Live the Bhāgavatam · SB 10.18.17
Īśānukathā· The Lord and His devoteesPralamba Enters in Disguise
“While Rāma, Kṛṣṇa and Their cowherd friends were thus tending the cows in that Vṛndāvana forest, the demon Pralamba entered their midst. He had assumed the form of a cowherd boy with the intention of kidnapping Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma.”
What the purport teaches
- Kṛṣṇa, Balarāma and Their cowherd friends were tending cows in the Vṛndāvana forest when Pralamba entered their midst.
- Pralamba assumed a cowherd boy’s form with the intention of kidnapping Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma. The purport explains that he imitated a particular boy who had stayed home to perform duties.
- After describing the Lords acting like ordinary boys, Śukadeva Gosvāmī now introduces a transcendental pastime beyond the range of human activity.
Try this today
Reread the purport’s contrast between ordinary-looking play and a transcendental pastime.
Ask yourself
Why is it important not to mistake the Lords’ ordinary-looking play for merely human activity?
Carry the question through the day, then answer it in your own words before sleep.
From Canto 10, chapter 14 onward, the translation and purports were completed by Śrīla Prabhupāda's disciples after his departure, and published by the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust.