Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.8.47
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
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pitarau
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the actual father and mother (Vasudeva and Devakī)
Pitṛ in dual — 'father-and-mother together' (a Vedic compact dvandva). The verse marks them as biological parents, then quietly contrasts the dhāma-parents Nanda and Yaśodā as enjoying more.
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udāra
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magnanimous, generous
From √ud (upward) — 'expansive, abundant'. The same word the Bhāgavatam uses for Bhagavān's magnanimity in distributing prema-bhakti. Here it qualifies arbhaka-īhita, the childhood acts.
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arbhaka - īhitam
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the childhood pastimes (Kṛṣṇa) performed
Arbhaka (small child) + īhita (acts, undertakings — from √īh). The technical phrase for bāla-līlā. Gauḍīya rāgānugā meditators take this whole compound as a single bhāvanā-object.
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gāyanti adya api kavayaḥ
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even today great sages and poets sing (of these pastimes)
Adya (today) + api (even). The verse insists on continuity: the same gopīs' songs are still being sung by ācāryas. Caitanya tradition: the Six Gosvāmīs in Vṛndāvana sang these very līlās as their daily bhajana.
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loka - śamala - apaham
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by hearing of which the contamination of the world is vanquished
Loka (world) + śamala (contamination, stain) + apaham (taking away). The verse-promise: hearing Kṛṣṇa's bāla-līlā purifies the conditioned heart. Gauḍīya: this is why śravaṇa of Canto 10 is recommended for everyone — the verses themselves are detergent.
Kṛṣṇa actually took birth from the womb of Devakī, but just after His birth He was transferred to the home of mother Yaśodā. Devakī could not even have Kṛṣṇa suck her breast. Therefore Parīkṣit Mahārāja was astonished. How had mother Yaśodā and Nanda Mahārāja become so fortunate that they enjoyed the complete childhood pastimes of Kṛṣṇa, which are still glorified by saintly persons? What had they done in the past by which they were elevated to such an exalted position?
Since Krsna also drank Devaki’s milk, what is the difference between her and Yasoda. This verse answers by saying that Devaki and Vasudeva (pitarau) who are famous in our family, could not enjoy with their eyes (na avindetam) Krsna’s joyful (udara-giving happiness) childhood pastimes. Udara (generous) also indicates that Rohini who took the role of Balarama’s mother, and the gopis who acted as mothers during the stealing of the calves, were not excluded whereas Vasudeva and Devaki were.
Though Vasudeva and Devakī attained the benediction of being Kṛṣṇa’s parents and were famous everywhere, they did not experience Kṛṣṇa’s infant activities, though he is the most generous giver, since infant activities were not possible after going to Mathurā. His generosity (udāra) is illustrated in the following verse. rājan patir gurur alaṁ bhavatāṁ yadūnāṁ daivaṁ priyaḥ kula-patiḥ kva ca kiṅkaro vaḥ astv evam aṅga bhagavān bhajatāṁ mukundo muktiṁ dadāti karhicit sma na bhakti-yogam O King Parīkṣit! Kṛṣṇa was the protector, instructor, object of worship, giver of affection, and the protector of both the Yadus and Pāṇḍavas. But he was sometimes your servant. The Lord gives liberation but not bhāva-bhakti to those who worship him. SB 5.6.18 Even great devotees spend the second half a life time of Brahmā thinking themselves successful by glorifying him, and not even seeing him directly. Brahma and others (kavayaḥ) continue glorifying him even today, starting with giving instructions to Nārada and others in the first half of Brahmā’s life. This is a cause of good fortune of all people. Even in the age of Kali, this glorification destroys the sins of all people since it makes all people successful by being handed down in succession, though starting from one point. Mad-bhakti-yukto bhuvanaṁ punāti: a devotee thus fixed in loving service to me purifies the entire universe. (SB 11.14.24) nirapekṣaṁ muniṁ śāntaṁ nirvairaṁ sama-darśanam anuvrajāmy ahaṁ nityaṁ pūyeyety aṅghri-reṇubhiḥ I always follow the footsteps of my pure devotees, who are free from all personal desire, are rapt in thought of my pastimes, are fixed in me, without any feelings of enmity, and are equal to all conditions of the world. Let me be purified by the dust from their feet! SB 11.14.16 Suta also says kṛṣṇa-caritaṁ kali-kalmaṣa-ghnaṁ: the activities of Kṛṣṇa destroy the sins of Kali. (SB 10.1.14) Or the greatest of ātmarāmas such as you, the great devotees, from time without beginning till even today, sing what is sung in the śruti and Purāṇas. Filled with the highest bliss, they sing as if mad in various places, not simply reciting. Those topics of Kṛṣṇa’s infancy destroy the obstacles of karma of low people like me. Just by hearing them, persons like me become successful. What pious acts did those persons who experienced those pastimes perform? Parīkṣit shows great astonishment.
