Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.5.20
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
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vasudevaḥ
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Vasudeva
From vasu ('wealth, divine being') + deva. The biological father of Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma. Gauḍīya theology distinguishes between Vasudeva (the Mathurā-father in aiśvarya-mood) and Nanda (the Vraja-father in pure vātsalya-mood) — both are real fatherhoods, expressing two different rasas.
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upaśrutya
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having heard
Upa + √śru: 'having heard nearby.' The same root as śravaṇa — the first limb of bhakti. Even the bare hearing that Nanda has come is enough to set Vasudeva in motion. Hearing of Kṛṣṇa-associated persons is itself a beginning of bhakti.
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bhrātaram
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brother
From √bhrātṛ. Vasudeva calls Nanda 'brother' — they are related through the line of King Śūrasena (Mathurā tradition; SB and Hari-vaṁśa). The verse establishes that Kṛṣṇa's two fathers are themselves kin, which Gauḍīya ācāryas read as further evidence that vātsalya in Vraja and aiśvarya in Mathurā are one extended family.
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jñātvā
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knowing
Gerund of √jñā ('to know'). Vasudeva does not go to Nanda until he knows the tax has been paid — the Vaiṣṇava is sensitive to others' obligations, never imposing his eagerness on someone else's duty. The discrimination is itself a virtue.
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tat-avamocanam
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to Nanda's lodging
Tat ('that, his') + avamocana ('place of unyoking,' from ava + √muc). A lodging is where the traveler unyokes his bullocks. The technical word reminds us that Nanda has come with cows and carts, and Vasudeva is going to meet him in his traveler's quarters, not in a palace.
Vasudeva and Nanda Mahārāja were so intimately connected that they lived like brothers. Furthermore, it is learned from the notes of Śrīpāda Madhvācārya that Vasudeva and Nanda Mahārāja were stepbrothers. Vasudeva’s father, Śūrasena, married a vaiśya girl, and from her Nanda Mahārāja was born. Later, Nanda Mahārāja himself married a vaiśya girl, Yaśodā. Therefore his family is celebrated as a vaiśya family, and Kṛṣṇa, identifying Himself as their son, took charge of vaiśya activities ( kṛṣi-go-rakṣya-vāṇijyam ). Balarāma represents plowing the land for agriculture and therefore always carries in His hand a plow, whereas Kṛṣṇa tends cows and therefore carries a flute in His hand. Thus the two brothers represent kṛṣi-rakṣya and go-rakṣya.
King Devamidha of the Yadu clan (Yadava) had two wives, one of ksatriya family, the other of vaisya family. Through the ksatriya wife he bore a son names Sura and through the vaisya wife he bore a son named Parjanya. Sura had a son named Vasudeva, a ksatriya, and Parjanya had a son named Nanda, a cowherd. Thus Vasudeva and Nanda were brothers or cousins, with the same grandfather (a Yadava) and different grandmother. Nanda was therefore a Yadava. In Skanda Purana Krsna says, "I have lifted Govardhana for the benefit of the Yadavas (Nanda and others)." And Krsna says to his brother, "Among all the Yadavas (both Mathura relatives and Vraja relatives), you are the most dear." Tad avamocanam means the place where Nanda was residing. (avamoca-to loosen the clothes).
Vasudeva heard from others that Nanda had come, since Nanda was respected and known to all people. Through spies he learned that Nanda had paid the taxes. Otherwise he would have been uncomfortable in any meeting with him because of anxiety. Nanda is called him brother because Devamīḍha gave birth to Vasudeva’s father Śūra through a kṣatriya wife and to Nanda’s father Parjanya through a vaiśya wife. Brahmā says: tasmai māyā sa varaḥ saṁnisṛṣṭaḥ sa cāsa nandākhya utāsya bhāryā nāmnā yaśodā sa ca śūratāta- sutasya vaiśyāprabhavo ‘tha gopaḥ I have the boon to Nanda whose wife was named Yaśodā. He was a cowherd coming through Śūra’s father (Devamīḍha) and a vaiśya mother. In that sense Nanda was his brother. This is a general reference. In Skanda Purāṇa, Mathurā-māhāmya, discussing Govardhana their relationship as brothers is expressed (by calling the cowherds Yādavas): govardhanaś ca bhagavān yatra govardhano dhṛtaḥ rakṣitā yādava sarve indra-vṛṣṭi-nivāranāt When Kṛṣṇa lifted Govardhana he protected the Yādavas from the rain of Indra. However they are considered vaiśyas because Nanda’s grandmother was a vaiśya. In the Skanda Purāṇa the Lord says yādvānāṁ hitārthāya dhṛto giririvaro mayā: I lifted Govardhana for the benefit of the Yādavas. In Hari-vaṁśa, Rāma speaks to his brothers. Yādaveṣvapi sarveṣu bhavanto mama vallabhā: the cowherds are most dear to me among all the Yādavas. Avamocana means the place where the bulls were released from the carts. Longing for news of his son, Vasudeva went to Nanda with a desire to send him back quickly to Vraja to protect his son.
Vasudeva heard from others that Nanda had come, since the news spread. He learned that Nanda had paid the taxes to Kaṁsa. Otherwise he would have been uncomfortable in any meeting with him because of anxiety. Or he heard because Nanda became famous for giving tax in the form of abundant milk products. He went to the place where Nanda parked the carts out of fear of Kaṁsa. Just as Nanda was coming, Vasudeva came quickly out of affection for his son.
- Visit or call one family elder or old friend today, treating the meeting as a small act of yajña rather than a social obligation.
- Settle one outstanding worldly duty (a tax, bill, or promise) before turning to your sādhana, following Nanda's example of datta-karam.
- Refuse the modern split between 'spiritual life' and 'family life' — serve a relative today as you would serve a Vaiṣṇava.
Two springs of the same mountain may be parted by the ridge for years and then briefly meet where the slope flattens. Vasudeva hearing that Nanda has come to Mathurā is such a meeting — long separation suddenly closed, and the meeting itself becoming a sacrament more precious than the journey that occasioned it.
My note
Source: vedabase.io