Devanagari
चुक्रुशुस्तमपश्यन्त: कृष्ण रामेति गोपका:
भगवांस्तदुपश्रुत्य पितरं वरुणाहृतम्
तदन्तिकं गतो राजन्स्वानामभयदो विभु: ॥ ३ ॥
Verse text
cukruśus tam apaśyantaḥ
kṛṣṇa rāmeti gopakāḥ
bhagavāṁs tad upaśrutya
pitaraṁ varuṇāhṛtam
tad-antikaṁ gato rājan
svānām abhaya-do vibhuḥ
Synonyms
cukruśuḥ
—
they called out loudly
;
tam
—
him, Nanda
;
apaśyantaḥ
—
not seeing
;
kṛṣṇa
—
O Kṛṣṇa
;
rāma
—
O Rāma
;
iti
—
thus
;
gopakāḥ
—
the cowherd men
;
bhagavān
—
the Supreme Lord, Kṛṣṇa
;
tat
—
that
;
upaśrutya
—
hearing
;
pitaram
—
His father
;
varuṇa
—
by Varuṇa
;
āhṛtam
—
taken away
;
tat
—
of Varuṇa
;
antikam
—
to the presence
;
gataḥ
—
went
;
rājan
—
my dear King Parīkṣit
;
svānām
—
of His own devotees
;
abhaya
—
of fearlessness
;
daḥ
—
the giver
;
vibhuḥ
—
the almighty Lord .
Translation
O King, not seeing Nanda Mahārāja, the cowherd men loudly cried out, “O Kṛṣṇa! O Rāma!” Lord Kṛṣṇa heard their cries and understood that His father had been captured by Varuṇa. Therefore the almighty Lord, who makes His devotees fearless, went to the court of Varuṇadeva.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
O King, not seeing Nanda Mahārāja, the cowherd men loudly cried out, "O Kṛṣṇa! O Rāma!" Lord Kṛṣṇa heard their cries and understood that His father had been captured by Varuṇa. Therefore the almighty Lord, who makes His devotees fearless, went to the court of Varuṇadeva.
KB 10.28.3
When Nanda Mahārāja was taken away by one of Varuṇa’s servants, Nanda’s companions began to call loudly for Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma. Immediately Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma could understand that Nanda Mahārāja had been taken by a servant of Varuṇa. Thus They went to the abode of Varuṇa, for They were pledged to give protection to the inhabitants of Vṛndāvana, who were all unalloyed devotees of the Lord. Devotees, having no shelter other than the Supreme Personality of Godhead, naturally cry to Him for help, exactly like children who do not know anything but the protection of their parents.
Purport
Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura explains that when Nanda Mahārāja went to bathe in the river, he was accompanied by several cowherd men. When Nanda did not come out of the water, they began to cry out, and Lord Kṛṣṇa immediately came there. Understanding the situation, Śrī Kṛṣṇa entered the water and went to the court of the demigod Varuṇa, determined to free His father and the other cowherd men from fear of a mere demigod.
Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Other cowherd men had accompanied Nanda Maharaja as guards when he went to take his bath at night. Though Krsna was sleeping on his bed of flowers far off, he heard the cowherd men shouting "Krsna, Rama!" The word upa srtuya indicates that he heard from close by, because Krsna pervades all places, and in this way is close to everyone, very near. He could understand that his father had been taken by Varuna. Quickly approaching the cowherd men, he asked where his father had sunk in the water. Finding the place, he jumped from the bank into the river, and approached Varuna (tad antikam). He is called svanam abhaya dah (relieving the fear of his associates), because later, by taking his father from Varuna and returning, he relieved the fear of his relatives.
Purport (Jiva Goswami)
The cowherds who guarded Nanda on all sides began shouting. Though they shouted from far away, Kṛṣṇa heard the shouts as if close (upaśrutya). Understanding that Nanda had been taken by Varuṇa, he went close to him (antikam) since he was all-pervasive (vibhuḥ). He gave fearlessness to all the people of Vraja, what to speak of to his father.
Purport (Sanatana Goswami)
They loudly sang “Kṛṣṇa, Raṁa!” out of great pain, spontaneously they just uttered the names of the Lord, The name Krṣṇa is first because they had special affection for that name or because of its special power. Or it refers to the two brothers Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma. The cowherds (gopakāḥ) had gone with Nanda to bathe or were his guards surrounding him on four sides.
Kṛṣṇa heard at close hand the shouting and how Nanda had been taken. This means that Kṛṣṇa came to the place later. Or because of the shouting (tat), hearing from far off as if it were close (upaśrutya), he entered the water. He had been attracted by the shouting.
O king! Similarly the Lord gave fearlessness when the elders shouted as the brahmastra sent by Āśvatthāmā approached you. Or the Lord shone (rājan), emitting effulgence because of anger, because he was the sole master of the people of Vraja (vibhuḥ). Or though he was all-pervading (vibhuḥ), he came there quickly out of affection. He was bhagavān, who shows unlimited qualities such as compassion delivering the people of the world.
Though he could by his will alone deliver Nanda from the demon, in order to give benefit to Varuṇa, by his great mercy, he entered the water on the pretext of delivering Nanda.