The great affection is described. The fortune greater than that of Janaka and his wife, and Vasudeva and Devakī , who performed austerities of bhakti spreading over four yugas, is described. These parents did not experience Kṛṣṇa’s infant pastimes directly since those pastimes were withdrawn when he went to Mathurā. They did not experience his infant actions, great because they belong to the source of all avatāras Kṛṣṇa, or great (udara) because they give unlimited results of bhukti, mukti and bhakti. What can be said about directly experiencing those pastimes? They are glorified and give the greatest results. Brahmā or Vyāsadeva (kavayaḥ) sing even today in Kaliyuga about these pastimes. Why? They completely uproot sin of all people. Otherwise the sins of Kaliyuga could not be destroyed. Or the poets sing from his birth till now, continuously, about these pastimes. For what purpose? They destroy the suffering of saṁsāra for all jīvas. Or even today after a long time has passed, even the ātmārāmas (kavayaḥ) sing about thses pastimes. Why? Those pastimes destroy (ham) the peace of mind (śama) and talking (lāpa) of the sages because they stimulate intense prema. Or the pastimes destroy the conversations of those who are ātmārāmas (śama). They speak only about those pastimes. Being full of rasa, they naturally become the highest goal. What pious acts did Nanda and Yaśodā perform so that they experienced his infant pastimes?
- Padaseva Pr SB 10-08-47 Oriya
- Satya Gopinath Pr SB 10-08-47 Telugu - 2009-08-24 ISKCON Tirupati
- BKG SB 10-08-47 - We%27re not humble enough to accept that we%27re just Servants - 2019-06-24 New Goloka
- Romapada Sw SB 10-08-47 - Lord Krsna Shows the Universal Form within his Mouth - 2020-06-01 Houston
- Read or hear one of Kṛṣṇa's Vraja childhood pastimes today and let it work on you, trusting the verse's promise that hearing alone vanquishes loka-śamala.
- Notice when you envy others' apparent spiritual fortune and redirect that energy into hearing about Kṛṣṇa right now, the one access that is never closed to you.
- Refuse to treat Kṛṣṇa-kathā as optional decoration; schedule a fixed daily window for śravaṇa of His bālya-līlā with the same seriousness you give to work.
Two pearls of equal weight, one resting in a king's treasury vault and one nestled in a village child's pocket — both are pearls, but only the second is held against a beating heart through every hour of every day. Vasudeva-Devakī are the treasury; Nanda-Yaśodā are the pocket; Kṛṣṇa is the pearl, and the pocket wins.
After Kṛṣṇa freed His birth-parents from Kaṁsa's prison, He revealed to them His full Bhagavān-form for a moment, then by His own request veiled it so they could relate to Him as parents (SB 10.44–45). Vasudeva and Devakī never tasted the unselfconscious vātsalya of Vraja — by Kṛṣṇa's own arrangement.
This verse compresses that whole asymmetry: the actual parents could not enjoy the magnanimous childhood pastimes because they always remembered He was the Supreme Lord. Vraja's pocket won by forgetting.
My note
Source: vedabase.io