SB 10.45.22 · Srimad-Bhagavatam

Devanagari

स पिता सा च जननी यौ पुष्णीतां स्वपुत्रवत् । शिशून् बन्धुभिरुत्सृष्टानकल्पै: पोषरक्षणे ॥ २२ ॥

Verse text

sa pitā sā ca jananī yau puṣṇītāṁ sva-putra-vat śiśūn bandhubhir utsṛṣṭān akalpaiḥ poṣa-rakṣaṇe

Synonyms

saḥ — he ; pitā — father ; sā — she ; ca — and ; jananī — mother ; yau — who ; puṣṇītām — nourish ; sva — their own ; putra — sons ; vat — like ; śiśūn — children ; bandhubhiḥ — by their family ; utsṛṣṭān — abandoned ; akalpaiḥ — who are unable ; poṣa — to maintain ; rakṣaṇe — and protect .

Translation

They are the real father and mother who care for, as they would their own sons, children abandoned by relatives unable to maintain and protect them.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

They are the real father and mother who care for, as they would their own sons, children abandoned by relatives unable to maintain and protect them. KB 10.45.22 “You are actually Our father and mother, because you raised Us as your own children when We were just like orphans. For certain reasons We were rejected by Our father and mother, and you protected Us.

Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

Nanda may say, "O Balabhadra, actually you are the legitimate son of my friend Vasudeva. How can he, now free from danger, give up his own son obtaining him after many years? Therefore you must stay in your father’s house. The two of us will somehow carry on living, blocking up our hearts torn up by separation from you with the stone of discrimination. But I could not tolerate to see the suffering of my friend Vasudeva. We were only your guardians." "Those who care for a child as their own son, are the actual mother and father of the child. The seminal father is not the real father, and she who bears the child in her womb is not the real mother. If father and mother abandon a child and the child dies, can they be called the mother and father? Those who raise the child are more worthy of respect by the discerning child. Therefore I will not be able to stay here. Even if Brahma himself comes and speaks to me, he will not be able to change my mind. O father, Krsna will go with you and happily play in Vraja, but I will stay in Mathura burning in the fire of separation. That cannot be. Therefore I make this oath. If Krsna leaves me and goes off the Vraja, then my life will be finished." This is the intention of Balarama’s words in this verse."

Purport (Jiva Goswami)

Balarāma should also not be considered otherwise. Kṛṣṇa speaks. The word ca means “even.” Thus Balarāma should also be considered only your child. But I took birth, and was nourished and cared for by you and Yaśodā, Or they are the mother and father who raise the child and not those who have given up the child. Therefore if I were to take birth from someone else this would be so, what to speak of being born from you, being nourished and cared for by you. You are my parents and no one else.

Purport (Sanatana Goswami)

The real father and mother are they who care for new born babies abandoned by their relatives because of inability. They are not at fault. The pitiful condition of the babies is suggested. Or even they are the father and mother--those who raise them. What to speak of you who have given birth to us. Vasudeva and Devakī only in previous life raised us as sons.