SB 10.15.48 · Srimad-Bhagavatam

Devanagari

अथ गावश्च गोपाश्च निदाघातपपीडिता: । दुष्टं जलं पपुस्तस्यास्तृष्णार्ता विषदूषितम् ॥ ४८ ॥

Verse text

atha gāvaś ca gopāś ca nidāghātapa-pīḍitāḥ duṣṭaṁ jalaṁ papus tasyās tṛṣṇārtā viṣa-dūṣitam

Synonyms

atha — then ; gāvaḥ — the cows ; ca — and ; gopāḥ — the cowherd boys ; ca — and ; nidāgha — of the summer ; ātapa — by the glaring sun ; pīḍitāḥ — distressed ; duṣṭam — contaminated ; jalam — the water ; papuḥ — they drank ; tasyāḥ — of the river ; tṛṣa — ārtāḥ — tormented by thirst ; viṣa — by poison ; dūṣitam — spoiled .

Translation

At that time the cows and cowherd boys were feeling acute distress from the glaring summer sun. Afflicted by thirst, they drank the water of the Yamunā River. But it had been contaminated with poison.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

At that time the cows and cowherd boys were feeling acute distress from the glaring summer sun. Afflicted by thirst, they drank the water of the Yamunā River. But it had been contaminated with poison. KB 10.15.48 Gradually, the summer season arrived, and one day, while in the field, the boys and cows became very thirsty and began to drink the water of the Yamunā. The river, however, had been made poisonous by the venom of the great serpent known as Kāliya.

Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

Ignoring Krsna, who was walking slowly behind, the cows in great thirst ran quickly towards the water. The other cowherd boys were running after the cows.

Purport (Jiva Goswami)

The cows and then later (atha) the boys drank the water. Though the cows tended to wander about, because of thirst due to the summer heat, seeing the water from high on the bank, the cows ran into the water without knowing about the poison. The boys were also afflicted by the heat, but knew the water was poisonous, but seeing that the cows had died they also drank wanting in order to give up their lives. Thus the cows are mentioned first and the boys are mentioned second. The cows and boys went ahead of Kṛṣṇa a little, since they could not bear leaving him alone. It was also practical to go in groups, since there were unlimited numbers of cows. Kṛṣṇa went behind. It would have been impossible for him to permit the cows to drink that water if he had seen it. The reason for the bad water was the poison.

Purport (Sanatana Goswami)

After going there (atha), without considering the matter, they drank the water. Or atha can indicate a new topic—a description of great suffering. The use of the word ca twice that both the cows and the boys were of equal importance: they drank together, at once. Otherwise on seeing the first group drink the water and die, the second group would not drink. Why did they drink the water in Kṛṣṇa’s absence? They were thirsty because of the summer heat. The cause of the evil in the water was poison (viśa-dūṣitam).