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Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 10.12.3
krishna-vatsair asańkhyātair
cārayanto 'rbha-līlābhir
SYNONYMS
krishna — of Lord Krishna; vatsaih — along with the calves; asańkhyātaih — unlimited; yūthī-kritya — assembled them; sva-vatsakān — personal calves; cārayantah — executing; arbha-līlābhih — by boyhood pastimes; vijahruh — enjoyed; tatra tatra — here and there; ha — indeed.
TRANSLATION
Along with the cowherd boys and their own groups of calves, Krishna came out with an unlimited number of calves assembled. Then all the boys began to sport in the forest in a greatly playful spirit.
PURPORT
In this verse the words krishna-vatsair asańkhyātaih are significant. The word asańkhyāta means "unlimited." Krishna's calves were unlimited. We may speak of hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, millions, billions, trillions, tens of trillions, and so on, but when we go further to speak of numbers impossible for us to count, we are speaking of unlimited numbers. Such unlimited numbers are indicated here by the word asańkhyātaih. Krishna is unlimited, His potency is unlimited, His cows and calves are unlimited, and His space is unlimited. Therefore He is described in Bhagavad-gītā as Parabrahman. The word brahman means "unlimited," and Krishna is the Supreme Unlimited, Parabrahman. Therefore, we should not consider the statements of this verse to be mythological. They are factual, but inconceivable. Krishna can accommodate an unlimited number of calves and an unlimited measurement of space. This is neither mythological nor false, but if we study Krishna's potency with our limited knowledge, that potency will never be possible to understand. Atah śrī-krishna-nāmādi na bhaved grāhyam indriyaih [BRS. 1.2.234]. Our senses cannot perceive how He could keep an unlimited number of calves and cows and have unlimited space in which to do so. But this is answered in the Brihad-bhāgavatāmrita:
avicintya-prabhāvatvād
Śrī Sanātana Gosvāmī, in the Brihad-bhāgavatāmrita, states that since everything about Krishna is unlimited, nothing is impossible for Him. It is in this sense that we have to understand this verse.
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His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, Founder Ācārya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness
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