cowherd boys / men
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Once the Lord desired to go early in the morning with all His cowherd boy friends to the forest, where they were to assemble together and take lunch. Once the Lord desired to go early in the morning with all His cowherd boy friends to the forest, where they were to assemble together and take lunch. As soon as He got up from bed, He blew a buffalo horn and called all His friends together. Keeping the calves before them, they started for the forest. In this way, Lord Krsna assembled thousands of His boy friends. They were each equipped with a stick, flute and horn as well as lunch bag, and each of them was taking care of thousands of calves. All the boys appeared very jolly and happy in that excursion. Each and every one of them was attentive for his personal calves. The boys were fully decorated with various kinds of golden ornaments, and out of sporting propensities they began to pick up flowers, leaves, twigs, peacock feathers and red clay from different places in the forest, and they began to dress themselves in different ways. While passing through the forest, one boy stole another boy's lunch package and passed it to a third. And when the boy whose lunch package was stolen came to know of it, he tried to take it back. But one threw it to another boy. This sportive playing went on amongst the boys as childhood pastimes.
(More...) Small boys, they would take care of the calves, and after sixth year, they would take care of the cows. So Nanda Maharaja was rich because he possessed nine lakhs of cows, not... And Krsna had to take care of. Although Krsna was Nanda Maharaja's son, king's son, still He had to go... When He was young, five, six years old, He had to take care; not only Krsna, but all His friends. That was the system. Small boys, they would take care of the calves, and after sixth year, they would take care of the cows. So in this way, fifteen, sixteen years they would pass. Then they would..., they may go to school, but the ordinary vaisyas... Nanda Maharaja happened to be vaisya, not ksatriya. His father, Krsna's father, was Vasudeva. He was ksatriya. His uncle, Kamsa, he was ksatriya. He belonged to the ksatriya family because born as the son of Vasudeva, but because He was transferred in His..., just after His birth to Nanda Maharaja, so in the boyhood, in childhood, he remained a vaisya.
(More...) The first responsibility of the cowherd boys was to take care of the little calves. The boys are trained in this from the very beginning of their childhood. At this time Krsna and Balarama were given charge of the calves. The first responsibility of the cowherd boys was to take care of the little calves. The boys are trained in this from the very beginning of their childhood. So along with other little cowherd boys, Krsna and Balarama went into the pasturing ground and took charge of the calves and played with Their playmates. While taking charge of the calves, sometimes the two brothers played on Their flutes. And sometimes They played with amalaki fruits and bael fruits, just like small children play with balls. Sometimes They danced and made tinkling sounds with Their ankle bells. Sometimes They made Themselves into bulls and cows by covering Themselves with blankets. Thus Krsna and Balarama played. The two brothers also used to imitate the sounds of bulls and cows and play at bullfighting. Sometimes They used to imitate the sounds of various animals and birds. In this way, They enjoyed Their childhood pastimes apparently like ordinary, mundane children.
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