Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.61.35
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
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gopālāḥ
—
cowherds
go (cow) + pāla (protector). Used as insult by Rukmī, but in Gauḍīya theology Gopāla is Kṛṣṇa's most beloved name — the Lord identified with cow-protection. The insult unwittingly worships.
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vana-gocarāḥ
—
ranging in the forest
vana (forest) + gocara (range). The Vraja-pastimes happen vana-gocarāḥ — the forests of Vṛndāvana are the Bhāgavata's most sacred geography. Rukmī's sneer is at the very heart of Gauḍīya devotion.
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akṣa-kovidāḥ
—
expert at dice
akṣa (dice) + kovida (skilled). Rukmī's claim of expertise will be undone in the next verse. The Bhāgavata juxtaposes claimed kovida-ness with actual kaitava — false expertise unmasked.
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bhavādṛśāḥ
—
the likes of You
bhavat + dṛśa, 'such as Your kind.' The deferential pronoun bhavat carries respect even as Rukmī tries to insult — Sanskrit grammar betrays him, marking Balarāma as worthy of the honorific even in the insult-line.
When the sinful kings were giving false testimony that Rukmi had won, a voice said, "Balaram speaks correctly, and has won. Rukmi speaks a lie."
Rukmī addressed Balarāma in the plural (yuyam—you) to indicate that Balarāma was an associate of Kṛṣṇa. You are ignorant because you are cowherds, of lower birth, who wander in the forest. However there is a hidden meaning in those words by which he accidently praises Balarāma. You protect (pālāḥ) the cows and the earth (go). You are the objects of meditation (gocarāḥ) in solitary forests. But persons like you are not learned at gambling matches at all because persons intoxicated with wealth (rājānaḥ) enjoy committing violence to others by arrows and gambling. This is not seen in you or your devotees. We do not know, but your devotees know your actions which are performed as your independent pastimes.
Rukmī addressed Balarāma in the plural (yuyam—you) to indicate that Balarāma was an associate of Kṛṣṇa. You are cowherds with simple minds. Wandering in the forest you do not associate with city people and are devoid of skill.
Like a city merchant sneering at a Vraja-cowherd's hands and saying 'kings play with arrows and dice, not such as You,' Rukmī mistakes the plough-bearer's earth-smell for weakness — never noticing that the plough has already drunk the Yamunā and pulled the river to itself.
In SB 10.65, when Balarāma went alone to Vraja, He called for the Yamunā to come to Him for sport; when she did not, He hooked the river with His plough and dragged her course toward Him until she begged for mercy. The plough is no rustic tool but the weapon of the One who can rewrite rivers.
Rukmī's taunt — 'cowherds wandering the forests know nothing of arrows' — is precisely backwards: the cowherd in question subdued a river with the plough Rukmī now mocks.
My note
Source: vedabase.io