Devanagari
कृष्ण: परिजनं प्राह भगवान् देवकीसुत: ।
ब्रह्मण्यदेवो धर्मात्मा राजन्याननुशिक्षयन् ॥ ३१ ॥
Verse text
kṛṣṇaḥ parijanaṁ prāha
bhagavān devakī-sutaḥ
brahmaṇya-devo dharmātmā
rājanyān anuśikṣayan
Synonyms
kṛṣṇaḥ
—
Lord Kṛṣṇa
;
parijanam
—
His personal associates
;
prāha
—
addressed
;
bhagavān
—
the Supreme Personality
;
devakī
—
sutaḥ — son of Devakī
;
brahmaṇya
—
devoted to the brāhmaṇas
;
devaḥ
—
God
;
dharma
—
of religion
;
ātmā
—
the soul
;
rājanyān
—
the royal class
;
anuśikṣayan
—
in effect instructing .
Translation
The Supreme Personality of Godhead — Lord Kṛṣṇa, the son of Devakī — who is especially devoted to the brāhmaṇas and who embodies the essence of religion, then spoke to His personal associates and thus instructed the royal class in general.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
The Supreme Personality of Godhead—Lord Kṛṣṇa, the son of Devakī—who is especially devoted to the brāhmaṇas and who embodies the essence of religion, then spoke to His personal associates and thus instructed the royal class in general.
KB 10.64.31
After the departure of King Nṛga, Lord Kṛṣṇa expressed His appreciation for the King’s devotion to the brāhmaṇas as well as his charitable disposition and his performance of Vedic rituals. Therefore, it is recommended that if one cannot directly become a devotee of the Lord, one should follow the Vedic principles of life. This will enable him, one day, to see the Lord by being promoted either directly to the spiritual kingdom or, indirectly, to the heavenly kingdom, where he has hope of being transferred to the spiritual planets.
Purport (Jiva Goswami)
Though he is Svayam Bhagavān he spoke to his close associates to show the result of offending a brāhmaṇa since he was the son of Devakī, performing human pastimes like birth and accepting them as his associates. He was the best of all (deva) who had appeared to benefit the brāhmaṇas. Not only was he the establisher of dharma, he was the establisher of all dharmas (dharmātmā). “Since they are his followers what is the use of teaching them. It is like grinding what is already ground.” He spoke to teach other kṣatriyas who were present.
Purport (Sanatana Goswami)
Kṛṣṇa spoke to the Yadus, using logic and proofs, in order to teach all kṣatriyas by his own conduct and to teach by the example of Nṛga since he was dharma itself or the cause of dharma, and the best for the brāhmaṇas and devotees, since he was the son of Devakī, full of all powers (bhagavān) and attractor of the hearts of even sages.