Bhagavatapurana 10.12: atha dvādaśo'dhyāyaḥ

10.12.1

/0 śrī-śuka uvāca
kvacid vanāśāya mano dadhad vrajāt prātaḥ samutthāya vayasya-vatsapān /
prabodhayañ chṛṅga-raveṇa cāruṇā vinirgato vatsa-puraḥsaro hariḥ //

Śrī Śuka said:
Once, setting his mind on having breakfast in the forest, Hari arose in the morning,
and awakened his companion calf-herders with the sweet sound of his horn, and departed from Vraja with the calves leading the way.

1. Sri Suka said:—On a certain day, with a mind to have His break-fast in the woods, Hari (Sri Krishna) rose early in the morning, woke his fellow cow-herd boys by charmingly blowing his horn, and issued forth from Vraja with the calves going in front.

10.12.2

tenaiva sākaṃ pṛthukāḥ sahasraśaḥ snigdhāḥ suśig-vetra-viṣāṇa-veṇavaḥ /
svān svān sahasropari-saṅkhyayānvitān vatsān puraskṛtya viniryayur mudā //

Together with him, thousands of affectionate boys, equipped with fine lunch-bags, canes, horns, and flutes,
joyfully went out, placing in front their respective calves numbering in the thousands.

2. Called by the same horn of Sri Krishna gladly set out with Him thousands of young loving boys equipped with slings, staves, horns, and flutes, driving their own herds of calves in teeming thousands. 3. With the innumerable calves of Krishna they herded their own and tended them and amused themselves here and there in child-like sports and plays.

10.12.3

kṛṣṇa-vatsair asaṅkhyātair yūthī-kṛtya sva-vatsakān /
cārayanto 'rbha-līlābhir vijahrus tatra tatra ha //

Uniting their own calves into herds with Kṛṣṇa's innumerable calves,
pasturing them with childish plays, they sported here and there.

10.12.4

phala-prabāla-stavaka- sumanaḥ-piccha-dhātubhiḥ /
kāca-guñjā-maṇi-svarṇa- bhūṣitā apy abhūṣayan //

With fruits, sprouts, clusters of blossoms, flowers, peacock feathers, and mineral pigments,
though already adorned with glass beads, guñjā berries, gems, and gold, they further decorated themselves.

4. With fruits, tender shoots, clusters of flowers, feathers and coloured earths, they adorned themselves, though they already wore the ornaments of glass-beads, Gunja seeds and pieces of gold.

10.12.5

muṣṇanto 'nyonya-śikyādīn jñātān ārāc ca cikṣipuḥ /
tatratyāś ca punar dūrād dhasantaś ca punar daduḥ //

Stealing one another's lunch-pouches and the like, once discovered they threw them far away;
and those stationed there threw them from afar, laughing, and gave them back again.

5. They stole one another's slings and other things and, when noticed, they threw them away to a great distance; and they at those distant points smiled and threw back the slings.

10.12.6

yadi dūraṃ gataḥ kṛṣṇo vana-śobhekṣaṇāya tam /
ahaṃ pūrvam ahaṃ pūrvam iti saṃspṛśya remire //

If Kṛṣṇa went far off to view the beauty of the forest,
they took delight in touching him, crying, "I first! I first!"

6. When Krishna had gone to a distance to observe the beauty of the forest, they vied with each other in touching Him first and were delighted at touching Him.

10.12.7

kecid veṇūn vādayanto dhmāntaḥ śṛṅgāṇi kecana /
kecid bhṛṅgaiḥ pragāyantaḥ kūjantaḥ kokilaiḥ pare //

Some played on flutes, others blew horns;
some sang along with the bees, while others warbled with the cuckoos.

7. Some play upon the flutes, some blow their horns, some hum with the humming bees, and some others sing sweet notes along with Cuckoos.

10.12.8

vicchāyābhiḥ pradhāvanto gacchantaḥ sādhu-haṃsakaiḥ /
bakair upaviśantaś ca nṛtyantaś ca kalāpibhiḥ //

Running after shadows, walking along with graceful swans,
sitting beside herons, and dancing with peacocks,

8. Some run with the shadow of birds; with the royal swans some walk; some others sit down with cranes, and some too with peacocks dance.

10.12.9

vikarṣantaḥ kīśa-bālān ārohantaś ca tair drumān /
vikurvantaś ca taiḥ sākaṃ plavantaś ca palāśiṣu //

pulling young monkeys by the tail, climbing trees with them,
making faces along with them, and jumping among the trees,

9. Some pull monkeys by their tails and climb trees along with them; some make wry faces after them; others swing from branch to branch.

10.12.10

sākaṃ bhekair vilaṅghantaḥ saritaḥ srava-samplutāḥ /
vihasantaḥ praticchāyāḥ śapantaś ca pratisvanān //

leaping with frogs across rivers flooded with streams,
laughing at their own shadows, and shouting curses at their echoes—

10. Some hop with frogs, and get drenched in the rivers and rills; at their own reflections, some laugh; some admonish their echoes.

10.12.11

itthaṃ satāṃ brahma-sukhānubhūtyā dāsyaṃ gatānāṃ para-daivatena /
māyāśritānāṃ nara-dārakeṇa sākaṃ vijahruḥ kṛta-puṇya-puñjāḥ //

in this manner, with him who is the experience of the bliss of Brahman for the virtuous devotees, the supreme deity for those who have attained servitorship,
and an ordinary human child for those who take refuge in his creative power, these boys who had accumulated an abundance of merit sported.

11. Possessed of an immense store of merit they sported thus with Sri Krishna who was to the wise the realisation of perfect and absolute blissfulness of Brahman Supreme Deity to those that gave themselves to His service and but a human child to those that were deluded by Maya.

10.12.11.p1

yat-pāda-pāṃsur bahu-janma-kṛcchrato $ dhṛtātmabhir yogibhir apy alabhyaḥ &

The dust of whose feet is unattainable even by self-controlled yogins through the hardships of many lifetimes,

12. Is it possible to describe fully how blessed were the folk of Vraja before whom stood He, that supreme Deity Himself, a visible reality, the dust under whose feet is not reachable even by those yogins who control their mind by practising austereties through many lives.

10.12.12

sa eva yad-dṛg-viṣayaḥ svayaṃ sthitaḥ % kiṃ varṇyate diṣṭam ato vrajaukasām //

that very one stood directly before their eyes; how, then, can the good fortune of the inhabitants of Vraja be described?

10.12.13

athāgha-nāmābhyapatan mahāsuras teṣāṃ sukha-krīḍana-vīkṣaṇākṣamaḥ /
nityaṃ yad-antar nija-jīvitepsubhiḥ pītāmṛtair apy amaraiḥ pratīkṣyate //

Then a great asura named Agha arrived, unable to endure the sight of their happy play;
he whose end was constantly awaited by the immortals wishing for their own lives, even though they had drunk nectar.

13. Now to attack Him came a mighty Asura, called Agha, who did not brook to see them engaged in delightful and happy sports; a sight which even the immortals that have partaken of Amrita contemplate at heart eager to realise it themselves and thereby seek to support their life.

10.12.13.p1

dṛṣṭvārbhakān kṛṣṇa-mukhān aghāsuraḥ $ kaṃsānuśiṣṭaḥ sa bakī-bakānujaḥ &

Seeing the boys headed by Kṛṣṇa, Aghāsura, instructed by Kaṃsa, the younger brother of Bakī and Baka, [thought]:

14. Directed by Kamsa and (Putana), being brother to Baki and Baka, the Asura Agha saw the boys with Sri Krishna and thought thus: "This is the slayer of my brother and my sister; I will avenge the wrong done to both by killing Krishna along with Bala (along with his friends and charge)".

