Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam: Canto 3: “The Status Quo”
by His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda
Chapter Two
SB3.2.22
TEXT 22
tat tasya kaiṅkaryam alaṁ bhṛtān no
viglāpayaty aṅga yad ugrasenam
tiṣṭhan niṣaṇṇaṁ parameṣṭhi-dhiṣṇye
nyabodhayad deva nidhārayeti
SYNONYMS
tat—therefore; tasya—His; kaiṅkaryam—service; alam—of course; bhṛtān—the servitors; naḥ—us; viglāpayati—gives pain; aṅga—O Vidura; yat—as much as; ugrasenam—unto King Ugrasena; tiṣṭhan—being seated; niṣaṇṇam—waiting upon Him; parameṣṭhi-dhiṣṇye—on the royal throne; nyabodhayat—submitted; deva—addressing my Lord; nidhāraya—please know it; iti—thus.
TRANSLATION
Therefore, O Vidura, does it not pain us, His servitors, when we remember that He [Lord Kṛṣṇa] used to stand before King Ugrasena, who was sitting on the royal throne, and used to submit explanations before him, saying, “O My lord, please let it be known to you”?
PURPORT
Lord Kṛṣṇa’s gentle behavior before His so-called superiors such as His father, grandfather and elder brother, His amiable behavior with His so-called wives, friends and contemporaries, His behavior as a child before His mother Yaśodā, and His naughty dealings with His young girl friends cannot bewilder a pure devotee like Uddhava. Others, who are not devotees, are bewildered by such behavior of the Lord, who acted just like a human being. This bewilderment is explained by the Lord Himself in the Bhagavad-gītā (9.11) as follows:
avajānanti māṁ mūḍhā
mānuṣīṁ tanum āśritam
paraṁ bhāvam ajānanto
mama bhūta-maheśvaram
Persons with a poor fund of knowledge belittle the Personality of Godhead, Lord Kṛṣṇa, not knowing His exalted position as the Lord of everything. In Bhagavad-gītā the Lord has explained His position clearly, but the demoniac atheistic student squeezes out an interpretation to suit his own purpose and misleads unfortunate followers into the same mentality. Such unfortunate persons merely pick up some slogans from the great book of knowledge, but are unable to estimate the Lord as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Pure devotees like Uddhava, however, are never misled by such atheistic opportunists.
SB3.2.23 TEXT 23 aho bakī yaṁ stana-kāla-kūṭaṁ jighāṁsayāpāyayad apy asādhvī lebhe gatiṁ dhātry-ucitāṁ tato ’nyaṁ kaṁ vā dayāluṁ śaraṇaṁ vrajema SYNONYMS aho—alas; bakī—the she-demon (Pūtanā); yam—whom; stana—of her breast; kāla—deadly; kūṭam—poison; jighāṁsayā—out of envy; apāyayat—nourished; api—although; asādhvī—unfaithful; lebhe—achieved; gatim—destination; dhātrī-ucitām—just suitable for the nurse; tataḥ—beyond whom; anyam—other; kam—who else; vā—certainly; dayālum—merciful; śaraṇam—shelter; vrajema—shall I take.
TRANSLATION Alas, how shall I take shelter of one more merciful than He who granted the position of mother to a she-demon [Pūtanā] although she was unfaithful and she prepared deadly poison to be sucked from her breast? PURPORT Here is an example of the extreme mercy of the Lord, even to His enemy. It is said that a noble man accepts the good qualities of a person of doubtful character, just as one accepts nectar from a stock of poison. In His babyhood, He was administered deadly poison by Pūtanā, a she-demon who tried to kill the wonderful baby. And because she was a demon, it was impossible for her to know that the Supreme Lord, even though playing the part of a baby, was no one less than the same Supreme Personality of Godhead. His value as the Supreme Lord did not diminish upon His becoming a baby to please His devotee Yaśodā. The Lord may assume the form of a baby or a shape other than that of a human being, but it doesn’t make the slightest difference; He is always the same Supreme. A living creature, however powerful he may become by dint of severe penance, can never become equal to the Supreme Lord.
Lord Kṛṣṇa accepted the motherhood of Pūtanā because she pretended to be an affectionate mother, allowing Kṛṣṇa to suck her breast. The Lord accepts the least qualification of the living entity and awards him the highest reward. That is the standard of His character. Therefore, who but the Lord can be the ultimate shelter?
