Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.6.19
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
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yaśodā - rohiṇībhyām
—
with mother Yaśodā and mother Rohiṇī
Dual instrumental compound. The two principal mothers acting together — Vraja parenting is shared, not nuclear. In Gauḍīya bhakti-tattva, vātsalya-rasa often distributes itself across multiple mothers (Yaśodā, Rohiṇī, the gopīs collectively); the verse models this co-motherhood as proper bhakti-saṁskṛti.
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go - puccha - bhramaṇa - ādibhiḥ
—
by waving around the switch of a cow, etc.
Compound — go (cow) + puccha (tail) + bhramaṇa (rotation) + ādi (etc.). A traditional Vedic protective rite. Gauḍīya tradition treats go-rakṣya and dependence on cow-substances as devotional, not folkloric — the cow herself is dear to Kṛṣṇa (Govinda).
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rakṣām
—
protection
Accusative of rakṣā — the standard word for ritual protection (kavaca). Sets the keyword for verses 20–29: the entire pericope is one extended rakṣā-mantra over the child.
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sarvataḥ
—
from all (sides)
Indeclinable — 'in every direction.' The rakṣā is not point-specific but ambient, foreshadowing the 360-degree directional cover in verses 22–23.
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samyak
—
completely
Adverb. Vedic ritual is total or it is not yet ritual — partial protection is not protection. Same standard the verse will apply to mantra-nyāsa in 21–24.
When Kṛṣṇa was saved from such a great danger, mother Yaśodā and Rohiṇī were principally concerned, and the other elderly gopīs, who were almost equally concerned, followed the activities of mother Yaśodā and Rohiṇī. Here we find that in household affairs, ladies could take charge of protecting a child simply by taking help from the cow. As described here, they knew how to wave about the switch of a cow so as to protect the child from all types of danger. There are so many facilities afforded by cow protection, but people have forgotten these arts. The importance of protecting cows is therefore stressed by Kṛṣṇa in Bhagavad-gītā ( kṛṣi-go-rakṣya-vāṇijyaṁ vaiśya-karma svabhāvajam ). Even now in the Indian villages surrounding Vṛndāvana, the villagers live happily simply by giving protection to the cow. They keep cow dung very carefully and dry it to use as fuel. They keep a sufficient stock of grains, and because of giving protection to the cows, they have sufficient milk and milk products to solve all economic problems. Simply by giving protection to the cow, the villagers live so peacefully. Even the urine and stool of cows have medicinal value.
This verse mentions that the gopis, along with Yasoda and Rohini performed rituals of protection. Yasoda and Rohin did not take a leading role because they were extremely affected by anxiety for Krsna’s safety. They protected him in all limbs (sarvatah), by waving a cow tail and other items such as mustard seeds and touching him with the edge of the winnowing basket.
This verse and later verses show how they had the ability to protect him out of affection. Fearing for the health of the child, Yaśodā and Rohiṇī could not do anything at first. Thus, when it mentions that they performed actions in the verse, they were not the major performers. The others had the two women with them in order to pacify their grief. They performed actions to protect the child everywhere (sarvataḥ or sarvaśaḥ), inside and outside, for auspiciousness. They did this in the best way (samyag). They waved a tassel made of cow tail hairs and as well waved mustard seeds and touched a winnowing basket.
- Jitamitra Pr Hindi SB 10-06-19 - 2000-02-28
- Mukunda Datta Pr SB 10-06-19 - 2021-03-17 ISKCON Vrindavan
- Padaseva Pr SB 10-06-19 Oriya
- Pariksit Pr SB 10-06-19 - Protection of the Devotional Creeper - 2020-06-15 Philadelphia
- Revati Raman Pr SB 10-06-19 - 2009-05-13 ISKCON Tirupati
- SDAP SB 10-06-19 - 2009-05-27 Mauritius
- SDAP SB 10-06-19 Lithuanian Translation - 2016-05-17 Kaunas Lithuania
- BAVS SB 10-06-19 Hindi - 2026-03-17 ISKCON Vrindavan
- CMS SB 10-06-19 Slovenian Translation - Prednosti Vedske kulture - 2023-08-29 ISKCON Slovenia
- CMS SB 10-06-19 - Benefits of Vedic culture - 2023-08-29 ISKCON Slovenia
- Today, perform one concrete act of go-rakṣya — buy milk from a protected-cow source, support a gośālā, or learn one traditional use of cow products you have forgotten.
- Before any task involving a child or dependent, pause and silently entrust them to Kṛṣṇa the way Yaśodā and Rohiṇī did — protection is offered, never owned.
- Refuse the modern conceit that 'the household' is a small or unspiritual sphere; treat your kitchen, your elders, and your cows as the very arena where Kṛṣṇa is sheltered.
Yaśodā and Rohiṇī waving the cow-tail switch around baby Kṛṣṇa is the lighthouse-keeper, after the storm passes, still checking every lamp and rope before sleeping. Bhakti's protection of those entrusted to us does not stop when the visible danger is dead — it continues in small, embodied, lineage-given acts of go-rakṣya and mantra-cover.
After the Mahābhārata war, Yudhiṣṭhira (Anuśāsana-parva) personally oversaw protective rites and donations for Kuntī, Draupadī, and the women of the realm — not because the war was still on, but because dharmic households continue their guards even in peacetime.
The Vraja matriarchs in 10.6.19 model the same instinct in domestic key: Pūtanā is dead, but the cow-tail still goes around the child, because true rakṣaṇa is a steady ritual atmosphere, not a single rescue.
My note
Source: vedabase.io