Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.5.23
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
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diṣṭyā
—
by great fortune
Instrumental of diṣṭa ('what is allotted, destiny'). The same word will be repeated in verse 24. The verse names the appearance of a son not as Nanda's achievement but as destiny's gift — Vaiṣṇava humility refuses the language of personal merit even when celebrating fortune.
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pravayasaḥ
—
of advanced age
Pra + vayas ('youth, age'). Genitive marking Nanda's age. The Bhāgavatam's commentators (Viśvanātha, Sanātana) discuss this carefully — Nanda's age signals that Kṛṣṇa's appearance was not by ordinary biology but by Bhagavān's choice.
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aprajasya
—
of one without a son
A + prajā + genitive. The verse explicitly names childlessness — a status the Vedic tradition treats as a deep absence. Bhagavān fills exactly the deepest absence, not the surface lack.
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prajā-āśāyāḥ nivṛttasya
—
of one withdrawn from hope of progeny
Nivṛtta from ni + √vṛt ('turned away'). The same verbal family as nivṛtti-mārga. Nanda had moved from desire to renunciation — and exactly at that moment Bhagavān arrived. The Gauḍīya pattern: surrender (often through exhaustion of desire) precedes the Lord's appearance.
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samapadyata
—
has been obtained
Aorist of sam + ā + √pad ('to come about, to be obtained'). The passive form refuses to name an agent — the son was not won, he came about. Acintya by grammar.
At an advanced age one generally cannot beget a male child. If by chance one does beget a child at this age, the child is generally female. Thus Vasudeva indirectly asked Nanda Mahārāja whether he had actually begotten a male child or a female child. Vasudeva knew that Yaśodā had given birth to a female child, whom he had stolen and replaced with a male child. This was a great mystery, and Vasudeva wanted to determine whether this mystery was already known to Nanda Mahārāja. On inquiring, however, he was confident that the mystery of Kṛṣṇa’s birth and His being placed in the care of Yaśodā was still hidden. There was no danger, since Kaṁsa at least could not learn what had already happened.
For Vasudeva to say to Nanda that in old age he had son would be a lie, and to say that he actually had a daughter would not be believed by Nanda. Therefore Vasudeva used the word "praja" which can mean offspring (either male or female). Also being in doubt whether Nanda knew or not that Vasudeva had put his own son in Yasoda’s bed and taken away Nanda’s daughter, he used the word "praja."
Vasudeva understood about Nanda’s activities by sending messengers secretly to Vraja. It was good fortune that he had a son, since even after performing many sacrifices Nanda did not have a son. Though he had given up hopes for a son now, Nanda was most fortunate in having the Lord as his son. Samapadyate means mean “factually (sam) obtained.” Though Vasudeva spoke these words to cover the facts, they actually express the truth. However he used the word prajā, which simply means offspring, not distinguishing it as a male or female, since he knew that Nanda wife had given birth to a daughter. He also says simply that Nanda desired offspring, without being aware of Nanda’s desires. Actually Nanda previously had a strong desire for such a son, for from the result, the birth of the son, the cause should be inferred. There was delay in having the child in order to make Nanda understand the rarity of this son. This understanding would stimulate great affection for the Lord who appeared as his son. In the material world it is seen that when an elderly person without a son, even after many attempts, gives up hope, and then suddenly obtains a son, he develops the greatest affection when a son of great qualities is born.
Though Nanda had many sacrifices performed, a son had not been born. It is by good fortune that a son has been produced now in your old age. It is excellent to have a son. This was known by the people because of the great celebration Nanda performed. Another version has samjāyate (born). He says this, hiding the fact that he exchanged the two children. The affix sam indicates most excellent. Nanda had a son late in life so that the affection for the Lord would be intense. In the material world it is seen that when an elderly person, even after many attempts, fails to have a son, gives up hope, and then suddenly obtains a son, he develops the greatest affection when a son of great qualities is born.
- Notice one 'lucky' turn in your life today and recognize it as Kṛṣṇa's concealed hand, not random chance.
- Speak gratefully to an elder in your family who received you as their unexpected blessing, honoring the mystery of your own arrival.
- Refuse to demand full understanding before you trust — accept that the Lord's plan often unfolds beyond what you are permitted to see.
A field that bore no harvest for many seasons suddenly yields one grain in the late frost — and the farmer treats that single grain as more sacred than ten barns of summer wheat. Nanda receiving Kṛṣṇa in old age, after long childlessness, is such a farmer. The fortune is the grain itself, not the size of the barn.
King Daśaratha, despite his three queens and full royal life, remained without a son into late age. Only after the putra-kāmeṣṭi yajña performed by Ṛṣyaśṛṅga did Rāma appear — at a time when, like Nanda, the king was 'aprajasya, prajā-āśāyāḥ nivṛttasya' (without a son, hopeless of getting one).
The Rāmāyaṇa and Bhāgavatam consistently mark Bhagavān's avatāra as appearing in households where the wait has been long. Gauḍīya ācāryas read this not as coincidence but as siddhānta: Bhagavān appears where the longing has been fully ripened by waiting.
My note
Source: vedabase.io