Devanagari
तावङ्घ्रियुग्ममनुकृष्य सरीसृपन्तौ
घोषप्रघोषरुचिरं व्रजकर्दमेषु ।
तन्नादहृष्टमनसावनुसृत्य लोकं
मुग्धप्रभीतवदुपेयतुरन्ति मात्रो: ॥ २२ ॥
Verse text
tāv aṅghri-yugmam anukṛṣya sarīsṛpantau
ghoṣa-praghoṣa-ruciraṁ vraja-kardameṣu
tan-nāda-hṛṣṭa-manasāv anusṛtya lokaṁ
mugdha-prabhītavad upeyatur anti mātroḥ
Synonyms
tau
—
Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma
;
aṅghri
—
yugmam anukṛṣya — dragging Their legs
;
sarīsṛpantau
—
crawling like snakes
;
ghoṣa
—
praghoṣa — ruciram — producing a sound with Their ankle bells that was very, very sweet to hear
;
vraja
—
kardameṣu — in the mud created by cow dung and cow urine on the earth of Vrajabhūmi
;
tat
—
nāda — by the sound of those ankle bells
;
hṛṣṭa
—
manasau — being very much pleased
;
anusṛtya
—
following
;
lokam
—
other persons
;
mugdha
—
thus being enchanted
;
prabhīta
—
vat — then again being afraid of them
;
upeyatuḥ
—
immediately returned
;
anti mātroḥ
—
toward Their mothers .
Translation
When Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma, with the strength of Their legs, crawled in the muddy places created in Vraja by cow dung and cow urine, Their crawling resembled the crawling of serpents, and the sound of Their ankle bells was very charming. Very much pleased by the sound of other people’s ankle bells, They used to follow these people as if going to Their mothers, but when They saw that these were other people, They became afraid and returned to Their real mothers, Yaśodā and Rohiṇī.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
When Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma, with the strength of Their legs, crawled in the muddy places created in Vraja by cow dung and cow urine, Their crawling resembled the crawling of serpents, and the sound of Their ankle bells was very charming. Very much pleased by the sound of other people's ankle bells, They used to follow these people as if going to Their mothers, but when They saw that these were other people, They became afraid and returned to Their real mothers, Yaśodā and Rohiṇī.
KB 10.8.22
When They were crawling like that, They pleased Their mothers. The bells tied to Their waist and ankles sounded fascinating, and They would move around very pleasingly. Sometimes, just like ordinary children, They would be frightened by others and would immediately hurry to Their mothers for protection. Sometimes They would fall into the clay and mud of Vṛndāvana and would approach Their mothers smeared with clay and saffron. They were actually smeared with saffron and sandalwood pulp by Their mothers, but due to crawling over muddy clay, They would simultaneously smear Their bodies with clay. As soon as They would come crawling to Their mothers, …
Purport
When Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma were crawling about Vrajabhūmi, They were enchanted by the sound of ankle bells. Thus They sometimes followed other people, who would enjoy the crawling of Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma and exclaim, “Oh, see how Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma are crawling!” Upon hearing this, Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma could understand that these were not Their mothers They were following, and They would return to Their actual mothers. Thus the crawling of Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma was enjoyed by the people of the neighborhood, as well as by mother Yaśodā and Rohiṇī and the two children Themselves.
Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
With movements of their knees and feet Krsna and Balarama moved about in a crooked way in the dirt mixed with cow urine and milk in the large courtyard. The sound of their ankle bells was pleasing like the sound of karatalas or voices of the gopis and gopas (ghosanam praghosa) . Hearing this, the cowherd men became blissful. According to Sridhara Swami ghosa means bells. When strangers came in the yard, the two boys, thinking they were their mothers, would joyfully crawl after them, and then suddenly understanding they had made a mistake, as if in fear, would crawl back to their mothers.
Mugdha bhita vat means as if foolish or in fear. The suffix vat is used to indicate that they were playing the part of ordinary children who make mistakes and experience fear, though they were actually not ordinary children.
Purport (Jiva Goswami)
They crawled about in a crooked path. This indicates their strength even in crawling about. Śukadeva does not compare their feet to lotuses because he realized lotuses are a poor comparison to their feet. Where their feet are compared to lotuses in other places it should be understood that those words are the realization of others. The yards of many places in Vraja became muddy because of the cow urine and dung. The plural is used to indicate many places. They followed some people who came there, thinking they were their relatives and after understanding that they were not, they went to their mothers. They became very (pra) frightened (bhīta), like other small, innocent children (vat) since they were absorbed in their pastimes. Ghoṣa-praghoṣa-ruciraṁ can also mean “their feet were attractive, causeing a loud exclamations (praghoṣa) of the cowherds (ghoṣa). They said, ‘How wonderful that they are crawling!’” Or the phrase can mean “feet which loudly jangled with their ankle bells because of the commotion of the people.”