Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.7.10
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
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aprameyam
—
unlimited, inconceivable
A-prameya — that which cannot be measured (pramā). Same root as pramāṇa (evidence). Kṛṣṇa's power is literally pramāṇa-atīta — beyond evidence, beyond inference. The Gauḍīya frame insists this is acintya, not unreal.
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balam
—
the power
Bala — strength. Distinguished in Vaiṣṇava theology from śakti (energy): bala is Kṛṣṇa's own potency, śakti is His energy expressed. The verse names Kṛṣṇa's own bala — what is being dismissed is the Lord's intrinsic power, not a borrowed faculty.
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śraddadhire
—
put their faith
Śrad-dhā — to place the heart. Śraddhā is the entry-condition of bhakti (Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.4.15). The verse pinpoints exactly what is missing: not information (they have witnesses), but the heart-placing willingness to credit them.
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bāla-bhāṣitam
—
childish talk
Bāla (child) + bhāṣita (spoken). The dismissal-formula. Prabhupāda often warned that the world treats Vaiṣṇava preaching the same way — as children's talk — and that the preacher's job is to speak anyway, leaving the result to Kṛṣṇa.
Hearing the statements of the children, the cowherd men could not believe them.
They all had complete knowledge since they were dear to the Supreme Lord. However, they did not perceive Kṛṣṇa’ unlimited powers (aprameyam) because the Supreme Lord cannot be measured, and particularly in this case, he was revealing his childhood pastimes (and thus hid his powers). Thus they did not believe the words of the children. The word te is mentioned twice to indicate another cause: they were overcome with the bliss of prema by which they took Kṛṣṇa as their son. That prema covers everything else. Similarly Balarāma is described being overcome with prema: śrutvaitad bhagavān rāmo vipakṣīya nṛpodyamam kṛṣṇaṁ caikaṁ gataṁ hartuṁ kanyāṁ kalaha-śaṅkitaḥ balena mahatā sārdhaṁ bhrātṛ-sneha-pariplutaḥ tvaritaḥ kuṇḍinaṁ prāgād gajāśva-ratha-pattibhiḥ Balarāma heard about these preparations of the inimical kings and how Kṛṣṇa had set off alone to steal the bride, he feared that a fight would ensue. Immersed in affection for his brother, he hurried to Kuṇḍina with a mighty army consisting of infantry and of soldiers riding on elephants, horses and chariots. SB 10.53.20-21 Śukadeva praises Yaśodā’s prema: nemaṁ viriñco na bhavo na śrīr apy aṅga-saṁśrayā prasādaṁ lebhire gopī yat tat prāpa vimuktidāt Neither Brahmā, nor Śiva, nor even the goddess of fortune, who is always the better half of the Supreme Lord, can obtain from the Supreme Lord, the deliverer from this material world, such mercy as received by mother Yaśodā. SB 10.9.20 “They could not understand since they were overwhelmed by prema, but others’ statements could enlighten them.” But even cowherds did not believe the words, since children spoke them. If even (uta) the cowherds did not believe, definitely the gopīs could not believe them.
- Padaseva Pr SB 10-07-10 Oriya
- BVijnanaGS English 2012-03-03 SB 10-07-10-11-Develop the Greed to Lord Krishna-ISKCON Chowpatty
- BVijnanaGS SB 10-07-10-11 - Develop the greed to Lord Krishna - 2012-03-03 ISKCON Chowpatty
- Haladhar Sw SB 10 Oriya - Krishna chetana is the supreme benefactor - 2020-07-10
- PrahladAnS SB 10-07-10-12 - How to remember Krishna - 2023-09-20 ISKCON Slovenia
- PrahladAnS SB 10-07-10-12 Slovenian Translation - Kako se spomniti na Kri%C5%A1no - 2023-09-20 ISKCON Slovenia
- Notice today where you are dismissing a child's, a junior's, or a devotee's witness of Kṛṣṇa as 'just talk' — pause, listen again, and let it land.
- Refuse the gopas' mistake: when a small mercy or unlikely rescue arrives in your day, name it as Kṛṣṇa's aprameya hand instead of crediting coincidence.
- Speak one concrete glory of Kṛṣṇa to someone in your household today, even if you fear they will treat it as childish — your job is to say it, not to be believed.
A diamond left on a child's palm looks like a glass bead to the visitors — they pat the child's head and reach for the bead, while the true gem stays exactly where it was placed. The vraja elders dismiss the children's testimony the same way: the witness is correct, but their categories cannot contain it.
When five-year-old Dhruva walked into the forest to meditate, the worldly were sure it would not last — a child's resolution. Nārada himself tried to dissuade him. But the boy's intelligence carried a strength the adult world could not measure, and he won the Lord's darśana (SB 4.8).
The pattern of 10.10 repeats across the Bhāgavatam: aprameya power housed in a small form, dismissed by adults, recognized only later. The Vaiṣṇava trains to listen even when the speaker looks too small to be heard.
My note
Source: vedabase.io