FolioCorpusBhagavad-gītā

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.6.1

శ్రీశుక ఉవాచ నన్ద: పథి వచ: శౌరేర్న మృషేతి విచిన్తయన్ । హరిం జగామ శరణముత్పాతాగమశఙ్కిత: ॥ ౧ ॥
śrī-śuka uvāca
[shree-shuka uvaacha]
nandaḥ pathi vacaḥ śaurer
[nandah pathi vachah shaurer]
na mṛṣeti vicintayan
[na mrisheti vichintayan]
hariṁ jagāma śaraṇam
[harim jagaama sharanam]
utpātāgama-śaṅkitaḥ
[utpaataagama-shankitah]
Word-for-word
śrī - śukaḥ uvāca — Śrī Śukadeva Gosvāmī said nandaḥ — Nanda Mahārāja pathi — on his way back home vacaḥ — the words śaureḥ — of Vasudeva na — not mṛṣā — without purpose or cause iti — thus vicintayan — while thinking about inauspiciousness for his little son, Kṛṣṇa harim — unto the Supreme Lord, the controller jagāma — took śaraṇam — shelter utpāta — of disturbances āgama — with the expectation śaṅkitaḥ — thus being afraid .
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
śrī-śuka uvāca
śrī - śukaḥ uvāca
Śrī Śukadeva Gosvāmī said
nandaḥ pathi vacaḥ śaurer
nandaḥ
Nanda Mahārāja
pathi
on his way back home
vacaḥ
the words
śaureḥ
of Vasudeva
na mṛṣeti vicintayan
na
not
mṛṣā
without purpose or cause
hariṁ jagāma śaraṇam
utpātāgama-śaṅkitaḥ
iti
thus
vicintayan
while thinking about inauspiciousness for his little son, Kṛṣṇa
harim
unto the Supreme Lord, the controller
jagāma
took
śaraṇam
shelter
utpāta
of disturbances
āgama
with the expectation
śaṅkitaḥ
thus being afraid .
Important Words
  • śaraṇam — shelter
    The technical word of Gauḍīya śaraṇāgati. Not a feeling but a deliberate act — placing oneself, with its six limbs (favorable acceptance, rejection of the unfavorable, faith that Bhagavān will protect, accepting Him as guardian, self-surrender, humility). Nanda's first move on hearing of danger is the move every devotee is asked to make.
  • harim — unto the Supreme Lord
    Hari literally means 'one who takes away' — He removes both inauspiciousness and the heart's attachment to it. The accusative form points to a personal Bhagavān one approaches, not an impersonal absolute one merges into.
  • vicintayan — thinking about (the danger to Kṛṣṇa)
    Present participle — sustained, ongoing reflection. Nanda's śaraṇāgati does not arise from panic but from sober vicāra. Gauḍīya tradition values this anukūla-cintana: thoughtful, devotional weighing of a situation that ripens naturally into surrender.
  • śaureḥ — of Vasudeva
    Genitive of Śauri (Vasudeva), Kṛṣṇa's biological father, the senior Vaiṣṇava whose foresight Nanda trusts. The verse models taking sādhu-vākya as authoritative — devotees confirm dangers for one another, and the wise listen.
  • mṛṣā — without purpose or cause
    Nanda's clinching thought: Vasudeva's words cannot be 'in vain.' A sober devotee does not dismiss another Vaiṣṇava's warning as exaggeration; he treats it as siddhānta until proven otherwise.
Śukadeva Gosvāmī continued: My dear King, while Nanda Mahārāja was on the way home, he considered that what Vasudeva had said could not be false or useless. There must have been some danger of disturbances in Gokula. As Nanda Mahārāja thought about the danger for his beautiful son, Kṛṣṇa, he was afraid, and he took shelter at the lotus feet of the supreme controller.
Purport

Whenever there is danger, the pure devotee thinks of the protection and shelter of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. This is also advised in Bhagavad-gītā (9.33) : anityam asukhaṁ lokam imaṁ prāpya bhajasva mām. In this material world there is danger at every step ( padaṁ padaṁ yad vipadām ). Therefore a devotee has no other recourse than to take shelter of the Lord at every step.

