Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.65.7
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
-
bāndhavāḥ
—
relatives
From √bandh (to bind). Those bound by kinship. In Vraja the bondage is voluntary and rasa-bearing; Gauḍīyas distinguish such bandhana from the bondage of karma — same root, opposite valence.
-
rāma
—
O Balarāma
Vocative — repeated in the next breath. The doubled call is itself a symptom of vipralambha; one says the name twice because once is not enough to span the distance.
-
smaratha
—
remember
Second person plural of √smṛ. Smaraṇa is the Gauḍīya term for one of the nine limbs of bhakti — but here the cowherds invert it, asking whether they themselves are remembered. Vraja-prema worries about being forgotten by Bhagavān.
-
dāra
—
with wives
Wife (here in compound). The cowherds ask about Kṛṣṇa's Dvārakā household — the queens of Dvārakā are gestured at, but with a Vraja accent that still treats Him as a son who has gone to the city.
-
anvitāḥ
—
together
Past participle of anu-√i (to follow, accompany). The cowherds picture Kṛṣṇa surrounded by His Dvārakā retinue — a picture the Bhāgavatam will not let them see directly, but only by report.
The elder cowherd men asked, "Are our friends the Yadavas well?" The men of the same age asked, "Do you remember us?"
Clarifying the questions of the cowherds, the very elderly ask this question. Are the Yādavas well and sometimes do you along with your wives and children remember us? Yuyam (you two ) indicates Balarāṁa and Kṛṣṇa. It is understood that after the two brothers had children, Kṛṣṇa still did not come there. However, by the mention of Kaṁsa being killed it should be understood that when Balarāma came it was not many years after that incident. Thus the eldest children only had been born. Viṣṇu Purāṇa says: vivāhāt prāg eve kālayavana-vadhārthaṁ mathurām āgatayos tad vadhe vṛtte tataḥ śrī-kṛṣṇasya dvārakāyāṁ gamanam asya ca gokule After marriage the two came to Mathurā to kill Kālayavana. After that Kṛṣṇa went to Dvārakā and to Gokula. However in Hari-vaṁśa it is said that when Śṛgāla-vāsudeva was killed in a battle at Gomanta near Karavīra (much later) the two came to Mathurā and then went to Gokula. This is understood to be from a different kalpa. He came and met the people of Vraja not long after leaving Vraja.
Are our relatives the Yadus well? O Balarāma, giver of enjoyment to friends (rāma) Twice they call to him because of his affection for friends. Having affection for others like wives and children, you will not remember us. Do you remember us? It is possible, O Rāma! They do not utter Kṛṣṇa’s name but indicate it by the word yūyam (you two). Since Kṛṣṇa did not come, they worry whether he forgot them, but they cannot say this. Since the two got married, after they had children Balarāma came. Before marriage the two had come to Mathurā to kill Kālayavana. After that Kṛṣṇa went back to Dvārakā (and got married) and Balarāma came to Gokula. This is according to Viṣṇu Purāṇa. According to Hari-vaṁśa, after the battle at Gomanta, after the killing of Śṛgāla at Karavīrapura, the two came to Mathurā and Balarāma came to Gokula. But this can be explained as happening in another kalpa.
A widowed grandmother in the village asks the visiting nephew: 'Does the family in the city still think of us?' The question is not for information; it is the form love takes when separation is the only available rasa.
My note
Source: vedabase.io