Canto 10: The Summum BonumChapter 5: The Meeting of Nanda Mahārāja and Vasudeva

Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 10.5.23

diṣṭyā bhrātaḥ pravayasa

idānīm aprajasya te

prajāśāyā nivṛttasya

prajā yat samapadyata

SYNONYMS

diṣṭyāit is by great fortune; bhrātaḥO my dear brother; pravayasaḥ — of you whose age is now quite advanced; idānīm — at the present moment; aprajasya — of one who did not have a son before; te — of you; prajā-āśāyāḥ nivṛttasya — of one who was almost hopeless of getting a son at this age; prajāa son; yat — whatever; samapadyata — has been gotten by chance.

TRANSLATION

My dear brother Nanda Mahārāja, at an advanced age you had no son at all and were hopeless of having one. Therefore, that you now have a son is a sign of great fortune.

PURPORT

At an advanced age one generally cannot beget a male child. If by chance one does beget a child at this age, the child is generally female. Thus Vasudeva indirectly asked Nanda Mahārāja whether he had actually begotten a male child or a female child. Vasudeva knew that Yaśodā had given birth to a female child, whom he had stolen and replaced with a male child. This was a great mystery, and Vasudeva wanted to determine whether this mystery was already known to Nanda Mahārāja. On inquiring, however, he was confident that the mystery of Kṛṣṇa's birth and His being placed in the care of Yaśodā was still hidden. There was no danger, since Kaḿsa at least could not learn what had already happened.

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