Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.9.21
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
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gopikā-sutaḥ
—
the son of mother Yaśodā
Compound: gopikā (cowherd woman) + suta (son). Not Vasudeva's son, not Devakī's son — Yaśodā's. Gauḍīyas: He is known as Kṛṣṇa specifically in His Yaśodā-son aspect; as Vasudeva's son He is Vāsudeva. The verse names the most intimate aspect.
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bhakti-matām
—
of the devotees
Compound: bhakti (devotion) + mat (possessing). Those who 'have' bhakti — Gauḍīya distinction: not those who study bhakti or admire bhakti, but those in whom bhakti is constitutive.
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dehinām
—
of those in the bodily concept
Genitive of dehin (embodied one). Karmīs. Those who identify with the body. Gauḍīya: until the deha-conception is loosened, bhakti's gopikā-suta remains inaccessible.
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jñāninām ca
—
and of the jñānīs
Genitive plural of jñānin (one who knows), with ca (and). Those who pursue self-realization through knowledge. Gauḍīyas: jñāna without bhakti is incomplete (jñāne prayāsam udapāsya, SB 10.14.3); the verse states this hierarchy plainly.
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ātma-bhūtānām
—
of the self-sufficient yogīs
Compound: ātma (self) + bhūta (become) — those who have 'become' Self, or self-sufficient. Gauḍīya reading: even the yogī who has reached the Self has not reached the gopikā-suta; ātma-realization falls short of Bhagavān-realization.
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sukha-āpaḥ
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easily obtainable
Compound: sukha (easily) + āpa (obtainable). The verse contains its own negative: na ayam sukha-āpaḥ — He is not easily obtainable. Yet for bhakti-matām He is. The 'ease' is reserved for love alone.
Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead as the son of mother Yaśodā, is very easily available to devotees, but not to tapasvīs, yogīs, jñānīs and others who have a bodily concept of life. Although they may sometimes be called śānta-bhaktas, real bhakti begins with dāsya-rasa. Kṛṣṇa says in Bhagavad-gītā (4.11) : ye yathā māṁ prapadyante tāṁs tathaiva bhajāmy aham mama vartmānuvartante manuṣyāḥ pārtha sarvaśaḥ “As living entities surrender unto Me, I reward them accordingly. Everyone follows My path in all respects, O son of Pṛthā.” Everyone is seeking Kṛṣṇa, for He is the Supersoul of all individual souls. Everyone loves his body and wants to protect it because he is within the body as the soul, and everyone loves the soul because the soul is part and parcel of the Supersoul. Therefore, everyone is actually seeking to achieve happiness by reviving his relationship with the Supersoul. As the Lord says in Bhagavad-gītā (15.15) , vedaiś ca sarvair aham eva vedyaḥ: “By all the Vedas, it is I who am to be known.” Therefore, the karmīs, jñānīs, yogīs and saintly persons are all seeking Kṛṣṇa. But by following in the footsteps of devotees who are in a direct relationship with Kṛṣṇa, especially the inhabitants of Vṛndāvana, one can reach the supreme position of associating with Kṛṣṇa. As it is said, vṛndāvanaṁ parityajya padam ekaṁ na gacchati: Kṛṣṇa does not leave Vṛndāvana even for a moment. The vṛndāvana-vāsīs — mother Yaśodā, Kṛṣṇa’s friends and Kṛṣṇa’s conjugal lovers, the younger gopīs with whom He dances — have very intimate relationships with Kṛṣṇa, and if one follows in the footsteps of these devotees, Kṛṣṇa is available. Although the nitya-siddha expansions of Kṛṣṇa always remain with Kṛṣṇa, if those engaged in sādhana-siddhi follow in the footsteps of Kṛṣṇa’s nitya-siddha associates, such sādhana-siddhas also can easily attain Kṛṣṇa without difficulty. But there are those who are attached to bodily concepts of life. Lord Brahmā and Lord Śiva, for example, have very prestigious positions, and thus they have the sense of being very exalted īśvaras. In other words, because Lord Brahmā and Lord Śiva are guṇa-avatāras and have exalted positions, they have some small sense of being like Kṛṣṇa. But the pure devotees who inhabit Vṛndāvana do not possess any bodily conception. They are fully dedicated to the service of the Lord in sublime affection, premā. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu has therefore recommended, premā pum-artho mahān: the highest perfection of life is premā, pure love in relationship with Kṛṣṇa. And mother Yaśodā appears to be the topmost of devotees who have attained this perfection.
Though bound by his devotee, Krsna is still able to liberate others. That is illustrated in the following pastime.