10.12.14

ayaṃ tu me sodara-nāśa-kṛt tayor % dvayor mamainaṃ sa-balaṃ haniṣye //

"This is the killer of my brother and sister; for the sake of the two of them, I will kill him along with his companions.

10.12.15

ete yadā mat-suhṛdos tilāpaḥ kṛtās tadā naṣṭa-samā vrajaukasaḥ /
prāṇe gate varṣmasu kā nu cintā prajāsavaḥ prāṇa-bhṛto hi ye te //

When these [boys] have been made funeral oblations of water and sesame for my two relatives, then the dwellers of Vraja will be as good as dead;
for when the life-breath is gone, what thought is given to the bodies? For children are the life-breath of living beings."

15. When these, (Krishna and his fellow cowherd boys) are made the libation for my friends (sesamum and water) all the residents of Vraja are then virtually gone. When the life is gone, there is no necessity for being anxious about the body; for children are the life of those that live (a human life).

10.12.16

iti vyavasyājagaraṃ bṛhad vapuḥ sa yojanāyāma-mahādri-pīvaram /
dhṛtvādbhutaṃ vyātta-guhānanaṃ tadā pathi vyaśeta grasanāśayā khalaḥ //

Having thus resolved, assuming the huge body of a python, stout like a great mountain, stretching a yojana in length,
with its cavernous mouth wide open, the wicked one then lay on the path with the desire of swallowing them.

16. Thus resolved the wicked Asura assumed the huge body of a boa-constructor, one yojana in length and stout like a big hill, and with his astounding cave-like mouth kept open lay there, across their path, intending to swallow them.

10.12.17

dharādharoṣṭho jaladottaroṣṭho dary-ānanānto giri-śṛṅga-daṃṣṭraḥ /
dhvāntāntar-āsyo vitatādhva-jihvaḥ paruṣānila-śvāsa-davekṣaṇoṣṇaḥ //

His lower lip rested on the earth and his upper lip on the clouds; the ends of his mouth were like mountain caves, and his fangs like mountain peaks;
the interior of his mouth was like darkness, his tongue like an extended road, and his breath like a hot, harsh wind, burning with eyes blazing like forest fire.

17. Its lower lip lay on the earth; the upper lip touched the clouds; its mouth between them was a wide cave; its canine teeth were mountain peaks; the interior of the mouth the region of darkness; its tongue a spacious road; its breaths tempestuous blasts; and the fierce heat of its eyes was a forest fire.

10.12.18

dṛṣṭvā taṃ tādṛśaṃ sarve matvā vṛndāvana-śriyam /
vyāttājagara-tuṇḍena hy utprekṣante sma līlayā //

Seeing him like that, they all thought it was the natural splendour of Vṛndāvana,
and playfully fancied it to be the open mouth of a python:

18. Noticing it in that state all took it for a beautiful landscape of Brindavana and, in their sportive mood, fancied it to be like unto the wide open mouth of a boa-constructor; (and they talked about it as follows):—

10.12.19

aho mitrāṇi gadata sattva-kūṭaṃ puraḥ sthitam /
asmat-saṅgrasana-vyātta- vyāla-tuṇḍāyate na vā //

"O friends, say: does that mass of living matter standing before us
resemble the mouth of a serpent opened wide to swallow us, or does it not?

19. "Ah! what wonder it is! O friends! tell us what is this living mountain that lies before us? Is it not like unto the open mouth of a wicked and monstruous serpent eager to devour us?

10.12.20

satyam arka-karāraktam uttarā-hanuvad ghanam /
adharā-hanuvad rodhas tat-praticchāyayāruṇam //

Truly, that cloud reddened by the rays of the sun looks like the upper jaw,
and the river bank, reddish by its reflection, looks like the lower jaw.

20. "Truly, do you all observe it! the cloud, reddened under the rays of the sun, is like its upper lip and the earth red through its reflection below like its lower lip.

