FolioCorpusBhagavad-gītā

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.14.1

శ్రీబ్రహ్మోవాచ నౌమీడ్య తేఽభ్రవపుషే తడిదమ్బరాయ గుఞ్జావతంసపరిపిచ్ఛలసన్ముఖాయ । వన్యస్రజే కవలవేత్రవిషాణవేణు- లక్ష్మశ్రియే మృదుపదే పశుపాఙ్గజాయ ॥ ౧ ॥
śrī-brahmovāca
[shree-brahmovaacha]
naumīḍya te ’bhra-vapuṣe taḍid-ambarāya
[naumeedya te ’bhra-vapushe tadid-ambaraaya]
guñjāvataṁsa-paripiccha-lasan-mukhāya
[gunjaavatamsa-paripichcha-lasan-mukhaaya]
vanya-sraje kavala-vetra-viṣāṇa-veṇu-
[vanya-sraje kavala-vetra-vishaana-venu-]
lakṣma-śriye mṛdu-pade paśupāṅgajāya
[lakshma-shriye mridu-pade pashupaangajaaya]
śrī - brahmā uvāca — Lord Brahmā said naumi — I offer praise īḍya — O most worshipable one te — unto You abhra — like a dark cloud vapuṣe — whose body taḍit — like lightning ambarāya — whose garment guñjā — made of small berries avataṁsa — with ornaments (for the ears) paripiccha — and peacock feathers lasat — resplendent mukhāya — whose face vanya - sraje — wearing garlands of forest flowers kavala — a morsel of food vetra — a stick viṣāṇa — a buffalo-horn bugle veṇu — and a flute lakṣma — characterized by śriye — whose beauty mṛdu — soft pade — whose feet paśu - pa — of the cowherd (Nanda Mahārāja) aṅga - jāya — unto the son .
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
śrī-brahmovāca
śrī - brahmā uvāca
Lord Brahmā said
naumīḍya te ’bhra-vapuṣe taḍid-ambarāya
naumi
I offer praise
īḍya
O most worshipable one
te
unto You
abhra
like a dark cloud
vapuṣe
whose body
taḍit
like lightning
ambarāya
whose garment
guñjāvataṁsa-paripiccha-lasan-mukhāya
guñjā
made of small berries
avataṁsa
with ornaments (for the ears)
paripiccha
and peacock feathers
lasat
resplendent
mukhāya
whose face
vanya-sraje kavala-vetra-viṣāṇa-veṇu-
vanya - sraje
wearing garlands of forest flowers
kavala
a morsel of food
vetra
a stick
viṣāṇa
a buffalo-horn bugle
veṇu
and a flute
lakṣma-śriye mṛdu-pade paśupāṅgajāya
lakṣma
characterized by
śriye
whose beauty
mṛdu
soft
pade
whose feet
paśu - pa
of the cowherd (Nanda Mahārāja)
aṅga - jāya
unto the son .
  • īḍya — O most worshipable one
    Gerundive of √īḍ — 'fit to be praised'. Brahmā, who is himself worshiped by all the demigods, addresses Kṛṣṇa as the One alone deserving of worship. The vocative inverts the cosmic hierarchy: the worshiped is the worshipper here.
  • paśu-pa-aṅga-jāya — unto the son of the cowherd (Nanda Mahārāja)
    Compound: paśu-pa (cattle-keeper, Nanda) + aṅga-ja (limb-born, son). Brahmā does not address Kṛṣṇa as Viṣṇu or Nārāyaṇa but as Nanda's boy. The Gauḍīya commentators read this as the heart of the prayer — aiśvarya bows before mādhurya.
  • abhra-vapuṣe — whose body is like a dark cloud
    Compound: abhra (cloud) + vapuṣ (body). The śyāma complexion that rains prema on the parched ātmā. Brahmā lingers on a sensory detail, refusing the usual brahma-vyāhāra of impersonal hymnody.
  • veṇu — and a flute
    The instrument Brahmā singles out alongside the herding-stick. In Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu Rūpa Gosvāmī treats the flute as the sound that summons mādhurya itself; here it is mentioned as part of Bhagavān's standard equipment, exactly because in Vraja mādhurya is standard.
  • mṛdu-pade — whose feet are soft
    Compound: mṛdu (soft, tender) + pada (foot). The tenderness that gopīs fear will be hurt by the forest floor. Brahmā the cosmic engineer ends his opening verse not on cosmic feet but on tender ones — the precise transposition into vātsalya/mādhurya that the whole stuti will perform.
Lord Brahmā said: My dear Lord, You are the only worshipable Lord, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and therefore I offer my humble obeisances and prayers just to please You. O son of the king of the cowherds, Your transcendental body is dark blue like a new cloud, Your garment is brilliant like lightning, and the beauty of Your face is enhanced by Your guñjā earrings and the peacock feather on Your head. Wearing garlands of various forest flowers and leaves, and equipped with a herding stick, a buffalo horn and a flute, You stand beautifully with a morsel of food in Your hand.

