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Read one verse of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam with its Sanskrit, word meanings, translation and study points.

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Canto 10 · The Summum Bonum · 90 chapters

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How to study this verse, in six steps
  1. 1Chant the verse. Say the Sanskrit slowly and carefully.
  2. 2Read the word meanings. Go through each Sanskrit word and its meaning.
  3. 3Find the meaning yourself. Before the translation, piece the meaning together from the words.
  4. 4Read the translation. Ask: what is the Lord teaching here, and how does it apply to my life?
  5. 5Read the purport slowly. Read it two or three times. Don't rush.
  6. 6Write down what touched you. Note the main points in your own notebook.
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Canto 10 · Chapter 13: The Stealing of the Boys and Calves by Brahmā
10.13.3310.13.35

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam · Text 10.13.34

Īśānukathā· The Lord and His devotees
Who is speaking and story frame
Speaking:Śukadeva Gosvāmīsince 10.13.1inside 2 frames: Sūta Gosvāmī → the sages at NaimiṣāraṇyaŚukadeva Gosvāmī → King Parīkṣit

तत: प्रवयसो गोपास्तोकाश्लेषसुनिर्वृता: ।

कृच्छ्राच्छनैरपगतास्तदनुस्मृत्युदश्रव: ॥ ३४ ॥

tataḥ pravayaso gopās

tokāśleṣa-sunirvṛtāḥ

kṛcchrāc chanair apagatās

tad-anusmṛty-udaśravaḥ

Translation

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.

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io
1

Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

Affection Continues Through Remembrance

  1. 1

    The cowherd men had been angry at the cows’ attraction to their calves, but they themselves became attracted to their sons.

  2. 2

    Embracing a son and smelling his head are symptoms of affection. The elderly men were overjoyed by these embraces.

  3. 3

    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.

Key points from the purport
  • In the beginning the cowherd men were angry that the cows were being attracted by the calves, but when the men came down from the hill, they themselves were attracted by their sons, and therefore the men embraced them.
  • To embrace one’s son and smell his head are symptoms of affection.

Śrīla Prabhupāda's own sentences, chosen from the purport as its central points. Read the full purport on Vedabase to see them in place.

How it feels

Peril and pride → Friendship and humility. Divinity is revealed amid intimate childhood play.

Chapters 12–19 of Canto 10: Childhood dangers and Brahmā's amazement. An editorial reading of the story's mood, not the text itself. See the emotional arc

Further reading

Chapter 13: The Stealing of the Boys and Calves by Brahmā

From the chapter summary, the lines nearest this verse:

A special feature of this pastime was that the mothers of the cowherd boys thus became more attached to their respective sons, and the cows became more attached to their calves. After nearly a year, Baladeva observed that all the cowherd boys and calves were expansions of Kṛṣṇa.
Read the whole chapter summaryBack to this verse in chapter 10.13
2

Word for word

Learn the Sanskrit words of the verse.

  1. tataḥthereafter
  2. pravayasaḥelderly
  3. gopāḥcowherd men
  4. toka-āśleṣa-sunirvṛtāḥbecame overjoyed by embracing their sons
  5. kṛcchrātwith difficulty
  6. śanaiḥgradually
  7. apagatāḥceased from that embracing and returned to the forest
  8. tat-anusmṛti-uda-śravaḥas they remembered their sons, tears began to roll down from their eyes
3

Key ideas in this verse

The subject this verse serves and the themes it speaks of.

  • Īśānukathā · The science of God

    Who is the Lord, and how do His devotees live? · Subject 7 of 10

Chapter themes come from the story phase this chapter belongs to.

4

Live it

Take one thing from this verse into your day.

Ask yourself

What do the men’s reluctance to leave and their tears reveal about their affection?

Practice

Reread the final sentence of the translation and reflect briefly on affection expressed through remembrance.

5

The story around it

The story this chapter belongs to.

Live this todayAffection Continues Through RemembranceThis verse's lesson: one practice and one question for today

Study points are short summaries, not the translation. Confirm them in the original text and purport on Vedabase.

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