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ŚB 10.8.31

Devanagari

एवं धार्ष्ट्यान्युशति कुरुते मेहनादीनि वास्तौ
स्तेयोपायैर्विरचितकृति: सुप्रतीको यथास्ते ।
इत्थं स्त्रीभि: सभयनयनश्रीमुखालोकिनीभि-
र्व्याख्यातार्था प्रहसितमुखी न ह्युपालब्धुमैच्छत् ॥ ३१ ॥

Text

evaṁ dhārṣṭyāny uśati kurute mehanādīni vāstau
steyopāyair viracita-kṛtiḥ supratīko yathāste
itthaṁ strībhiḥ sa-bhaya-nayana-śrī-mukhālokinībhir
vyākhyātārthā prahasita-mukhī na hy upālabdhum aicchat

Synonyms

evam — in this way; dhārṣṭyāni — naughty activities; uśati — in a neat and clean place; kurute — sometimes does; mehana-ādīni — passing stool and urine; vāstau — in our houses; steya-upāyaiḥ — and by inventing different devices to steal butter and milk; viracita-kṛtiḥ — is very expert; su-pratīkaḥ — is now sitting down here like a very good, well-behaved child; yathā āste — while staying here; ittham — all these topics of conversation; strībhiḥ — by the gopīs; sa-bhaya-nayana — just now sitting there with fearful eyes; śrī-mukha — such a beautiful face; ālokinībhiḥ — by the gopīs, who were enjoying the pleasure of seeing; vyākhyāta-arthā — and while complaining against Him before mother Yaśodā; prahasita-mukhī — they were smiling and enjoying; na — not; hi — indeed; upālabdhum — to chastise and threaten (rather, she enjoyed how Kṛṣṇa was sitting there as a very good boy); aicchat — she desired.

Translation

“When Kṛṣṇa is caught in His naughty activities, the master of the house will say to Him, ‘Oh, You are a thief,’ and artificially express anger at Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa will then reply, ‘I am not a thief. You are a thief.’ Sometimes, being angry, Kṛṣṇa passes urine and stool in a neat, clean place in our houses. But now, our dear friend Yaśodā, this expert thief is sitting before you like a very good boy.” Sometimes all the gopīs would look at Kṛṣṇa sitting there, His eyes fearful so that His mother would not chastise Him, and when they saw Kṛṣṇa’s beautiful face, instead of chastising Him they would simply look upon His face and enjoy transcendental bliss. Mother Yaśodā would mildly smile at all this fun, and she would not want to chastise her blessed transcendental child.

Purport

Kṛṣṇa’s business in the neighborhood was not only to steal but sometimes to pass stool and urine in a neat, clean house. When caught by the master of the house, Kṛṣṇa would chastise him, saying, “You are a thief.” Aside from being a thief in His childhood affairs, Kṛṣṇa acted as an expert thief when He was young by attracting young girls and enjoying them in the rāsa dance. This is Kṛṣṇa’s business. He is also violent, as the killer of many demons. Although mundane people like nonviolence and other such brilliant qualities, God, the Absolute Truth, being always the same, is good in any activities, even so-called immoral activities like stealing, killing and violence. Kṛṣṇa is always pure, and He is always the Supreme Absolute Truth. Kṛṣṇa may do anything supposedly abominable in material life, yet still He is attractive. Therefore His name is Kṛṣṇa, meaning “all-attractive.” This is the platform on which transcendental loving affairs and service are exchanged. Because of the features of Kṛṣṇa’s face, the mothers were so attracted that they could not chastise Him. Instead of chastising Him, they smiled and enjoyed hearing of Kṛṣṇa’s activities. Thus the gopīs remained satisfied, and Kṛṣṇa enjoyed their happiness. Therefore another name of Kṛṣṇa is Gopī-jana-vallabha because He invented such activities to please the gopīs.