SB 10.11.53 · Srimad-Bhagavatam

Devanagari

मुक्तं बकास्यादुपलभ्य बालका रामादय: प्राणमिवेन्द्रियो गण: । स्थानागतं तं परिरभ्य निर्वृता: प्रणीय वत्सान् व्रजमेत्य तज्जगु: ॥ ५३ ॥

Verse text

muktaṁ bakāsyād upalabhya bālakā rāmādayaḥ prāṇam ivendriyo gaṇaḥ sthānāgataṁ taṁ parirabhya nirvṛtāḥ praṇīya vatsān vrajam etya taj jaguḥ

Synonyms

muktam — thus released ; baka — āsyāt — from the mouth of Bakāsura ; upalabhya — getting back ; bālakāḥ — all the boys, the playmates ; rāma — ādayaḥ — headed by Balarāma ; prāṇam — life ; iva — like ; indriyaḥ — senses ; gaṇaḥ — all of them ; sthāna — āgatam — going to their own place ; tam — unto Kṛṣṇa ; parirabhya — embracing ; nirvṛtāḥ — being freed from the danger ; praṇīya — after collecting ; vatsān — all the calves ; vrajam etya — returning to Vrajabhūmi ; tat jaguḥ — loudly declared the incident .

Translation

Just as the senses are pacified when consciousness and life return, so when Kṛṣṇa was freed from this danger, all the boys, including Balarāma, thought that their life had been restored. They embraced Kṛṣṇa in good consciousness, and then they collected their own calves and returned to Vrajabhūmi, where they declared the incident loudly.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

Just as the senses are pacified when consciousness and life return, so when Kṛṣṇa was freed from this danger, all the boys, including Balarāma, thought that their life had been restored. They embraced Kṛṣṇa in good consciousness, and then they collected their own calves and returned to Vrajabhūmi, where they declared the incident loudly. KB 10.11.53 And when they saw Kṛṣṇa freed from the mouth of the great demon Bakāsura, all of them, including Balarāma, were so pleased that it seemed as if they had regained their very source of life. As soon as they saw Kṛṣṇa coming toward them, they one after another embraced the son of Nanda and held Him to their chests. After this, they assembled all the calves under their charge and began to return home. When they arrived home, they spoke of the wonderful activities of the son of Nanda.

Purport

It was the practice of the inhabitants of Vrajabhūmi to compose poetry about the incidents that occurred in the forest when Kṛṣṇa performed His different activities of killing the asuras. They would compose all the stories in poetry or have this done by professional poets, and then they would sing about these incidents. Thus it is written here that the boys sang very loudly.

Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

Getting back Krsna who was like their life (pranam iva), the boys, like enlivened senses, embraced him, and gathering together (praniya) the calves, returned to their homes (sthanam). In loud voices they proclaimed (jaguh) the killing of Vatsasura and Bakasura. Or the meaning can be: setting the descriptions to melody and rhythm so they could sing them on other days also, they sang songs of the incidents.

Purport (Jiva Goswami)

This verse shows the boys’ affection. Attaining Kṛṣṇa close by, who had come to their place, they then embraced him and became filled with bliss. They embraced him tightly out of great affection because he had been freed from the mouth of Baka. This was a sign of their great bliss. At first they approached Kṛṣṇa on their own, but then they were unable to do so, because of complete weakness. Thus Kṛṣṇa came to them. The example of prāṇa is appropriate. He was their life, and when he came close, they revived. As on other days, without regard for time, they had the calves return home. Or, seeing the state of their protectors, the calves had scattered here and there in distress. The boys collected the calves and then glorified Kṛṣṇa killing Baka. In beautiful voices they loudly described what he did, with joy mixed with reverence. The boys had not spoken previously how Kṛṣṇa killed Vatsāsura, since a calf should not be killed and they feared that no one would believe that the calf was a demon. This day however they related that incident. The cowherds recount this incident in Chapter twenty-six (though Śukadeva does not mention that the boys told them in the previous verses). Or out of prema Śukadeva forgot to mention this.