In the previous chapter Brahmā, the creator of the universe, tried to bewilder the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Kṛṣṇa, by stealing His cowherd boyfriends and calves. But by a slight exhibition of Kṛṣṇa’s own mystic potency, Brahmā himself was completely bewildered, and now with great humility and devotion he offers his humble obeisances and prayers unto the Lord. The word kavala in this verse refers to a morsel of rice mixed with yogurt that Kṛṣṇa held in His left hand. According to Sanātana Gosvāmī, the Lord held a cowherding stick and a buffalo horn pressed under His left arm, and His flute was placed under His belt. Beautiful young Kṛṣṇa, decorated with multicolored forest minerals, exhibited opulences far greater than those of Vaikuṇṭha. Although Brahmā had seen innumerable four-armed forms of the Lord, he now surrendered unto the lotus feet of the two-armed form of Kṛṣṇa, who appeared as the son of Nanda Mahārāja. Brahmā offered his prayers to that form.

— A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda
Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura Gauḍīya
Translation
Lord Brahmā said: My dear Lord, You are the only worshipable Lord, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and therefore I offer my humble obeisances and prayers just to please You. O son of the king of the cowherds, Your transcendental body is dark blue like a new cloud, Your garment is brilliant like lightning, and the beauty of Your face is enhanced by Your guṣjā earrings and the peacock feather on Your head. Wearing garlands of various forest flowers and leaves, and equipped with a herding stick, a buffalo horn and a flute, You stand beautifully with a morsel of food in Your hand.
Commentary

This chapter relates how Brahma, immersed in the great ocean of Krsna’s sweetness mixed with respect, in the ocean of devotion and knowledge, praises Krsna with affection and asks questions. I am not afraid if the real devotees, engaged in taking the heap of jewels and thereby deriving great bliss, mock my stance of selling jewels (taking a few jewels). Meditating with determination solely upon the lotus feet of my guru, my mind desires to cross of the ocean of Brahma’s prayers. After having attained firm devotion at the lotus feet of Krsna, realizing directly the son of the cowherd king as the source of all forms of eternity knowledge and bliss, Brahma began to praise Krsna profusely. Most worthy of praise (idye), Vasudeva, the source of thousands of forms, praised by all from Brahma (right now) down to the grass, I praise you with verse, in order to attain you. I offer these praises to you. Or, I praise you in order to please you. I praise you who have a body tinted like the rain cloud, with cloth the color of lightning. These phrases suggest two things: the earth gets relief from heat through the cloud of Krsna’s rain, and the cataka bird devotee gets life sustenance from the rain cloud of Krsna. You are decorated with gunja berry ornaments in your hair and flower ornaments in your ears and hair. On the top of your head is a peacock feather. This description reveals the superiority of the gunja berries of Vrndavana to the jewels of Vaikuntha. The forest garland around his neck, made of local leaves and flowers, is superior to those made of flowers of the parijata from svarga loka. By mentioning the curd rice in his hand, his stick and horn, Braham indicates the superiority of the appearance of the cowherd boy over all others. In mentioning his soft feet, he indicates that those wandering in the forest become filled with ecstasy on seeing those foot prints. Mentioning that Krsna is the son of a cowherad (pasupa anga ja), he indicates that the superior fortune of Nanda over Vasudeva.

