Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 10.28.2

tam grihītvānayad bhrityo

varunasyāsuro 'ntikam

avajñāyāsurīm velām

pravishtam udakam niśi

SYNONYMS

tam — him; grihītvā — seizing; anayat — brought; bhrityah — a servant: varunasya — of Varuna, the lord of the sea; asurah — demon; antikam — to the presence (of his master); avajñāya — who had disregarded; āsurīm — the inauspicious ; velām — time; pravishtam — having entered ; udakam — the water; niśi — during the night.

TRANSLATION

Because Nanda Mahārāja entered the water in the dark of night, disregarding that the time was inauspicious, a demoniac servant of Varuna seized him and brought him to his master.

PURPORT

Nanda Mahārāja was intent on breaking his fast during the Dvādaśī day, of which there remained only a few minutes. Thus he entered the water to bathe at an inauspicious time, before the first dawn light.

The servant of Varuna who arrested Nanda Mahārāja is stated here to be an asura, or demon, for obvious reasons. First, the servant was foolishly ignorant of Nanda Mahārāja's position as the pastime father of the Supreme Absolute Truth. Also, Nanda Mahārāja's intention was to carry out the injunctions of scripture; therefore Varuna's servant should not have arrested Nanda on the technical grounds that he bathed in the Yamunā at an inauspicious time. Later in this chapter Varuna himself will say, ajānatā māmakena mūdhena: "This was done by my ignorant servant, who is a fool." This foolish servant did not understand the position of Krishna or Nanda Mahārāja or devotional service to the Lord.

In conclusion, it is clear that Lord Krishna wanted to give His personal audience to Varuna and simultaneously accomplish other didactic purposes. Thus this wonderful pastime will now unfold.

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