Live the Bhāgavatam · SB 10.13.34
Īśānukathā· The Lord and His devoteesAffection Continues Through Remembrance
“Thereafter the elderly cowherd men, having obtained great feeling from embracing their sons, gradually and with great difficulty and reluctance ceased embracing them and returned to the forest. But as the men remembered their sons, tears began to roll down from their eyes.”
What the purport teaches
- The cowherd men had been angry at the cows’ attraction to their calves, but they themselves became attracted to their sons.
- Embracing a son and smelling his head are symptoms of affection. The elderly men were overjoyed by these embraces.
- They stopped embracing their sons only gradually and with great reluctance. As they returned to the forest and remembered them, tears rolled down their eyes.
Try this today
Reread the final sentence of the translation and reflect briefly on affection expressed through remembrance.
Ask yourself
What do the men’s reluctance to leave and their tears reveal about their affection?
Carry the question through the day, then answer it in your own words before sleep.
The study points, practice and question are short summaries drawn from Śrīla Prabhupāda's translation and purport. Read the full purport to go deeper.