Jīva Gosvāmī Gauḍīya
Commentary

Brahmā begins praising Kṛṣṇa, whom he realized as the highest form of power and sweetness, as his highest aspiration. O most worthy of worship (īḍye)! You are worthy of praise because today I have seen the whole material and spiritual realms enter into and emerge from you, the Supreme Brahman, composed of power and sweetness. Therefore I praise you. Why? I praise (naumi) in order to attain you (te). This follows the rule kriyārthoapapdasya ca karmāṇī sthāninaḥ: when and infinitive of purpose is suppressed (such as “to attain”) the object of the infinite (for instance “you”) is put in the dative case. (Pāṇini 2.3.14) “But you can attain me as Brahman or some other form.” You have a body of blackish color like a fresh dark cloud. Abhra means holding (bibharti) water (apaḥ). You have cloth yellow like lightning. “But the lord of Vaikuṇṭha and others also are similar to that description.” But your face shines with guṣja berries and peacock feather decorations all around (pari). You have a garland made of forest flowers and leaves of various colors. With heart attracted to Kṛṣṇa’s childhood pastimes, he points out more particular items. You have yogurt rice in your left hand, a stick and horn under your left arm, and a flute tucked into your waist band. This arrangement is understood from the description in the last chapter. These are special marks. You become beautiful with these marks. You have tender feet. These are feet suitable for a small child. But Brahmā does not say that Kṛṣṇa is just a child, since he has great respect for Kṛṣṇa as his master. He does not mention his limbs painted with minerals, a sign of his playing in Vṛndāvana. At last he mentions the desired object of all these descriptive elements. You are the son of Nanda, king of the cowherds. All the elements are automatically included when the young boy is described with this term. I offer respects to you, to attain you, the child cowherd. Thus in the beginning of his praise he indicates the goal with the greatest longing.

Related values
Karuna (Kindness / Compassion)Maitri (Friendship / Goodwill)Guru Bhakti (Reverence for Teacher)Kartavya (Duty / Responsibility)Hrih (Modesty / Sense of Shame)Samata (Equanimity / Even-mindedness)Dana (Charity / Generosity)Aparigraha (Non-possessiveness)
Related verses

Brahmā stands before the cowherd-boy Kṛṣṇa as a courtier stands before the prince he has just discovered is in fact the emperor in disguise. The dark-cloud body, the flute, the morsel of food, the feet that are soft because they walk on the dust of Vraja — these are not concessions to a lower form; this is svayaṁ-bhagavān's own most intimate śrī, and Brahmā recites the inventory like a man memorizing the face of the Lord he almost missed.

Kṛṣṇas tu bhagavān svayam

Sūta Gosvāmī, addressing the Naimiṣāraṇya sages in SB 1.3.28, climbs the staircase of avatāras — Matsya, Kūrma, Varāha, Rāma, Buddha, Kalki — and at the top declares ete cāṁśa-kalāḥ puṁsaḥ kṛṣṇas tu bhagavān svayam: all these are portions and portions-of-portions of the Person, but Kṛṣṇa is Bhagavān Himself.

Brahmā's opening line of this chapter is the same verdict from the other side: the creator of the cosmos, looking at the boy holding a lump of yogurt-rice, names Him the only worshipable one. The whole Six-Gosvāmī siddhānta of Kṛṣṇa-as-svayaṁ-bhagavān is anchored here.

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