How did Yaśodā attain her position? How can others attain such a position? The Lord, son of Yaśodā, is not easily attained by austerities or other means by people who identify themselves as possessors of the body (dehīnām). If there is association with devotees, somehow, at some time, then gradually a person will attain this. etāvān eva yajatām iha niḥśreyasodayaḥ | bhagavaty acalo bhāvo yad bhāgavata-saṅgataḥ || Auspiciousness arises for the worshippers of devatās if firm devotion for the Lord arises from association with devotees. SB 2.3.11 Jṣānīs who know they are not the body and realize they are ātmā (jṣānināṁ cātma-bhūtānām) cannot easily attain such a position, but they also can, if they have association of devotees. Some versions have ātmā-potānām: jṣānīs who cross saṁsāra by means of realization of ātmā. Who easily attains that position? The son of Yaśodā is attained easily by those dedicated to Kṛṣṇa (iha—to him). Those who have devotion for Mahā-nārāyaṇa are excluded. It is reasonable that the devotees of Nārāyaṇa do not attain such a position. Since those who identify with the body and the jṣānīs, seeing Kṛṣṇa as a material body, do not respect him, and those who worship Nārāyaṇa, seeing his pastimes as a cowherd (even though they do see him as a material entity), do not respect him, it is appropriate that devotees of Kṛṣṇa alone attain such a position of bhakti, for only these devotees realized Kṛṣṇa’s pastimes as the highest: itthaṁ satāṁ brahma-sukhānubhūtyā dāsyaṁ gatānāṁ para-daivatena māyāśritānāṁ nara-dārakeṇa sākaṁ vijahruḥ kṛta-puṇya-puṣjāḥ In this way with an abundance of splendor caused by Kṛṣṇa, they played with him, though he is pure consciousness or happiness known as Brahman for the jṣānīs, the Supreme Lord for the devotees with dāsya-bhāva and an ordinary human child for those covered by material illusion. SB 10.12.11 The word gopikā-sutaḥ is not a secondary descriptive element since it indicates that the highest position was given to Yaśodā, the cowherd woman. The word iha (to him) indicates “to Kṛṣṇa, son of Yaśodā” since only such devotees attain such a position. Iha meaning “in the world” would be without function in the sentence. The word bhaktimatām (persons having bhakti) is used to indicate without distinction a succession of devotees in past, present and future since the Vedas which teach bhakti and the parampara of teacher and student extends without beginning in the past and unlimitedly in the future. The special characteristic of the son of Yaśodā is that it in both states, sādhana and sādhya (prema), he gives happiness. Therefore the devotees of Kṛṣṇa spread over all time concentrate on the Lord as the son of Yaśodā as their sādhana and attain him (sādhya). He remains in that form eternally. He is perfect in that form. Accepting Kṛṣṇa as the son of Yaśodā is a sādhana. However this is not a sādhana for Yaśodā since, if she performed such sādhana, there would be the fault of having to worship herself. There is no question of Yaśodā “attaining” a position of happiness, for Kṛṣṇa is the son of Yaśodā. As well as Yaśodā, Nanda and others are also included. In the various mantras used during the Janmāṣṭamī vrata and in āvaraṇa-pūja (worshipping of associates of the main deity during arcana), their names are mentioned. Thus previously when I mentioned Droṇa and Dhārā doing sādhana as expansions of Nanda and Yaśodā, it was only a pastime in order to awaken your eagerness.
Qualification to obtain that mercy is described. The son of the cowherd woman, though accepting bondage (ayam), endowed with all great qualities, is easily available to those with devotion to Kṛṣṇa (iha) or in Vraja (iha), which is perceived in the heart (even if not living there). Or the Lord is attainable by persons who respect worship of the Lord but is not attainable by those who realize they are separate from the body (dehīnām), who realize ātmā, or the jīvanmuktas (jṣānīnām) or those who have perfected liberation (ātma-bhūtānām). He is attainable only with suffering and only partially. Or even though such mercy is not available to devotees like Brahmā, it is available to these devotees. Or he gives happiness (sukhapaḥ) to these devotees and not to the others. The greatness of bhakti is stated. The supreme lord, whose mercy is rare (ayam), dear to the people of Gokula (gopikā-sutaḥ), is easily attained by the devotees in any place (iha). But he is rarely attained by the three other types of persons. Or he is easily attainable or he makes one attain happiness, in this world or in this present body. Another version has ātma-potānām (those who have a method of delivering ātmā). This also refers to jṣānīs. The Lord is not easily attained by liberated persons, those who have merely destroyed suffering by liberation.
- Sarvabhauma Pr Hindi SB 10-09-21
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- Radha Raman Sw SB 10-09-21 - 2012-06-27 ISKCON Alachua
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- Romapada Sw SB 10-09-21 - Damodar Lila Part-31 - 2020-11-20 Boston
- Romapada Sw SB 10-09-21 - Damodar Lila Part-29 - 2020-11-19 Boston
- Refuse the temptation to 'figure Kṛṣṇa out' by reasoning today — instead, hear one pastime of mother Yaśodā with Him and let your heart soften.
- Notice when you slip into a bodily conception ('I am tired,' 'I am clever') and re-place yourself as a servant following in the footsteps of a Vraja-vāsī.
- Speak Kṛṣṇa's name today not as an abstract Absolute but personally — as the gopikā-suta, the son of Yaśodā — and let that intimacy guide one act of service.
A famous teacher delivers a lecture; a wandering scholar attends. But the teacher's young son, the only one who calls him 'father,' runs into the room and climbs onto his lap mid-lecture. Knowledge buys the lecture-seat; love buys the lap. Vraja-bhakti is the only path that arrives at the lap.
The four Kumāras — Sanaka, Sanandana, Sanātana, Sanatkumāra — perfected in jñāna, reached Vaikuṇṭha's gate. Yet they were initially turned away by Jaya and Vijaya, and only the fragrance of tulasī from Nārāyaṇa's feet melted them from jñāna into bhakti (SB 3.15).
Gauḍīya commentary on SB 10.9.21 pairs this directly: jñānī-realm is one stage; bhakti-mode is another. The Kumāras had to drop their jñānī-posture before they could enter.
Rūpa and Sanātana Gosvāmī were among the highest scholars of their day in Bengal — masters of Sanskrit, Persian, Arabic, statecraft. When Caitanya touched their lives, they abandoned posts as ministers, dressed in rags, and lived in Vraja begging for service.
They wrote, yes — vast theological corpus — but only after dropping the jñānī-posture and re-entering as Vraja-vāsīs in mood. SB 10.9.21 is the verse that justifies their renunciation.
My note
Source: vedabase.io