SB3.2.24 TEXT 24 manye ’surān bhāgavatāṁs tryadhīśe saṁrambha-mārgābhiniviṣṭa-cittān ye saṁyuge ’cakṣata tārkṣya-putram aṁse sunābhāyudham āpatantam SYNONYMS manye—I think; asurān—the demons; bhāgavatān—great devotees; tri-adhīśe—unto the Lord of the threes; saṁrambha—enmity; mārga—by the way of; abhiniviṣṭa-cittān—absorbed in thought; ye—those; saṁyuge—in the fight; acakṣata—could see; tārkṣya-putram—Garuḍa, the carrier of the Lord; aṁse—on the shoulder; sunābha—the wheel; āyudham—one who carries the weapon; āpatantam—coming forward.
TRANSLATION I consider the demons, who are inimical toward the Lord, to be more than the devotees because while fighting with the Lord, absorbed in thoughts of enmity, they are able to see the Lord carried on the shoulder of Garuḍa, the son of Tārkṣya [Kaśyapa], and carrying the wheel weapon in His hand. PURPORT The asuras who fought against the Lord face to face got salvation due to their being killed by the Lord. This salvation of the demons is not due to their being devotees of the Lord; it is because of the Lord’s causeless mercy. Anyone who is slightly in touch with the Lord, somehow or other, is greatly benefited, even to the point of salvation, due to the excellence of the Lord. He is so kind that He awards salvation even to His enemies because they come into contact with Him and are indirectly absorbed in Him by their inimical thoughts. Actually, the demons can never be equal to the pure devotees, but Uddhava was thinking in that way because of his feelings of separation. He was thinking that at the last stage of his life he might not be able to see the Lord face to face as did the demons. The fact is that the devotees who are always engaged in the devotional service of the Lord in transcendental love are rewarded many hundreds and thousands of times more than the demons by being elevated to the spiritual planets, where they remain with the Lord in eternal, blissful existence. The demons and impersonalists are awarded the facility of merging in the brahmajyoti effulgence of the Lord, whereas the devotees are admitted into the spiritual planets. For comparison, one can just imagine the difference between floating in space and residing in one of the planets in the sky. The pleasure of the living entities on the planets is greater than that of those who have no body and who merge with the molecules of the sun’s rays. The impersonalists, therefore, are no more favored than the enemies of the Lord; rather, they are both on the same level of spiritual salvation.
SB3.2.25 TEXT 25 vasudevasya devakyāṁ jāto bhojendra-bandhane cikīrṣur bhagavān asyāḥ śam ajenābhiyācitaḥ SYNONYMS vasudevasya—of the wife of Vasudeva; devakyām—in the womb of Devakī; jātaḥ—born of; bhoja-indra—of the King of the Bhojas; bandhane—in the prison house; cikīrṣuḥ—for doing; bhagavān—the Personality of Godhead; asyāḥ—of the earth; śam—welfare; ajena—by Brahmā; abhiyācitaḥ—being prayed for.
TRANSLATION The Personality of Godhead, Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, being prayed to by Brahmā to bring welfare to the earth, was begotten by Vasudeva in the womb of his wife Devakī in the prison of the King of Bhoja. PURPORT Although there is no difference between the Lord’s pastimes of appearance and disappearance, the devotees of the Lord do not generally discuss the subject matter of His disappearance. Vidura inquired indirectly from Uddhava about the incident of the Lord’s disappearance by asking him to relate kṛṣṇa-kathā, or topics on the history of Lord Kṛṣṇa. Thus Uddhava began the topics from the very beginning of His appearance as the son of Vasudeva and Devakī in the prison of Kaṁsa, the King of the Bhojas, at Mathurā. The Lord has no business in this world, but when He is so requested by devotees like Brahmā, He descends on the earth for the welfare of the entire universe. This is stated in Bhagavad-gītā (4.8): paritrāṇāya sādhūnāṁ vināśāya ca duṣkṛtām/ dharma-saṁsthāpanārthāya sambhavāmi yuge yuge.
SB3.2.26 TEXT 26 tato nanda-vrajam itaḥ pitrā kaṁsād vibibhyatā ekādaśa samās tatra gūḍhārciḥ sa-balo ’vasat SYNONYMS tataḥ—thereafter; nanda-vrajam—cow pastures of Nanda Mahārāja; itaḥ—being brought up; pitrā—by His father; kaṁsāt—from Kaṁsa; vibibhyatā—being afraid of; ekādaśa—eleven; samāḥ—years; tatra—therein; gūḍha-arciḥ—covered fire; sa-balaḥ—with Baladeva; avasat—resided.
