Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.45.21
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
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yuvābhyām
—
by you two
Dual instrumental — Nanda and Yaśodā addressed together, even though Yaśodā is not physically present. Kṛṣṇa keeps the foster-mother in the grammar.
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snigdhābhyām
—
affectionate
From √snih — to be sticky, to love. Sneha (verse 11) is from the same root. Vraja's defining quality, here returned to Vraja's elder as his proper epithet.
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poṣitau lālitau
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maintained, coddled
The same poṣ-/lāl- pair as verses 5 and 4. Kṛṣṇa is acknowledging that what Devakī could not give (lālana, verse 4), Yaśodā did give. The chapter's bookkeeping is precise.
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abhyadhikā prītiḥ
—
greater love
Abhi + adhika = exceeding. Prīti — love. Parents love children more than themselves: a teaching attributed to Bhagavān's own mouth, sanctifying parental ātma-tyāga.
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ātmanaḥ api
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even than themselves
Ātman = self. The standard śāstric comparison is 'priya ātmā' — nothing dearer than self (Bṛhad-āraṇyaka). Kṛṣṇa overrides it for parents: the child is dearer than the self.
Balarama, being elder, spoke first in two verses. "O father! We were cared for and protected by you two (Nanda and Yasoda). That of course is natural. Mothers and fathers have excessive affection for offspring of their own bodies." Balarama used the dual form to indicate that Nanda and Yasoda felt the same affection for both children. "You were as much my parents as you were Krsna’s parents." By revealing this he also reveals that he cannot remain in the house of unfamiliar Devaki and Vasudeva in the city of Mathura without his two loving parents and his dearmost brother Krsna.
With that purpose in mind, they spoke to Nanda. O father! You, with the greatest affection, nourished us with food and cared for us by bathing us and doing other services, since (hi) parents have more affection for their offspring (ātmajeṣu) than for themselves. That is not astonishing.
O father! He recognizes Nanda as his father. Though Yaśodā is not present he remembers her with great affection, as if she were present (yuvābhyām). The boys were made blissful by the care and embraces of Nanda and Yaśodā because their affection was causeless, since (hi) parents have more affection for their offspring (ātmajeṣu) than for themselves. This negates the idea that they were only foster children, as suggested by the word poṣitau (nourished).
Kṛṣṇa tells Nanda 'parents love their children more than their own lives' — the way an heir, taking leave, names exactly the bond he is about to seem to break, so the breaking will not be invisible. He gives Nanda the truth as a parting garland.
My note
Source: vedabase.io