SB 10.12.3

TEXT 3

TEXT

k{(SNAvats$aEr"s$aÊlYaAtaEr,"
yaUTaIk{(tya svavats$ak(Ana,
caAr"yantaAe'BaRlaIlaAiBar,"
ivajaœú"sta‡a ta‡a h"

krsna-vatsair asaṅkhyatair

yuthi-krtya sva-vatsakan

carayanto 'rbha-lilabhir

vijahrus tatra tatra ha

krsna-of Lord Krsna; vatsaih-along with the calves; asaṅkhyataih-unlimited; yuthi-krtya-assembled them; sva-vatsakan-personal calves; carayantah-executing; arbha-lilabhih-by boyhood pastimes; vijahruh-enjoyed; tatra tatra-here and there; ha-indeed.

TRANSLATION

Along with the cowherd boys and their own groups of calves, Krsna came out with an unlimited number of calves assembled. Then all the boys began to sport in the forest in a greatly playful spirit.

PURPORT

In this verse the words krsna-vatsair asaṅkhyataih are significant. The word asaṅkhyata means "unlimited." Krsna's calves were unlimited. We may speak of hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, millions, billions, trillions, tens of trillions, and so on, but when we go further to speak of numbers impossible for us to count, we are speaking of unlimited numbers. Such unlimited numbers are indicated here by the word asaṅkhyataih. Krsna is unlimited, His potency is unlimited, His cows and calves are unlimited, and His space is unlimited. Therefore He is described in Bhagavad-gita as Para-brahman. The word brahman means "unlimited," and Krsna is the Supreme Unlimited, Para-brahman. Therefore, we should not consider the statements of this verse to be mythological. They are factual, but inconceivable. Krsna can accommodate an unlimited number of calves and an unlimited measurement of space. This is neither mythological nor false, but if we study Krsna's potency with our limited knowledge, that potency will never be possible to understand. Atah sri-krsna-namadi na bhaved grahyam indriyaih (Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu 1.2.109). Our senses cannot perceive how He could keep an unlimited number of calves and cows and have unlimited space in which to do so. But this is answered in the Brhad-bhagavatamrta:

evam prabhoh priyanam ca
dhamnas ca samayasya ca
avicintya-prabhavatvad
atra kincin na durghatam

Sri Sanatana Gosvami, in the Brhad-bhagavatamrta, states that since everything about Krsna is unlimited, nothing is impossible for Him. It is in this sense that we have to understand this verse.

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