SB 10.5.23

TEXT 23

TEXT

id"í"YaA "aAta: 'avayas$a
wd"AnaIma'ajasya tae
'ajaAzAAyaA inava{Ôasya
'ajaA yats$amapaâta

distya bhratah pravayasa

idanim aprajasya te

prajasaya nivrttasya

praja yat samapadyata

distya-it is by great fortune; bhratah-O my dear brother; pravayasah-of you whose age is now quite advanced; idanim-at the present moment; aprajasya-of one who did not have a son before; te-of you; praja-asayah nivrttasya-of one who was almost hopeless of getting a son at this age; praja-a son; yat-whatever; samapadyata-has been gotten by chance.

TRANSLATION

My dear brother Nanda Maharaja, at an advanced age you had no son at all and were hopeless of having one. Therefore, that you now have a son is a sign of great fortune.

PURPORT

At an advanced age one generally cannot beget a male child. If by chance one does beget a child at this age, the child is generally female. Thus Vasudeva indirectly asked Nanda Maharaja whether he had actually begotten a male child or a female child. Vasudeva knew that Yasoda had given birth to a female child, whom he had stolen and replaced with a male child. This was a great mystery, and Vasudeva wanted to determine whether this mystery was already known to Nanda Maharaja. On inquiring, however, he was confident that the mystery of Krsna's birth and His being placed in the care of Yasoda was still hidden. There was no danger, since Kamsa at least could not learn what had already happened.