SB 10.45.29

SB 10.45.29

Devanagari

ततश्च लब्धसंस्कारौ द्विजत्वं प्राप्य सुव्रतौ । गर्गाद् यदुकुलाचार्याद्गायत्रं व्रतमास्थितौ ॥ २९ ॥

Verse text

tataś ca labdha-saṁskārau dvijatvaṁ prāpya su-vratau gargād yadu-kulācāryād gāyatraṁ vratam āsthitau

Synonyms

tataḥ then ; ca and ; labdha having received ; saṁskārau initiation (Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma) ; dvijatvam twice-born status ; prāpya attaining ; su vratau — sincere in Their vows ; gargāt from Garga Muni ; yadu kula — of the Yadu dynasty ; ācāryāt from the spiritual master ; gāyatram of celibacy ; vratam the vow ; āsthitau assumed .

Translation

After attaining twice-born status through initiation, the Lords, sincere in Their vows, took the further vow of celibacy from Garga Muni, the spiritual master of the Yadus.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

After attaining twice-born status through initiation, the Lords, sincere in Their vows, took the further vow of celibacy from Garga Muni, the spiritual master of the Yadus. KB 10.45.29 Then Balarāma and Kṛṣṇa were duly initiated with the sacred thread ceremony, and They repeated the chanting of the Gāyatrī mantra. The Gāyatrī mantra is offered to disciples after the sacred thread ceremony, and Balarāma and Kṛṣṇa properly discharged the duties of chanting this mantra. Anyone who executes the chanting of this mantra has to abide by certain principles and vows. Although Balarāma and Kṛṣṇa are transcendental personalities, They strictly followed the regulative principles. They were initiated by Their family priest, Gargācārya, usually known as Garga Muni, the ācārya of the Yadu dynasty. According to Vedic culture, every respectable family has an ācārya, or spiritual master. One is not considered a perfectly cultured man without being initiated and trained by an ācārya. It is said, therefore, that one who has approached an ācārya is actually in perfect knowledge.

Purport

Both Śrīdhara Svāmī and Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura explain the term gāyatraṁ vratam as the vow of brahmacarya, or celibacy in student life. Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma were playing the part of perfect students on the path of self-realization. Of course, in the modern, degraded age, student life has become a wild, animalistic affair filled with illicit sex and drugs.

Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

Krsnsa and Balarama began to practice brahmacarya (gayatra).

Purport (Jiva Goswami)

Garga instructed them on the brahmacārya vow. He taught the boys about gāyatra (sāvitra), prājāpatya and brāhma brahmacārī vows. The gāyatra vow means three days of study. Prājāpatya means brahmacārī vows for one year, the beginning of studying the Vedas. Bṛahmā means vows until the Vedas are completely studied. Śrīdhara Svāmī says that in this case the word gāyatra simply means general observance of brahmacārya. They were fixed in their vows (suvratau).

Purport (Sanatana Goswami)

Suvratau means they followed procedures described in tantra. They accepted the vow of giving everything. Garga instructed them on the brahmacārya vow. He taught the boys about gāyatra (sāvitra), prājāpatya and brāhma brahmacārī vows. The gāyatra vow means three days of study. Prājāpatya means brahmacārī vows for one year, the beginning of studying the Vedas. Bṛahmā means vows until the Vedas are completely studied. Śrīdhara Svāmī says that in this case the word gāyatra simply means general observance of brahmacārya. They were fixed in their vows (suvratau).