Shloka 41
Brahmā’s Bewilderment and Kṛṣṇa Becoming the Calves and Cowherd Boys
Brahma-vimohana-līlā
यावन्तो गोकुले बाला: सवत्सा: सर्व एव हि । मायाशये शयाना मे नाद्यापि पुनरुत्थिता: ॥ ४१ ॥
yāvanto gokule bālāḥ sa-vatsāḥ sarva eva hi māyāśaye śayānā me nādyāpi punar utthitāḥ
Naisip ni Brahma: “Lahat ng batang pastol at mga guya sa Gokula ay pinatulog ko sa higaan ng aking kapangyarihang maya; hanggang ngayon ay hindi pa rin sila bumabangon.”
For one year Lord Brahmā kept the calves and boys lying down in a cave by his mystic power. Therefore when Brahmā saw Lord Kṛṣṇa still playing with all the cows and calves, he began trying to reason about what was happening. “What is this?” he thought. “Maybe I took those calves and cowherd boys away but now they have been taken from that cave. Is this what has happened? Has Kṛṣṇa brought them back here?” Then, however, Lord Brahmā saw that the calves and boys he had taken were still in the same mystic māyā into which he had put them. Thus he concluded that the calves and cowherd boys now playing with Kṛṣṇa were different from the ones in the cave. He could understand that although the original calves and boys were still in the cave where he had put them, Kṛṣṇa had expanded Himself and so the present demonstration of calves and boys consisted of expansions of Kṛṣṇa. They had the same features, the same mentality and the same intentions, but they were all Kṛṣṇa.
FAQs
This verse shows Brahmā admitting that the boys and calves remain asleep under his māyā, highlighting that even Brahmā’s mystic power operates only under Kṛṣṇa’s supreme control in this līlā.
After stealing them to test Kṛṣṇa, Brahmā realizes his act has not disrupted Kṛṣṇa’s pastimes; he reports that the originals are still in his custody, setting the stage for his astonishment at Kṛṣṇa’s divine expansion.
Even great intelligence can be deluded; cultivate humility and devotion, and verify one’s assumptions before acting—especially when judging the Divine or those engaged in sincere bhakti.