FolioCorpusBhagavad-gītā

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.7.4

శ్రీశుక ఉవాచ కదాచిదౌత్థానికకౌతుకాప్లవే జన్మర్క్షయోగే సమవేతయోషితామ్ । వాదిత్రగీతద్విజమన్త్రవాచకై- శ్చకార సూనోరభిషేచనం సతీ ॥ ౪ ॥
śrī-śuka uvāca
[shree-shuka uvaacha]
kadācid autthānika-kautukāplave
[kadaachid autthaanika-kautukaaplave]
janmarkṣa-yoge samaveta-yoṣitām
[janmarksha-yoge samaveta-yoshitaam]
vāditra-gīta-dvija-mantra-vācakaiś
[vaaditra-geeta-dvija-mantra-vaachakaish]
cakāra sūnor abhiṣecanaṁ satī
[chakaara soonor abhishechanam satee]
śrī - śukaḥ uvāca — Śrī Śukadeva Gosvāmī continued to speak (at the request of Mahārāja Parīkṣit) kadācit — at that time (when Kṛṣṇa was three months old) autthānika - kautuka - āplave — when Kṛṣṇa was three or four months old and His body was developing, He attempted to turn around, and this pleasing occasion was observed with a festival and bathing ceremony janma - ṛkṣa - yoge — at that time there was also a conjunction of the moon with the auspicious constellation Rohiṇī samaveta - yoṣitām — (the ceremony was observed) among the assembled women, a ceremony of mothers vāditra - gīta — different varieties of music and singing dvija - mantra - vācakaiḥ — with chanting of Vedic hymns by qualified brāhmaṇas cakāra — executed sūnoḥ — of her son abhiṣecanam — the bathing ceremony satī — mother Yaśodā .
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
śrī-śuka uvāca
śrī - śukaḥ uvāca
Śrī Śukadeva Gosvāmī continued to speak (at the request of Mahārāja Parīkṣit)
kadācit
at that time (when Kṛṣṇa was three months old)
autthānika - kautuka - āplave
when Kṛṣṇa was three or four months old and His body was developing, He attempted to turn around, and this pleasing occasion was observed with a festival and bathing ceremony
kadācid autthānika-kautukāplave
janmarkṣa-yoge samaveta-yoṣitām
janma - ṛkṣa - yoge
at that time there was also a conjunction of the moon with the auspicious constellation Rohiṇī
samaveta - yoṣitām
(the ceremony was observed) among the assembled women, a ceremony of mothers
vāditra-gīta-dvija-mantra-vācakaiś
vāditra - gīta
different varieties of music and singing
dvija - mantra - vācakaiḥ
with chanting of Vedic hymns by qualified brāhmaṇas
cakāra
executed
cakāra sūnor abhiṣecanaṁ satī
sūnoḥ
of her son
abhiṣecanam
the bathing ceremony
satī
mother Yaśodā .
  • autthānika-kautuka-āplave — the utthāna bathing ceremony of joyful celebration
    Utthāna (rising up — the child's first turning) + kautuka (festivity) + āplava (bathing). The Vedic culture marks even three-month-old motor milestones as occasions for saṁskāra — not sentimentality, but recognition that every stage of a Vaiṣṇava life belongs to Bhagavān.
  • janma-ṛkṣa-yoge — conjunction with the birth-star Rohiṇī
    Janma (birth) + ṛkṣa (constellation) + yoga (conjunction). Kṛṣṇa's nakṣatra is Rohiṇī. The ceremony is timed to the cosmic moment that mirrors His original appearance — Vedic culture aligns household saṁskāras to the heavens, not to the calendar of convenience.
  • dvija-mantra-vācakaiḥ — by the chanting of Vedic hymns by qualified brāhmaṇas
    Dvija (twice-born) + mantra + vācaka (reciter). The dvija is one whose second birth is through initiation and tapas. Mantra in this ceremony is not background music — it is the channel through which Kṛṣṇa's protection enters the household.
  • abhiṣecanam — the bathing ceremony
    From abhi-ṣic, to pour upon. Abhiṣeka is a royal coronation rite — the same word used for the bathing of deities and kings. Yaśodā bathes her son with the bhāva of installing a king, though her conscious mood is only motherly. Vraja's vātsalya always carries hidden aiśvarya.
Śukadeva Gosvāmī said: When mother Yaśodā’s baby was slanting His body to attempt to rise and turn around, this attempt was observed by a Vedic ceremony. In such a ceremony, called utthāna, which is performed when a child is due to leave the house for the first time, the child is properly bathed. Just after Kṛṣṇa turned three months old, mother Yaśodā celebrated this ceremony with other women of the neighborhood. On that day, there was a conjunction of the moon with the constellation Rohiṇī. As the brāhmaṇas joined by chanting Vedic hymns and professional musicians also took part, this great ceremony was observed by mother Yaśodā.