— A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda
Gauḍīya Ācāryas
Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura Gauḍīya
Translation
Śukadeva Gosvāmī continued: My dear King, while Nanda Mahārāja was on the way home, he considered that what Vasudeva had said could not be false or useless. There must have been some danger of disturbances in Gokula. As Nanda Mahārāja thought about the danger for his beautiful son, Kṛṣṇa, he was afraid, and he took shelter at the lotus feet of the supreme controller.
Commentary

In the sixth chapter Putana assumes a beautiful form and appears in Vraja. Upon dying, she assumes her raksasi form. She attains liberation by Krsna’s mercy. Her body is burned and Nanda approaches.

Jīva Gosvāmī Gauḍīya
Commentary

He surrendered in his mind to Hari, he who destroys all fears, since Viṣṇu was his family deity, for the auspiciousness of his son. Or, because the information could not be false, on the way back he especially thought of his son, most attractive (harim). Thinking, “I do not know what news is there” he returned to his house (śaraṇam).

Śrīdhara Svāmī Gauḍīya
Commentary

On the road, thinking, he surrendered in his mind to Hari, he who destroys all fears. O Lord! Please protect my son, he said in pain. Or he prayed in his heart, since he was affectionate to Kṛṣṇa at all times, constantly thinking of him. Though he was always absorbed in Kṛṣṇa, now particularly he surrendered to the Lord because of the danger, since he was the best of devotees. The devotees will surrender to the Lord and not do anything else to destroy dangers. Actually he did so out of great affection for Kṛṣṇa. Or on the path he thought of his son, who was attractive (harim) because Vasudeva’s words could not be false. “I do not know what has happened there.” Thus he went to his house (śaraṇam).

Related values & verses
Related values
Shraddha (Faith / Reverence)Abhaya (Fearlessness)Apaishunam (Non-slander)Atma Nigraha (Self-control)Ishvara Pranidhana (Surrender to God)Kshama (Forgiveness / Patience)Tapas (Austerity / Discipline)Bhakti (Devotion)Kartavya (Duty / Responsibility)
Related verses
SB 10.6.2 SB 10.6.3 SB 10.6.4 BG 4.8 BG 1.1 BG 10.3 BG 9.11 BG 7.8 BG 6.35
Related lectures
Personal Guidance
When danger looms, the pure devotee — like Nanda — does not scheme; he takes śaraṇa at Kṛṣṇa's lotus feet at the very first sign of trouble.
Practical Applications
  • At the first flicker of fear today — a worry about a child, a job, a diagnosis — pause and audibly take shelter of Kṛṣṇa before doing anything else.
  • Treat a trusted devotee's warning the way Nanda treated Vasudeva's words: do not dismiss it as exaggeration, act on it.
  • Recite padaṁ padaṁ yad vipadām once today and name the specific 'step' in your life where you have been pretending there is no danger.
Analogy

Nanda Mahārāja is the prudent merchant who hears a storm warning while still on the road home — he does not argue with the messenger, he does not gallop, he simply tightens his grip on the rope of śaraṇāgati and walks toward Kṛṣṇa's lotus feet. Like a child who hears thunder and quietly takes hold of his father's finger, the devotee at the first hint of danger reaches not for a plan but for Hari.

Stories
Gajendra at the lake

Caught in the crocodile's jaws and seeing his own strength fail after a thousand divine years of struggle, the elephant-king Gajendra at last let go of self-effort and cried out to the Supreme Lord. He did not invent a strategy; he took śaraṇa.

Kṛṣṇa as Viṣṇu appeared at once on Garuḍa, severed the crocodile, and lifted His devotee out. Nanda's reflex in 10.6.1 is the same reflex: at the first whiff of utpāta, the devotee runs not toward defense but toward Hari's feet — and that is the only running that ever saves anyone.

Kuntī's prayer at every danger

Queen Kuntī (SB 1.8) confesses that she actually welcomes calamity, because every danger drove her to remember Kṛṣṇa. Poison, fire, snakes, exile, the assembly of Kurus, Aśvatthāmā's brahmāstra — at each step she did not first scheme, she first remembered.

Nanda walking home, weighing Vasudeva's words and turning his heart toward Hari, is Kuntī's instinct in male, paternal form: śaraṇa first, action after.

📝 My note

Source: vedabase.io

← Read full Chapter 6