FolioCorpusBhagavad-gītā

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.8.32

ఏకదా క్రీడమానాస్తే రామాద్యా గోపదారకా: । కృష్ణో మృదం భక్షితవానితి మాత్రే న్యవేదయన్ ॥ ౩౨ ॥
ekadā krīḍamānās te
[ekadaa kreedamaanaas te]
rāmādyā gopa-dārakāḥ
[raamaadyaa gopa-daarakaah]
kṛṣṇo mṛdaṁ bhakṣitavān
[krishno mridam bhakshitavaan]
iti mātre nyavedayan
[iti maatre nyavedayan]
Word-for-word
ekadā — once upon a time krīḍamānāḥ — now Kṛṣṇa, being still more grown up, was playing with other children of the same age te — they rāma - ādyāḥ — Balarāma and others gopa - dārakāḥ — other boys born in the same neighborhood of the cowherd men kṛṣṇaḥ mṛdam bhakṣitavān — O Mother, Kṛṣṇa has eaten earth (a complaint was lodged) iti — thus mātre — unto mother Yaśodā nyavedayan — they submitted .
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
ekadā krīḍamānās te
ekadā
once upon a time
krīḍamānāḥ
now Kṛṣṇa, being still more grown up, was playing with other children of the same age
te
they
rāmādyā gopa-dārakāḥ
rāma - ādyāḥ
Balarāma and others
gopa - dārakāḥ
other boys born in the same neighborhood of the cowherd men
kṛṣṇo mṛdaṁ bhakṣitavān
kṛṣṇaḥ mṛdam bhakṣitavān
O Mother, Kṛṣṇa has eaten earth (a complaint was lodged)
iti
thus
iti mātre nyavedayan
mātre
unto mother Yaśodā
nyavedayan
they submitted .
Important Words
  • ekadā — once upon a time
    Eka-dā — 'on one day'. The narrative marker that opens a self-contained līlā-episode. Gauḍīyas read each ekadā in Canto 10 as eternal: every such pastime is happening in Goloka right now, not merely once-upon-a-time.
  • krīḍamānāḥ — (while) playing
    Present participle plural of √krīḍ. Their being-at-play is what enables the līlā — krīḍā is the medium in which Kṛṣṇa's deeper teaching is given. He instructs while playing, not despite playing.
  • rāma - ādyāḥ — Balarāma and others
    Rāma + ādi (etc.), nominative plural. Even Balarāma joins the playmates in this complaint. Gauḍīya: Balarāma's mood here is sakhā-with-Kṛṣṇa, the indulgent elder sharing in the prank-of-the-prank.
  • gopa - dārakāḥ — the boys (of the cowherd men)
    Gopa + dāraka (boy). Sakhya-rasa companions in their childhood form. The verse-phrase will recur across Canto 10 — the gopa-dārakāḥ are Kṛṣṇa's eternal fellow-actors.
  • kṛṣṇaḥ mṛdam bhakṣitavān — Kṛṣṇa has eaten earth
    The four-word accusation — kṛṣṇa (subject) + mṛd (earth, accusative) + bhakṣita-vān (one who has eaten, past participle in -vat). Gauḍīya: the same Lord whose body contains the universe is accused of eating a clod of earth. The universe-in-mouth verse three steps later answers this complaint with cosmic irony.
  • nyavedayan — they submitted, they reported
    Imperfect plural of ni-√vid — 'to make known to'. A formal verb of report, ironically applied to a tattling complaint. The verse holds child-prattle and Vedic-report-register in one word.
One day while Kṛṣṇa was playing with His small playmates, including Balarāma and other sons of the gopas, all His friends came together and lodged a complaint to mother Yaśodā. “Mother,” they submitted, “Kṛṣṇa has eaten earth.”
Purport

Here is another of Kṛṣṇa’s transcendental activities invented to please the gopīs. First a complaint was lodged with mother Yaśodā about Kṛṣṇa’s stealing, but mother Yaśodā did not chastise Him. Now, in an attempt to awaken mother Yaśodā’s anger so that she would chastise Kṛṣṇa, another complaint was invented — that Kṛṣṇa had eaten earth.

— A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda
Gauḍīya Ācāryas
Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura Gauḍīya
Translation
One day while Kṛṣṇa was playing with His small playmates, including Balarāma and other sons of the gopas, all His friends came together and lodged a complaint to mother Yaśodā. "Mother," they submitted, "Kṛṣṇa has eaten earth."
Commentary

A taste of maternal affection ( vatsalya rasa) by the gopis finding fault in Krsna has been completed. A taste of vismaya rasa is presented by his friends’ criticisms. Krsna was not scolded for stealing yogurt, but was scolded for eating dirt. Both were incited by love.

Jīva Gosvāmī Gauḍīya
Commentary

Remembering a previous pastime similar to a previous astonishing pastime (when Kṛṣṇa yawned and Yaśodā saw the universe in his mouth), Śukadeva begins speaking. The elder friends, such as Balarāma (te rāmādyāḥ), spoke to Yaśodā. The phrase gopa indicates that these boys were ordered by Yaśodā to protect Kṛṣṇa. They carried out the orders like wooden puppets (dāruka --puppet, which is similar to dārakāḥ—young boys). Or dārakāḥ can mean those who give joy (kāḥ) to the wife of Nanda (dāra), by informing her that Kṛṣṇa had eaten dirt. He took some soft earth from the ground and ate it though the boys had tried to stop him. Not able to tolerate his eating dirt, intently (ni), so that he would not do this again, they informed Yaśodā politely (avedayan).

Śrīdhara Svāmī Gauḍīya
Commentary

Wanting the bliss of being scolded by his devotee in the sequence of infant pastimes, the eating dirt pastimes is related. The friends or well wishers, such as Balarāma (te rāmādyāḥ), spoke to Yaśodā. The phrase gopa indicates that these boys were ordered by Yaśodā to protect Kṛṣṇa. Another version has bālakāḥ. This indicates they had natural affection for Kṛṣṇa. He pretended to eat dirt. Balarāma and others thought he actually ate dirt. Or secretly he ate dirt. If he did not have the symptoms of eating it, he would not be scolded.

Related values & verses
Related values
Atma Nigraha (Self-control)Abhaya (Fearlessness)Tejas (Inner Radiance / Vigour)Vinaya (Humility / Modesty)
Related verses
SB 10.8.29 SB 10.8.30 SB 10.8.31 SB 10.8.33 SB 10.8.34 SB 10.8.35 BG 17.3 BG 3.11 BG 14.1 BG 5.7 BG 15.9 BG 2.21
Related lectures
Personal Guidance
Kṛṣṇa's playmates invent a complaint to provoke Yaśodā — His pastimes are staged to deepen the gopīs' vātsalya, not to expose any fault.
Practical Applications
  • Today, when you hear a complaint about someone, pause before reacting and ask whose bhāva is actually being served by the telling.
  • Read SB 10.8.32 aloud and picture yourself among the gopa-dārakāḥ running to mother Yaśodā — let the līlā work on your heart, not your intellect.
  • Refuse to flatten Kṛṣṇa's pastimes into mere ethics; receive this verse as a transcendental drama meant to awaken your taste for vraja-bhakti.
Analogy

A troupe of small actors stage a tiny play before the queen, hoping she will turn her attention to one of them — but the 'crime' they invent is exactly what will make her clutch the accused closer. Kṛṣṇa's playmates running to Yaśodā with the dirt-eating complaint are unwitting agents of Vraja's deepening vātsalya.

📝 My note

Source: vedabase.io

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