applied to Bhagavān without protest. Kṛṣṇa lets the rite have its proper effect even on Himself.
  • dvijatvam prāpya — attaining twice-born status
    Bhagavān becomes formally dvija. Gauḍīya commentators note: He who is Veda-puruṣa Himself accepts the predicate dvija within human līlā — śāstric humility absolute.
  • gargāt — from Garga Muni
    Garga — the same ṛṣi who came to Nanda's house in SB 10.8 and revealed Kṛṣṇa's identity. Same teacher, second occasion. Continuity of ācārya bridges Vraja and Mathurā.
  • yadu - kula - ācāryāt — from the family priest of the Yadus
    Kula-ācārya = clan teacher. Bhagavān goes to His own kula's recognized teacher; He does not invent novel authority. Gauḍīya dīkṣā tradition rests on this same principle of paramparā.
  • gāyatram vratam — the gāyatrī vow / brahmacarya
    Gāyatra here = the vow proper to gāyatrī-receivers, i.e., brahmacarya. Bhagavān, the source of all vrata, takes the brahmacāri-vrata for the duration of His Vedic education. The form is impeccable.
After attaining twice-born status through initiation, the Lords, sincere in Their vows, took the further vow of celibacy from Garga Muni, the spiritual master of the Yadus.

Both Śrīdhara Svāmī and Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura explain the term gāyatraṁ vratam as the vow of brahmacarya, or celibacy in student life. Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma were playing the part of perfect students on the path of self-realization. Of course, in the modern, degraded age, student life has become a wild, animalistic affair filled with illicit sex and drugs.

— A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda
Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura Gauḍīya
Translation
After attaining twice-born status through initiation, the Lords, sincere in Their vows, took the further vow of celibacy from Garga Muni, the spiritual master of the Yadus.
Commentary

Krsnsa and Balarama began to practice brahmacarya (gayatra).

Jīva Gosvāmī Gauḍīya
Commentary

Garga instructed them on the brahmacārya vow. He taught the boys about gāyatra (sāvitra), prājāpatya and brāhma brahmacārī vows. The gāyatra vow means three days of study. Prājāpatya means brahmacārī vows for one year, the beginning of studying the Vedas. Bṛahmā means vows until the Vedas are completely studied. Śrīdhara Svāmī says that in this case the word gāyatra simply means general observance of brahmacārya. They were fixed in their vows (suvratau).

Śrīdhara Svāmī Gauḍīya
Commentary

Suvratau means they followed procedures described in tantra. They accepted the vow of giving everything. Garga instructed them on the brahmacārya vow. He taught the boys about gāyatra (sāvitra), prājāpatya and brāhma brahmacārī vows. The gāyatra vow means three days of study. Prājāpatya means brahmacārī vows for one year, the beginning of studying the Vedas. Bṛahmā means vows until the Vedas are completely studied. Śrīdhara Svāmī says that in this case the word gāyatra simply means general observance of brahmacārya. They were fixed in their vows (suvratau).

Related values
Anahankarah (Freedom from False Ego)Kshama (Forgiveness / Patience)Asteya (Non-stealing / Honesty)Aparigraha (Non-possessiveness)
Related verses
After initiation, the Lords take the further vow of celibacy (brahmacarya) from Garga Muni, the Yadus' spiritual master. Even the Lord submits to student life and the vow appropriate to it.
Reflection Questions
  • Where might the next stage of spiritual life require an explicit vow you have avoided?
  • What 'student stage' could you reenter without losing your other roles?

After upanayana, Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma take the gāyatra-vrata of celibacy from Garga Muni the way a sapling already perfumed in its core consents to be planted in formal soil — Garga is told by the soil's blessing that the planting is real.

Garga at Nanda's house, Garga at Vasudeva's house

Garga Muni is twice present in Canto 10 as the family ācārya of the Yadus. In SB 10.8 he secretly named the babies Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma at Nanda's house in Vraja, identifying Kṛṣṇa as Nārāyaṇa-comparable. Here in chapter 45 he reappears to confer the gāyatra-vrata.

Gauḍīyas mark Garga's two appearances as the named-and-vowed pair: he gives the boys their name in Vraja, and their dīkṣā-vrata in Mathurā. The continuity sanctifies both phases — Bhagavān's bhāva-life in Vraja and His Vedic-life in Mathurā belong to the same trajectory under one ācārya's witness.

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