Devanagari
ते चौत्सुक्यधियो राजन् मत्वा गोपास्तमीश्वरम्
अपि न: स्वगतिं सूक्ष्मामुपाधास्यदधीश्वर: ॥ ११ ॥
Verse text
te cautsukya-dhiyo rājan
matvā gopās tam īśvaram
api naḥ sva-gatiṁ sūkṣmām
upādhāsyad adhīśvaraḥ
Synonyms
te
—
they
;
ca
—
and
;
autsukya
—
full of eagerness
;
dhiyaḥ
—
their minds
;
rājan
—
O King Parīkṣit
;
matvā
—
thinking
;
gopāḥ
—
the cowherd men
;
tam
—
Him
;
īśvaram
—
the Supreme Lord
;
api
—
perhaps
;
naḥ
—
to us
;
sva
—
gatim — His own abode
;
sūkṣmām
—
transcendental
;
upādhāsyat
—
is going to bestow
;
adhīśvaraḥ
—
the supreme controller .
Translation
[Hearing about Kṛṣṇa’s pastimes with Varuṇa,] the cowherd men considered that Kṛṣṇa must be the Supreme Lord, and their minds, O King, were filled with eagerness. They thought, “Will the Supreme Lord bestow upon us His transcendental abode?”
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
[Hearing about Kṛṣṇa's pastimes with Varuṇa,] the cowherd men considered that Kṛṣṇa must be the Supreme Lord, and their minds, O King, were filled with eagerness. They thought, "Will the Supreme Lord bestow upon us His transcendental abode?"
KB 10.28.11
The friends of Nanda Mahārāja, all the cowherd men, became eager to know if Kṛṣṇa was actually the Supreme Personality and if He was going to give them all salvation.
Purport
The cowherd men were filled with excitement upon hearing how Kṛṣṇa had gone to the abode of Varuṇa to rescue His father. Suddenly realizing that they were in fact dealing with the Supreme Personality of Godhead, they joyfully conjectured among themselves about their auspicious destination after finishing their present life.
Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
The cowherd men, understanding that Krsna was the Supreme Lord, eagerly began to wonder if Krsna would take them to that place which is the goal of those who worship him (svagatim), beyond the material realm (suksmam), to Brahman and vaikuntha.
"O Nanda! Previously you explained that Garga had said that Krsna was like Narayana, but not that he was identical to Narayana. Now you have concluded that he is God by directly seeing Varuna praising him. We think he should fulfill the desires of your friends in this material world, because your son—who is also the son of our brother, the son of our sister, the son of our daughter--is the Supreme Lord. We have affection for him, and he has affection for us.
Krsna then said, "O cowherd men, please take whatever you desire from the Supreme Lord. "
One of them said, "We should take liberation."
Another said, "Let us be residents of Vaikuntha." Every cowherd man had a different desire. But there would be no weakening of their relationship with Krsna because of seeing him as God. That was the case of Vasudeva (father) and Arjuna however. Vasudeva said, "You two are not my sons, but the Supreme Lord. Today, I surrender to your lotus feet." Arjuna said, "Please forgive me for whatever I spoke, thinking of you as a friend."
Purport (Jiva Goswami)
Though they were eternal associates, the cowherds thought of themselves as friends of Nanda because of prema. Therefore they became excited: a devatā like Varuṇa had such magnificence. What then can be the magnificence of the cowherd who is the master of the devatās? Svagatim means “his place,” not the impersonal Brahman. The word sukṣmām does not describe Brahman but rather describes Kṛṣṇa’s place since calling Brahman sukṣmām it would be contrary to the principle that Brahman is beyond sound, intelligence and action, devoid of all functions. As well one does not return from the state of Brahmā (but the cowherds returned from the place that Kṛṣṇa showed them). Their desire to see this place was caused by their prema for Kṛṣṇa, since even though they developed recognition of Kṛṣṇa as the Lord, this did not destroy their inherent love from him as their son.
Purport (Sanatana Goswami)
The cowherds by nature were overcome with prema. O king! Even overcome with prema, such persons think like this out of curiosity. Or they were overcome with curiosity (autsukya-dhiyaḥ) since they were cowherds (gopāḥ), absorbed in various pleasures like Kṛṣṇa.
Will he offer (ādhāsyat) even to us by some method (upa) or by bhakti knowledge of ātmā (sva-gatim) though it is meagre (sūkṣmam) compared to seeing him?
“Why would the bestower of the highest place give an insignificant boon?” He is the supreme Lord of us devotees (adhīśvaraḥ). Sometimes a child ornamented with priceless gems asks for pieces of glass out of curiosity. The father out of affection gives it.
Or will he have us attain his place (sva-gatim) which is invisible, beyond the material world (sūkṣmam)? This is not his place here. He is the lord of Brahmā and the devatās. He has another place for us, which has wealth like the places of Brahmā and the devatās. They wanted to see this place out of curiosity. Or will he show us his place Vaikuṇṭha belonging to his dear ones (sva-gatim) which is inconceivable to us (sūkṣmam)? Or will he not take us to Goloka, above Vaikuṇtha.