Devanagari
भगवानपि गोविन्दस्तेनैवान्नेन गोपकान् ।
चतुर्विधेनाशयित्वा स्वयं च बुभुजे प्रभु: ॥ ३६ ॥
Verse text
bhagavān api govindas
tenaivānnena gopakān
catur-vidhenāśayitvā
svayaṁ ca bubhuje prabhuḥ
Synonyms
bhagavān
—
the Supreme Personality of Godhead
;
api
—
moreover
;
govindaḥ
—
Lord Govinda
;
tena
—
with that
;
eva
—
very same
;
annena
—
food
;
gopakān
—
the cowherd boys
;
catuḥ
—
vidhena — of four varieties
;
aśayitvā
—
feeding
;
svayam
—
Himself
;
ca
—
and
;
bubhuje
—
partook
;
prabhuḥ
—
the Almighty .
Translation
Govinda, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, fed the cowherd boys with that food of four varieties. Then the all-powerful Lord Himself partook of the preparations.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Govinda, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, fed the cowherd boys with that food of four varieties. Then the all-powerful Lord Himself partook of the preparations.
KB 10.23.36
After the departure of the brāhmaṇas’ wives, Śrī Govinda and His cowherd boyfriends enjoyed the food they had offered.
Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
In this way, Krsna did not directly enjoy with the wives of the brahmanas, but he did enjoy with the wives of the cowherd men. This is the intention of this verse. Lila nara vapu means that Krsna had a human-like body for expressing his pastimes. It indicates that because of the predominance of the lila sakti over other saktis such as sayta sankalpa sakti (fulfillment of his desires), the pastime with the brahmanas’ wives did not culminate in direct enjoyment.
Having the cows, cowherd men and women follow him (anusilayan), by his form, words and actions, he increased their bliss, and enjoyed himself. Gopi here refers to the young gopis rather than those endowed with parental affection because of the time and context of the verse. The opinion that Krsna did not enjoy with anyone before the rasa dance is defeated in this verse. Sukadeva indicates: "Krsna performed many pastimes similar to the rasa dance with the women of Vraja, but these were unmentioned by me."
Purport (Jiva Goswami)
The special devotion of the wives has been described. The Lord’s mercy upon them is described in this verse. The events took place at that place. Even though he was the Supreme Lord (bhagavān api), engaged in herding cows, he fed the boys and then ate. Tena annena suggests that the food was too little for all the boys but they all were satisfied because Kṛṣṇa was full of all abundance (bhagavān). The affix ka on gopakān indicates giving mercy to the boys. Balarāma was among them. It was possible to satisfy him like the other boys because Kṛṣṇa was the master, whose order no one could refuse (prabhuḥ). After serving the boys he personally (svayam) ate. The word svayam indicates Śukadeva’s astonishment at the mercy he showed to the wives of the brāhmaṇas because he was capable of unlimited mercy (prabhuḥ).
Purport (Sanatana Goswami)
The Lord’s special mercy to the wives is described in this verse. Though he manifested all powers completely (bhagavān), he had been without food, and he and the boys became afflicted with hunger. He fed the boys with the food brought by the wives (tena). This shows the intensity of the hunger. The suffix ka on gopakān indicates deep affection for them. He served them personally and then he ate because he was the best of cowherd (govindaḥ), having affection for them. Ca indicates that Balarāma served and ate with Kṛṣṇa. He would not eat before Kṛṣṇa ate out of regard for him.
Or he ate with the cowherd boys before Kṛṣṇa ate, just as he ate with the boys in a circle with Kṛṣṇa in the center previously. Then ca means api (even). Though he was complete in himself (prabhuḥ) Krṣṇa also ate to show mercy to the wives by accepting their food.
Or how could one person feed everyone at once quickly? He was full of all powers (prabhuḥ). And he ate a lot, to show the wives great mercy.