Shloka 20
Brahmā’s Bewilderment and Kṛṣṇa Becoming the Calves and Cowherd Boys
Brahma-vimohana-līlā
स्वयमात्मात्मगोवत्सान् प्रतिवार्यात्मवत्सपै: । क्रीडन्नात्मविहारैश्च सर्वात्मा प्राविशद् व्रजम् ॥ २० ॥
svayam ātmātma-govatsān prativāryātma-vatsapaiḥ krīḍann ātma-vihāraiś ca sarvātmā prāviśad vrajam
Thus Śrī Kṛṣṇa made Himself appear as all the calves and cowherd boys, and at the same time as their leader; playing as He always did, the all-pervading Lord entered Vraja, the land of Nanda Mahārāja.
Kṛṣṇa usually stayed in the forest and pasturing ground, taking care of the calves and cows with His associates the cowherd boys. Now that the original group had been taken away by Brahmā, Kṛṣṇa Himself assumed the forms of every member of the group, without anyone’s knowledge, even the knowledge of Baladeva, and continued the usual program. He was ordering His friends to do this and that, and He was controlling the calves and going into the forest to search for them when they went astray, allured by new grass, but these calves and boys were He Himself. This was Kṛṣṇa’s inconceivable potency. As explained by Śrīla Svarūpa Dāmodara Gosvāmī, rādhā kṛṣṇa-praṇaya-vikṛtir hlādinī śaktir asmāt. Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa are the same. Kṛṣṇa, by expanding His pleasure potency, becomes Rādhārāṇī. The same pleasure potency ( ānanda-cinmaya-rasa ) was expanded by Kṛṣṇa when He Himself became all the calves and boys and enjoyed transcendental bliss in Vrajabhūmi. This was done by the Yoga-māyā potency and was inconceivable to persons under the potency of Mahā-māyā.
FAQs
This verse calls Kṛṣṇa “sarvātmā,” the Self of all, showing that while He plays in Vraja like a cowherd boy, He simultaneously remains the indwelling Lord of every being.
In the Brahmā-vimohana līlā, Kṛṣṇa manifests expansions identical to Himself as the calves and the cowherd boys, so the text describes them as His own forms.
Remembering Kṛṣṇa as “sarvātmā” encourages respect and compassion toward all beings, and it deepens devotion by seeing the divine presence behind everyday relationships and duties.