TRANSLATION Thereafter, His father, being afraid of Kaṁsa, brought Him to the cow pastures of Mahārāja Nanda, and there He lived for eleven years like a covered flame with His elder brother, Baladeva. PURPORT There was no necessity of the Lord’s being dispatched to the house of Nanda Mahārāja out of fear of Kaṁsa’s determination to kill Him as soon as He appeared. It is the business of the asuras to try to kill the Supreme Personality of Godhead or to prove by all means that there is no God or that Kṛṣṇa is an ordinary human being and not God. Lord Kṛṣṇa is not affected by such determination of men of Kaṁsa’s class, but in order to play the role of a child He agreed to be carried by His father to the cow pastures of Nanda Mahārāja because Vasudeva was afraid of Kaṁsa. Nanda Mahārāja was due to receive Him as his child, and Yaśodāmayī was also to enjoy the childhood pastimes of the Lord, and therefore to fulfill everyone’s desire, He was carried from Mathurā to Vṛndāvana just after His appearance in the prison house of Kaṁsa. He lived there for eleven years and completed all His fascinating pastimes of childhood, boyhood and adolescence with His elder brother, Lord Baladeva, His first expansion. Vasudeva’s thought of protecting Kṛṣṇa from the wrath of Kaṁsa is part of a transcendental relationship. The Lord enjoys more when someone takes Him as his subordinate son who needs the protection of a father than He does when someone accepts Him as the Supreme Lord. He is the father of everyone, and He protects everyone, but when His devotee takes it for granted that the Lord is to be protected by the devotee’s care, it is a transcendental joy for the Lord. Thus when Vasudeva, out of fear of Kaṁsa, carried Him to Vṛndāvana, the Lord enjoyed it; otherwise, He had no fear from Kaṁsa or anyone else.
SB3.2.27 TEXT 27 parīto vatsapair vatsāṁś cārayan vyaharad vibhuḥ yamunopavane kūjad- dvija-saṅkulitāṅghripe SYNONYMS parītaḥ—surrounded by; vatsapaiḥ—cowherd boys; vatsān—calves; cārayan—herding, tending; vyaharat—enjoyed by traveling; vibhuḥ—the Almighty; yamunā—the Yamunā River; upavane—gardens on the shore; kūjat—vibrated by the voice; dvija—the twice-born birds; saṅkulita—densely situated; aṅghripe—in the trees.
TRANSLATION In His childhood, the Almighty Lord was surrounded by cowherd boys and calves, and thus He traveled on the shore of the Yamunā River, through gardens densely covered with trees and filled with vibrations of chirping birds. PURPORT Nanda Mahārāja was a landholder for King Kaṁsa, but because by caste he was a vaiśya, a member of the mercantile and agricultural community, he maintained thousands of cows. It is the duty of the vaiśyas to give protection to the cows, just as the kṣatriyas are to give protection to the human beings. Because the Lord was a child, He was put in charge of the calves with His cowherd boy friends. These cowherd boys were great ṛṣis and yogīs in their previous births, and after many such pious births, they gained the association of the Lord and could play with Him on equal terms. Such cowherd boys never cared to know who Kṛṣṇa was, but they played with Him as a most intimate and lovable friend. They were so fond of the Lord that at night they would only think of the next morning when they would be able to meet the Lord and go together to the forests for cowherding.
The forests on the shore of the Yamunā are all beautiful gardens full of trees of mango, jackfruit, apples, guava, oranges, grapes, berries, palmfruit and so many other plants and fragrant flowers. And because the forest was on the bank of the Yamunā, naturally there were ducks, cranes and peacocks on the branches of the trees. All these trees and birds and beasts were pious living entities born in the transcendental abode of Vṛndāvana just to give pleasure to the Lord and His eternal associates, the cowherd boys.