There is no question of overpopulation or of children’s being a burden for their parents in a Vedic society. Such a society is so well organized and people are so advanced in spiritual consciousness that childbirth is never regarded as a burden or a botheration. The more a child grows, the more his parents become jubilant, and the child’s attempts to turn over are also a source of jubilation. Even before the child is born, when the mother is pregnant, many recommended ritualistic ceremonies are performed. For example, when the child has been within the womb for three months and for seven months, there is a ceremony the mother observes by eating with neighboring children. This ceremony is called svāda-bhakṣaṇa. Similarly, before the birth of the child there is the garbhādhāna ceremony. In Vedic civilization, childbirth or pregnancy is never regarded as a burden; rather, it is a cause for jubilation. In contrast, people in modern civilization do not like pregnancy or childbirth, and when there is a child, they sometimes kill it. We can just consider how human society has fallen since the inauguration of Kali-yuga. Although people still claim to be civilized, at the present moment there is actually no human civilization, but only an assembly of two-legged animals.

— A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda
Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura Gauḍīya
Translation
Śukadeva Gosvāmī said: When mother Yaśodā's baby was slanting His body to attempt to rise and turn around, this attempt was observed by a Vedic ceremony. In such a ceremony, called utthāna, which is performed when a child is due to leave the house for the first time, the child is properly bathed. Just after Kṛṣṇa turned three months old, mother Yaśodā celebrated this ceremony with other women of the neighborhood. On that day, there was a conjunction of the moon with the constellation Rohiṇī. As the brāhmaṇas joined by chanting Vedic hymns and professional musicians also took part, this great ceremony was observed by mother Yaśodā
Commentary

Kadacit (some time) means when three months had passed after the birth of the child this incident took place, for in the second canto (2.7.27) it is mentioned that the breaking of the cart occurred when Krsna was three months old. When the child was able to turn over (autthanik), the women became overjoyed and when the moon entered his birth star (rohini), Yasoda, surrounded by the gopis, celebrated the event with bathing of the child to the accompaniment of music and songs and chanting by brahmanas

Jīva Gosvāmī Gauḍīya
Commentary

Pleased by Parīkṣit’s words Śukadeva began describing in order Kṛṣṇa’s childhood pastimes. This event happened when he was three months old. Trai-māsikasya ca padā śakaṭo ‘pavṛttaḥ: he overturned the cart with his three- month-old foot. (SB 2.7.27) It also happened that the moon was in Rohiṇī and thus three months from his birth according to the lunar calendar (since his birth also occurred with the moon in Rohiṇī). The event was a bath on the occasion of his raising himself from the bed. Some say this refers to going outside, but that ceremony occurs during the fourth month according to the scriptures and is calculated according to the solar calendar. Yaśodā was attached to this ceremony out of affection, since Kṛṣṇa was her only son. Yaśodā (satī) was expert in all ceremonies. Since this was a ceremony predominantly for the women, Yaśodā did this rather than Nanda, who had done the birth ceremony.

Śrīdhara Svāmī Gauḍīya
Commentary

Pleased by Parīkṣit’s words Śukadeva began describing in order Kṛṣṇa’s childhood pastimes. This event happened when he was three months old. Trai-māsikasya ca padā śakaṭo ‘pavṛttaḥ: he overturned the cart with his three- month-old foot. (SB 2.7.27) It also happened that the moon was in Rohiṇī and thus three months from his birth according to the lunar calendar (since his birth also occurred with the moon in Rohiṇī). The event was a bath on the occasion of his raising himself from the bed. Some say this refers to going outside, but that ceremony occurs during the fourth month according to the scriptures and is calculated according to the solar calendar. Yaśodā was attached to this ceremony out of affection, since Kṛṣṇa was her only son. Yaśodā (satī) was expert in all ceremonies. She bathed him by sprinkling water on him, as brāhmaṇas chanted mantras, after establishing a pot. Since this was a ceremony predominantly for the women, Yaśodā did this rather than Nanda, who had done the birth ceremony.

Related values
Adambhitva (Non-hypocrisy / Authenticity)Vairagya (Detachment / Dispassion)Nishkama Karma (Selfless Action)Daksya (Resourcefulness / Skill)
Related verses
Concepts
Mantra
Welcoming a child's every milestone with Vedic ceremony reveals a culture that treats new life as Kṛṣṇa's gift, never a burden — receive your duties the same way.
Practical Applications
  • Mark one ordinary milestone in your family today — a child's small step, a parent's recovery, a sibling's effort — with a deliberate offering or prayer to Kṛṣṇa instead of letting it pass unnoticed.
  • Refuse the modern framing that responsibilities (children, dependents, elders, sevā) are 'burdens'; name one such duty aloud today as a cause for jubilation.
  • Invite saṅga into a family moment this week — call a devotee, play kīrtana during a meal, or chant together — so that household life is sanctified by Vaiṣṇava association rather than left secular.

A new lamp lit in the household is greeted with garlands, music, and brāhmaṇa-mantras — not because the lamp needs blessing but because the house has been given a flame to keep. Kṛṣṇa's first turning of His body is welcomed the same way: not for His sake, but to teach the household to honor every gift of Bhagavān with ceremony.

Dhruva's mantra-dīkṣā at five

Five-year-old Dhruva, having walked alone into the forest, was found by Nārada, who gave him the dvādaśākṣara mantra and the procedure to worship Vāsudeva. The boy's tender turn toward the Lord was met immediately with Vedic provision — mantra, place, ritual (SB 4.8).

The pattern is the same as Yaśodā's utthāna ceremony: when a soul makes a first movement Godward, the tradition surrounds that movement with Veda, brāhmaṇa, music, and offering.

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