Devanagari
एवमेतेषु भेदेषु चिरं ध्यात्वा स आत्मभू: ।
सत्या: के कतरे नेति ज्ञातुं नेष्टे कथञ्चन ॥ ४३ ॥
Verse text
evam eteṣu bhedeṣu
ciraṁ dhyātvā sa ātma-bhūḥ
satyāḥ ke katare neti
jṣātuṁ neṣṭe kathaṣcana
Synonyms
evam
—
in this way
;
eteṣu bhedeṣu
—
between these boys, who were existing separately
;
ciram
—
for a long time
;
dhyātvā
—
after thinking
;
saḥ
—
he
;
ātma
—
bhūḥ — Lord Brahmā
;
satyāḥ
—
real
;
ke
—
who
;
katare
—
who
;
na
—
are not
;
iti
—
thus
;
jṣātum
—
to understand
;
na
—
not
;
iṣṭe
—
was able
;
kathaṣcana
—
in any way at all .
Translation
Thus Lord Brahmā, thinking and thinking for a long time, tried to distinguish between those two sets of boys, who were each separately existing. He tried to understand who was real and who was not real, but he couldn’t understand at all.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Thus Lord Brahmā, thinking and thinking for a long time, tried to distinguish between those two sets of boys, who were each separately existing. He tried to understand who was real and who was not real, but he couldn't understand at all.
KB 10.13.43
Brahmā tried to understand who they were and how they were uninfluenced by his mystic power, but he could not ascertain it.
Purport
Brahmā was puzzled. “The original boys and calves are still sleeping as I have kept them,” he thought, “but another set is here playing with Kṛṣṇa. How has this happened?” Brahmā could not grasp what was happening. Which boys were real, and which were not real? Brahmā was unable to come to any definite conclusion. He pondered the matter for a long while. “How can there be two sets of calves and boys at the same time? Have the boys and calves here been created by Kṛṣṇa, or has Kṛṣṇa created the ones lying asleep? Or are both merely creations of Kṛṣṇa?” Brahmā thought about the subject in many different ways. “After I go to the cave and see that the boys and calves are still there, does Kṛṣṇa go take them away and put them here so that I come here and see them, and does Kṛṣṇa then take them from here and put them there?” Brahmā could not figure out how there could be two sets of calves and cowherd boys exactly alike. Although thinking and thinking, he could not understand at all.
Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
In this way Brahma was thinking and investigating. "Of the two groups-those bewildered by me and those playing here with Krsna, which group is real and which is false? The ones that I bewildered who are here sleeping, are they the real ones or something created by Krsna? Or are the ones playing in the distance the real ones or something created by Krsna? Or are both something newly created by Krsna, while he took the real ones to some other universe? Or has Krsna made two forms which are real and brought one set over there and one set here where I am? Let that be. In any case I am looking at two different groups in two different places at the same time. Seeing the boys in both places I am confused." After meditating for some time, he then thought, "I will use my power of omniscience to understand this". But even then, after a long time in samadhi, Brahma could not understand. "Of the two groups situated in different places, which is the real group (satyah) , created by the Lord, and which is false, created by maya devi. This I cannot understand at all."
Purport (Jiva Goswami)
Brahmā tried to figure out the two groups, one sleeping and one playing. He reflected about both groups. Which of them was the real group of the original boys and calves? Which was the false group? Did the Lord take the sleeping boys (and wake them up) and manufacture some false boys and calves and place them here in a sleeping condition? Or are the boys who are playing with the Lord made by māyā? Or I am seeing some illusion of the boys playing? Though he thought for a long time, he could not come to any conclusion. Though he was the spreader of māyā and had perfect knowledge, he could not understand because of the Lord’s māyā.