10.12.21

pratispardhete sṛkkabhyāṃ savyāsavye nagodare /
tuṅga-śṛṅgālayo 'py etās tad-daṃṣṭrābhiś ca paśyata //

The left and right mountain caves rival the corners of the mouth;
and look, these rows of lofty peaks resemble his fangs!

21. "The mountain caves on its right and on its left vie with its jaws; the lofty moutain peaks rising in a row vie with these horrible teeth; do you all observe?

10.12.22

āstṛtāyāma-mārgo 'yaṃ rasanāṃ pratigarjati /
eṣāṃ antar-gataṃ dhvāntam etad apy antar-ānanam //

This broad, extended path resembles a tongue;
and this darkness lying inside also looks like the interior of a mouth.

22. "This long and broad road repudiates its tongue and the darkness pent up in their midst emulates the darkness in the interior of its mouth. 23. “This fierce blast heated by the forest fire is like unto its breath, the bad smell emanating from the animals burnt by it stinks like the flesh in (the trunk) of a serpent.

10.12.23

dāvoṣṇa-khara-vāto 'yaṃ śvāsavad bhāti paśyata /
tad-dagdha-sattva-durgandho 'py antar-āmiṣa-gandhavat //

Look, this harsh wind, hot as a forest fire, appears like breath;
and the stench of creatures burnt by it smells like the flesh within his belly.

10.12.24

asmān kim atra grasitā niviṣṭān ayaṃ tathā ced bakavad vinaṅkṣyati /
kṣaṇād aneneti bakāry-uśan-mukhaṃ vīkṣyoddhasantaḥ kara-tāḍanair yayuḥ //

"Can he swallow us if we enter? If he does so, he will perish instantly like Baka,
by this [Kṛṣṇa]!" Saying this and looking at the charming face of the enemy of Baka, they went inside, clapping their hands and laughing aloud.

24. “Would it devour us all while we are in? If it would, it should soon perish like Baka;” thus discussing and with their eyes on the bewitching face of Baka’s enemy, and splitting their sides with loud laughter they went on, clapping their hands.

10.12.24.p1

itthaṃ mitho 'tathyam ataj-jña-bhāṣitaṃ $ śrutvā vicintyety amṛṣā mṛṣāyate &

Hearing this false talk spoken amongst one another by those who did not know the truth, / and reflecting that an untruth was taken to be true,

25. Listening to the discussion of his ignorant companions of what was not true Sri Krishna saw how the serpent was certainly an illusion; and, perceivng it to be a Rakshas, the Lord, who is present in the hearts of all creatures, thought of saving his beloved fellows (from the danger).

10.12.25

rakṣo viditvākhila-bhūta-hṛt-sthitaḥ % svānāṃ niroddhuṃ bhagavān mano dadhe //

knowing the demon, the Lord, seated in the hearts of all living beings, resolved to restrain His companions.

10.12.26

tāvat praviṣṭās tv asurodarāntaraṃ paraṃ na gīrṇāḥ śiśavaḥ sa-vatsāḥ /
pratīkṣamāṇena bakāri-veśanaṃ hata-sva-kānta-smaraṇena rakṣasā //

Meanwhile, the boys along with their calves entered the demon's belly, / but were not swallowed by the demon, who waited for the entrance of the enemy of Baka, / remembering the death of his own beloved relatives.

26. They entered into the bowels of the Asura,—the children with the calves; but they were not at once swallowed by the Asura, who, remembering Krishna as the slayer of his kinsmen, awaited the entry of Baka’s enemy (Krishna) also.

10.12.26.p1

tān vīkṣya kṛṣṇaḥ sakalābhaya-prado $ hy ananya-nāthān sva-karād avacyutān &

Seeing them—having no other protector, slipped from His own hand,

27. Krishna the protect or of all saw how they looked on Him alone as their protector and were straying away from His hands, helplessly becoming food to the deadly fire of the Rakshasa’s hunger; and, while touched with pity, He marvelled at the work of Providence.

10.12.27

dīnāṃś ca mṛtyor jaṭharāgni-ghāsān % ghṛṇārdito diṣṭa-kṛtena vismitaḥ //

wretched, fodder for the fire of Death's belly—Kṛṣṇa, who grants fearlessness to all, / was afflicted with compassion and astonished at the work of destiny.

10.12.27.p2

kṛtyaṃ kim atrāsya khalasya jīvanaṃ $ na vā amīṣāṃ ca satāṃ vihiṃsanam &

“What is to be done here? Let this villain not live, / nor let these virtuous devotees be harmed.

28. “What should be done now? The wicked one should not escape with life and these good fellows should get away unhurt, both these purposes how to achieve.” So considering and having decided what to do, Hari the omniscient Lord entered its mouth.

10.12.27.p3

kṛtyaṃ kim atrāsya khalasya jīvanaṃ $ na vā amīṣāṃ ca satāṃ vihiṃsanam &

What is to be done here? Let this villain not live, / nor let these virtuous devotees be harmed.

10.12.28

dvayaṃ kathaṃ syād iti saṃvicintya % jñātvāviśat tuṇḍam aśeṣa-dṛg ghariḥ //

How can both come to pass?” Having thus reflected / and known [what to do], Hari, the all-seeing, entered the mouth.

10.12.29

tadā ghana-cchadā devā bhayād dhā-heti cukruśuḥ /
jahṛṣur ye ca kaṃsādyāḥ kauṇapās tv agha-bāndhavāḥ //

Then the gods concealed behind the clouds cried out in terror, “Alas! Alas!” / while Kaṃsa and the other corpse-eating demons, Aghāsura’s kin, rejoiced.

29. At that moment the gods behind the clouds loudly shrieked in cries of fear; and Kamsa and others who were Rakshasas and relations of Aghasura were rejoiced.

10.12.30

tac chrutvā bhagavān kṛṣṇas tv avyayaḥ sārbha-vatsakam /
cūrṇī-cikīrṣor ātmānaṃ tarasā vavṛdhe gale //

Hearing this, the Lord Kṛṣṇa, the imperishable, / swiftly expanded His form in the throat of the demon who sought to crush Him along with the boys and calves.

30. On hearing them the omnipotent and imperishable Krishna grew in a moment to huge dimensions in the throat of the Rakshasa that was eager to grind into powder Him and the boys with all their calves.

10.12.31

tato 'tikāyasya niruddha-mārgiṇo hy udgīrṇa-dṛṣṭer bhramatas tv itas tataḥ /
pūrṇo 'ntar-aṅge pavano niruddho mūrdhan vinirbhidya vinirgato bahiḥ //

Then, as his throat was blocked, his eyes popped out, and the gigantic body rolled this way and that, / the breath of life, stopped within his body, burst through the crown of his head and went out.

31. When all the passages of that huge-bodied Asura were obstructed, his eyes were shot up and he began to reel this way and that way, and his breath completely pent up in the lungs made its way out by splitting open the skull.

10.12.32

tenaiva sarveṣu bahir gateṣu prāṇeṣu vatsān suhṛdaḥ paretān /
dṛṣṭyā svayotthāpya tad-anvitaḥ punar vaktrān mukundo bhagavān viniryayau //

When all his life-breaths had departed by that way, the Lord Mukunda / revived with His glance His dead friends and the calves, and came out from the mouth accompanied by them.

32. Along with his breath, all his vital principles at once departed and from his body; the glorious Lord of heaven cast His (life-giving) looks on the calves and His fellows that lay as if dead, revived them and with them got He out from the jaws of the Asura.

10.12.33

pīnāhi-bhogotthitam adbhutaṃ mahaj jyotiḥ sva-dhāmnā jvalayad diśo daśa /
pratīkṣya khe 'vasthitam īśa-nirgamaṃ viveśa tasmin miṣatāṃ divaukasām //

A wondrous, vast radiance arose from the massive serpent's body, illuminating the ten directions with its splendor; / waiting in the sky for the Lord's exit, it entered Him while the heaven-dwellers looked on.