While playing like a small child with His associates, the Lord killed many demons, including Aghāsura, Bakāsura, Pralambāsura and Gardabhāsura. Although He appeared at Vṛndāvana just as a boy, He was actually like the covered flames of a fire. As a small particle of fire can kindle a great fire with fuel, so the Lord killed all these great demons, beginning from His babyhood in the house of Nanda Mahārāja. The land of Vṛndāvana, the Lord’s childhood playground, still remains today, and anyone who visits these places enjoys the same transcendental bliss, although the Lord is not physically visible to our imperfect eyes. Lord Caitanya recommended this land of the Lord as identical with the Lord and therefore worshipable by the devotees. This instruction is taken up especially by the followers of Lord Caitanya known as the Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavas. And because the land is identical with the Lord, devotees like Uddhava and Vidura visited these places five thousand years ago in order to have direct contact with the Lord, visible or not visible, Thousands of devotees of the Lord are still wandering in these sacred places of Vṛndāvana, and all of them are preparing themselves to go back home, back to Godhead.
SB3.2.28 TEXT 28 kaumārīṁ darśayaṁś ceṣṭāṁ prekṣaṇīyāṁ vrajaukasām rudann iva hasan mugdha- bāla-siṁhāvalokanaḥ SYNONYMS kaumārīm—just suitable to childhood; darśayan—while showing; ceṣṭām—activities; prekṣaṇīyām—worthy to be seen; vraja-okasām—by the inhabitants of the land of Vṛndāvana; rudan—crying; iva—just like; hasan—laughing; mugdha—struck with wonder; bāla-siṁha—lion cub; avalokanaḥ—looking like that.
TRANSLATION When the Lord displayed His activities just suitable for childhood, He was visible only to the residents of Vṛndāvana. Sometimes He would cry and sometimes laugh, just like a child, and while so doing He would appear like a lion cub. PURPORT If anyone wants to enjoy the childhood pastimes of the Lord, then he has to follow in the footsteps of the residents of Vraja like Nanda, Upananda and other parental inhabitants. A child may insist on having something and cry like anything to get it, disturbing the whole neighborhood, and then immediately after achieving the desired thing, he laughs. Such crying and laughing is enjoyable to the parents and elderly members of the family, so the Lord would simultaneously cry and laugh in this way and merge His devotee-parents in the humor of transcendental pleasure. These incidents are enjoyable only by the residents of Vraja like Nanda Mahārāja, and not by the impersonalist worshipers of Brahman or Paramātmā. Sometimes when attacked in the forest by demons, Kṛṣṇa would appear struck with wonder, but He looked on them like the cub of a lion and killed them. His childhood companions would also be struck with wonder, and when they came back home they would narrate the story to their parents, and everyone would appreciate the qualities of their Kṛṣṇa. Child Kṛṣṇa did not belong only to His parents, Nanda and Yaśodā; He was the son of all the elderly inhabitants of Vṛndāvana and the friend of all contemporary boys and girls. Everyone loved Kṛṣṇa. He was the life and soul of everyone, including the animals, the cows and the calves.
SB3.2.29 TEXT 29 sa eva go-dhanaṁ lakṣmyā niketaṁ sita-go-vṛṣam cārayann anugān gopān raṇad-veṇur arīramat SYNONYMS saḥ—He (Lord Kṛṣṇa); eva—certainly; go-dhanam—the treasure of cows; lakṣmyāḥ—by opulence; niketam—reservoir; sita-go-vṛṣam—beautiful cows and bulls; cārayan—herding; anugān—the followers; gopān—cowherd boys; raṇat—blowing; veṇuḥ—flute; arīramat—enlivened.
TRANSLATION While herding the very beautiful bulls, the Lord, who was the reservoir of all opulence and fortune, used to blow His flute, and thus He enlivened His faithful followers, the cowherd boys. PURPORT As He grew to six and seven years old, the Lord was given charge of looking after the cows and bulls in the grazing grounds. He was the son of a well-to-do landholder who owned hundreds and thousands of cows, and according to Vedic economics, one is considered to be a rich man by the strength of his store of grains and cows. With only these two things, cows and grain, humanity can solve its eating problem. Human society needs only sufficient grain and sufficient cows to solve its economic problems. All other things but these two are artificial necessities created by man to kill his valuable life at the human level and waste his time in things which are not needed. Lord Kṛṣṇa, as the teacher of human society, personally showed by His acts that the mercantile community, or the vaiśyas, should herd cows and bulls and thus give protection to the valuable animals. According to smṛti regulation, the cow is the mother and the bull the father of the human being. The cow is the mother because just as one sucks the breast of one’s mother, human society takes cow’s milk. Similarly, the bull is the father of human society because the father earns for the children just as the bull tills the ground to produce food grains. Human society will kill its spirit of life by killing the father and the mother. It is mentioned herein that the beautiful cows and bulls were of various checkered colors—red, black, green, yellow, ash, etc. And because of their colors and healthy smiling features, the atmosphere was enlivening.
