Study a Verse

• At an advanced age one generally cannot beget a male child.
• Thus Vasudeva indirectly asked Nanda Mahārāja whether he had actually begotten a male child or a female child.
• Vasudeva knew that Yaśodā had given birth to a female child, whom he had stolen and replaced with a male child.

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

Worry and play → Parental tenderness. The Supreme becomes the beloved child of His devotees.

Chapters 5–11 of Canto 10: Gokula, Yaśodā and the infant Lord. An editorial reading of the story's mood, not the text itself. See the emotional arc

Chapter 5: The Meeting of Nanda Mahārāja and Vasudeva

From the chapter summary, the lines nearest this verse:

Nanda Mahārāja and Vasudeva were brothers, and Vasudeva praised Nanda Mahārāja’s good fortune because he knew that Kṛṣṇa had accepted Nanda Mahārāja as His father. When Vasudeva inquired from Nanda Mahārāja about the welfare of the child, Nanda Mahārāja informed him all about Vṛndāvana, and Vasudeva was very much satisfied by this, although he expressed his grief because Devakī’s many children had been killed by Kaṁsa.