33. A wonderful and big light rose from the stout body of the serpent, setting ablaze the ten directions with its lusture and in the sky awaited the Lord's coming out and entered Him while all the gods looked on (in astonishment).

10.12.33.p1

tato 'tihṛṣṭāḥ sva-kṛto 'kṛtārhaṇaṃ $ puṣpaiḥ sugā apsarasaś ca nartanaiḥ &

Then, exceedingly delighted, they performed their own worship: / the gods of heaven with showers of flowers, the apsarases with dances,

34. Then in immense joy the gods offered their worship to the Lord who accomplished their own purpose.—They rained down flowers on Him; Apsaras women danced; Gandharvas and other musicians sang: those versed in instrumental music played on their instruments; Brahmin sages sang hymns of praise and Pramatha (Garuda and others) hosts shouted "victory".

10.12.34

gītaiḥ surā vādya-dharāś ca vādyakaiḥ % stavaiś ca viprā jaya-niḥsvanair gaṇāḥ //

the gods with songs, the instrumentalists with instruments, / the brāhmaṇas with hymns, and the attendants with shouts of “Victory!”

10.12.35

tad-adbhuta-stotra-suvādya-gītikā- jayādi-naikotsava-maṅgala-svanān /
śrutvā sva-dhāmno 'nty aja āgato 'cirād dṛṣṭvā mahīśasya jagāma vismayam //

Hearing these auspicious sounds from the wondrous hymns, sweet instruments, songs, shouts of victory, and many celebrations, / the unborn Brahmā quickly arrived from his abode near at hand, and seeing the glory of the Lord of the earth, was filled with wonder.

35. On hearing everywhere the auspicious and festive sounds of those wonderful hymns, vocal and instrumental music and shouts of 'victory', the four-faced Brahma issued forth at once from his abode to the vicinity of the Lord and eyeing Him, stood really astonished (at that glorious work of the Lord).

10.12.36

rājann ājagaraṃ carma śuṣkaṃ vṛndāvane 'dbhutam /
vrajaukasāṃ bahu-tithaṃ babhūvākrīḍa-gahvaram //

O King, the wondrous dried skin of the python in Vṛndāvana / became a cave for the games of the residents of Vraja for a very long time.

36. At Brindavana, O king, the skin of that strange Ajagara served for the residents of Vraja as a hiding place for a long time (like a den) in their sports.

10.12.37

etat kaumārajaṃ karma harer ātmāhi-mokṣaṇam /
mṛtyoḥ paugaṇḍake bālā dṛṣṭvocur vismitā vraje //

This deed performed by Hari during early childhood—the liberation of Himself and the serpent / from death—the boys, having witnessed it, related with amazement in Vraja during their boyhood.

37. This act of Krishna as a child in rescuing themselves and the serpent (Agha) from the jaws of death (samsara), the young men in their boyhood observed and talked to one another about it.

10.12.38

naitad vicitraṃ manujārbha-māyinaḥ parāvarāṇāṃ paramasya vedhasaḥ /
agho 'pi yat-sparśana-dhauta-pātakaḥ prāpātma-sāmyaṃ tv asatāṃ sudurlabham //

This is not surprising for the supreme Creator of the high and the low, / who assumed the form of a human child by His creative power; / even Agha, his sins washed away by the Lord's touch, attained equality with the Lord’s own nature, so difficult for the wicked to reach.

38. 'This is nothing strange in the Supreme Being, the maker of all, great and small, though He appears in the guise of a human child; for even Aghasura was absolved from sin by touching Him and attained to the form of Atman—an attainment not possible for the unrighteous.

10.12.39

sakṛd yad-aṅga-pratimāntar-āhitā manomayī bhāgavatīṃ dadau gatim /
sa eva nityātma-sukhānubhūty-abhi- vyudasta-māyo 'ntar-gato hi kiṃ punaḥ //

When a mental representation of His bodily form, held within only once, / bestows the divine state, / what then of Him directly entered within—He whose creative power is ever dispelled by the experience of His inherent bliss?

39. The likeness of the Lord's personality formed even but once in the mind in contemplation does confer the divine light; there is then no need at all for proof that the Lord directly revealing Himself in their heart and in their midst in all His eternal, essential, and blissful nature, untouched by Maya (anything unreal) does confer the supreme bliss on His votaries like Prahlada.

10.12.40

/0 śrī-sūta uvāca
itthaṃ dvijā yādavadeva-dattaḥ śrutvā sva-rātuś caritaṃ vicitram /
papraccha bhūyo 'pi tad eva puṇyaṃ vaiyāsakiṃ yan nigṛhīta-cetāḥ //

Śrī Sūta said: / Thus, O twice-born, having heard the wondrous deed of his protector, the King gifted by the god of the Yadus, / his mind captived, questioned the son of Vyāsa again about that very purifying past.

40. Suta said:—O Brahmins, Parikshit who owed his life to Krishna, listened thus to the wonderful story of his protector; and with his heart taken up with it, he again requested Sri Suka to tell him again the same sacred stories.

10.12.41

/0 śrī-rājovāca
brahman kālāntara-kṛtaṃ tat-kālīnaṃ kathaṃ bhavet /
yat kaumāre hari-kṛtaṃ jaguḥ paugaṇḍake 'rbhakāḥ //

The King said: / O brāhmaṇa, how could that which was done in a different time be experienced as if in that very time— / that deed done by Hari in early childhood which the boys recounted only in boyhood?

41. The king said:—O Sage, how could an act done at a distant time become one of the present? For thou hast said that the boys sang in His sixth year of what Sri Hari did in Kaumara, i.e., before completing the fifth year.

10.12.42

tad brūhi me mahā-yogin paraṃ kautūhalaṃ guro /
nūnam etad dharer eva māyā bhavati nānyathā //

Tell me that, O great yogin, O teacher; my curiosity is supreme. / Surely this must be the creative power of Hari alone, not anything else.

42. O great yogin, be pleased to tell me of it; great is my curiosity, O Protector; certainly this is only a Maya of Hari Himself, and it could be nothing else.

10.12.43

vayaṃ dhanyatamā loke guro 'pi kṣatra-bandhavaḥ /
vayaṃ pibāmo muhus tvattaḥ puṇyaṃ kṛṣṇa-kathāmṛtam //

We are most blessed in the world, O teacher, even though wretched kṣatriyas, / for we drink again and again from you the pure nectar of talks about Kṛṣṇa.

43. In this world, blessed indeed we are, O Sage, though we are poor Kshatriyas; for, from thy lips do we often drink of the hallowed nectar of Sri Krishna's stories.

10.12.44

/0 śrī-sūta uvāca
itthaṃ sma pṛṣṭaḥ sa tu bādarāyaṇis $ tat-smāritānanta-hṛtākhilendriyaḥ &
itthaṃ sma pṛṣṭaḥ sa tu bādarāyaṇis $ tat-smāritānanta-hṛtākhilendriyaḥ &
kṛcchrāt punar labdha-bahir-dṛśiḥ śanaiḥ % pratyāha taṃ bhāgavatottamottama //

Śrī Sūta said: / Thus questioned, the son of Bādarāyaṇa, / whose senses were all enraptured by the Infinite One brought to mind, / slowly regained his outward vision with difficulty, and addressed him, O best of the highest devotees:

44. Suta said:— Thus requested, O foremost one among votaries, Sukacharya, reminded of the blessed Lord, lost the use of his senses (was immersed in contemplation), with difficulty and slowly he recovered the sense of external world and began to respond to him.