Over and above all, the Lord used to play His celebrated flute. The sound vibrated by His flute would give His friends such transcendental pleasure that they would forget all the talks of the brahmānanda which is so praised by the impersonalists. These cowherd boys, as will be explained by Śukadeva Gosvāmī, were living entities who had accumulated heaps of pious acts and thus were enjoying with the Lord in person and were hearing His transcendental flute. The Brahma-saṁhitā (5.30) confirms the Lord’s blowing His transcendental flute.
veṇuṁ kvaṇantam aravinda-dalāyatākṣaṁ Brahmājī said, “I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, who plays on His transcendental flute. His eyes are like lotus flowers, He is decorated with peacock plumes, and His bodily color resembles a fresh black cloud although His bodily features are more beautiful than millions of cupids.” These are the special features of the Lord.
SB3.2.30 TEXT 30 prayuktān bhoja-rājena māyinaḥ kāma-rūpiṇaḥ līlayā vyanudat tāṁs tān bālaḥ krīḍanakān iva SYNONYMS prayuktān—engaged; bhoja-rājena—by King Kaṁsa; māyinaḥ—great wizards; kāma-rūpiṇaḥ—who could assume any form they liked; līlayā—in the course of the pastimes; vyanudat—killed; tān—them; tān—as they came there; bālaḥ—the child; krīḍanakān—dolls; iva—like that.
TRANSLATION The great wizards who were able to assume any form were engaged by the King of Bhoja, Kaṁsa, to kill Kṛṣṇa, but in the course of His pastimes the Lord killed them as easily as a child breaks dolls. PURPORT The atheist Kaṁsa wanted to kill Kṛṣṇa just after His birth. He failed to do so, but later on he got information that Kṛṣṇa was living in Vṛndāvana at the house of Nanda Mahārāja. He therefore engaged many wizards who could perform wonderful acts and assume any form they liked. All of them appeared before the child-Lord in various forms, like Agha, Baka, Pūtanā, Śakaṭa, Tṛṇāvarta, Dhenuka and Gardabha, and they tried to kill the Lord at every opportunity. But one after another, all of them were killed by the Lord as if He were only playing with dolls. Children play with toy lions, elephants, boars and many similar dolls, which are broken by the children in the course of their playing with them. Before the Almighty Lord, any powerful living being is just like a toy lion in the hands of a playing child. No one can excel God in any capacity, and therefore no one can be equal to or greater than Him, nor can anyone attain the stage of equality with God by any kind of endeavor. Jñāna, yoga and bhakti are three recognized processes of spiritual realization. The perfection of such processes can lead one to the desired goal of life in spiritual value, but that does not mean that one can attain a perfection equal to the Lord’s by such endeavors. The Lord is the Lord at every stage. When He was playing just like a child on the lap of His mother Yaśodāmayī or just like a cowherd boy with His transcendental friends, He continued to remain God, without the slightest diminution of His six opulences. Thus He is always unrivaled.
SB3.2.31 TEXT 31 vipannān viṣa-pānena nigṛhya bhujagādhipam utthāpyāpāyayad gāvas tat toyaṁ prakṛti-sthitam SYNONYMS vipannān—perplexed in great difficulties; viṣa-pānena—by drinking poison; nigṛhya—subduing; bhujaga-adhipam—the chief of the reptiles; utthāpya—after coming out; apāyayat—caused to drink; gāvaḥ—the cows; tat—that; toyam—water; prakṛti—natural; sthitam—situated.
TRANSLATION The inhabitants of Vṛndāvana were perplexed by great difficulties because a certain portion of the Yamunā was poisoned by the chief of the reptiles [Kāliya]. The Lord chastised the snake-king within the water and drove him away, and after coming out of the river, He caused the cows to drink the water and proved that the water was again in its natural state. SB3.2.32 TEXT 32 ayājayad go-savena gopa-rājaṁ dvijottamaiḥ vittasya coru-bhārasya cikīrṣan sad-vyayaṁ vibhuḥ SYNONYMS ayājayat—made to perform; go-savena—by worship of the cows; gopa-rājam—the king of the cowherds; dvija-uttamaiḥ—by the learned brāhmaṇas; vittasya—of the wealth; ca—also; uru-bhārasya—great opulence; cikīrṣan—desiring to act; sat-vyayam—proper utilization; vibhuḥ—the great.
TRANSLATION The Supreme Lord, Kṛṣṇa, desired to utilize the opulent financial strength of Mahārāja Nanda for worship of the cows, and also He wanted to give a lesson to Indra, the King of heaven. Thus He advised His father to perform worship of go, or the pasturing land and the cows, with the help of learned brāhmaṇas. PURPORT Since He is the teacher of everyone, the Lord also taught His father, Nanda Mahārāja. Nanda Mahārāja was a well-to-do landholder and owner of many cows, and, as was the custom, he used to perform yearly worship of Indra, the King of heaven, with great opulence. This worship of demigods by the general populace is also advised in the Vedic literature just so people can accept the superior power of the Lord. The demigods are servants of the Lord deputed to look after the management of various activities of universal affairs. Therefore it is advised in the Vedic scriptures that one should perform yajñas to appease the demigods. But one who is devoted to the Supreme Lord has no need to appease the demigods. Worship of the demigods by common people is an arrangement for acknowledging the supremacy of the Supreme Lord, but it is not necessary. Such appeasement is generally recommended for material gains only. As we have already discussed in the Second Canto of this literature, one who admits the supremacy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead does not need to worship the secondary demigods. Sometimes, being worshiped and adored by less intelligent living beings, the demigods become puffed up with power and forget the supremacy of the Lord. This happened when Lord Kṛṣṇa was present in the universe, and thus the Lord wanted to give a lesson to the King of heaven, Indra. He therefore asked Mahārāja Nanda to stop the sacrifice offered to Indra and to use the money properly by performing a ceremony worshiping the cows and the pasturing ground on the hill of Govardhana. By this act Lord Kṛṣṇa taught human society, as He has instructed in the Bhagavad-gītā also, that one should worship the Supreme Lord by all acts and by all their results. That will bring about the desired success. The vaiśyas are specifically advised to give protection to the cows and their pasturing ground or agricultural land instead of squandering their hard-earned money. That will satisfy the Lord. The perfection of one’s occupational duty, whether in the sphere of duty to oneself, one’s community or one’s nation, is judged by the degree to which the Lord is satisfied.
SB3.2.33 TEXT 33 varṣatīndre vrajaḥ kopād bhagnamāne ’tivihvalaḥ gotra-līlātapatreṇa trāto bhadrānugṛhṇatā SYNONYMS varṣati—in pouring water; indre—by the King of heaven, Indra; vrajaḥ—the land of cows (Vṛndāvana); kopāt bhagnamāne—having been in anger on being insulted; ati—highly; vihvalaḥ—perturbed; gotra—the hill for the cows; līlā-ātapatreṇa—by the pastime umbrella; trātaḥ—were protected; bhadra—O sober one; anugṛhṇatā—by the merciful Lord.
TRANSLATION O sober Vidura, King Indra, his honor having been insulted, poured water incessantly on Vṛndāvana, and thus the inhabitants of Vraja, the land of cows, were greatly distressed. But the compassionate Lord Kṛṣṇa saved them from danger with His pastime umbrella, the Govardhana Hill. SB3.2.34 TEXT 34 śarac-chaśi-karair mṛṣṭaṁ mānayan rajanī-mukham gāyan kala-padaṁ reme strīṇāṁ maṇḍala-maṇḍanaḥ SYNONYMS śarat—autumn; śaśi—of the moon; karaiḥ—by the shining; mṛṣṭam—brightened; mānayan—thinking so; rajanī-mukham—the face of the night; gāyan—singing; kala-padam—pleasing songs; reme—enjoyed; strīṇām—of the women; maṇḍala-maṇḍanaḥ—as the central beauty of the assembly of women.
TRANSLATION In the third season of the year, the Lord enjoyed as the central beauty of the assembly of women by attracting them with His pleasing songs in an autumn night brightened by moonshine. PURPORT Before leaving the land of cows, Vṛndāvana, the Lord pleased His young girl friends, the transcendental gopīs, in His rāsa-līlā pastimes. Here Uddhava stopped his description of the Lord’s activities.
Thus end the Bhaktivedanta purports of the Third Canto, Second Chapter, of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, entitled “Remembrance of Lord Kṛṣṇa.” THIS WEB PAGE URL: http://causelessmercy.com/SB3.2.2.htm
barhāvataṁsam asitāmbuda-sundarāṅgam
kandarpa-koṭi-kaminīya-viśeṣa-śobhaṁ
govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi