राम

Viṣṇu-parva

Harivaṃśa · Adhyāya 49

30 versesRohiṇī's Son at Gokula

Synopsis

Anticipating his own death and remembering the divine maiden's warning, Vasudeva has already heard that Rohiṇī in Vraja has borne a son, an infant whose face is more beautiful than the moon. He speaks to Nanda-gopa in gentle words: "Go to Vraja with Yaśodā; take her home." Vasudeva makes his way to Vraja by a secret path, cool with night-breeze, alongside the Yamunā, passing through many streams. The chapter closes with him laying the dark child, shining like the rising sun, in the arms of Devī Rohiṇī who bears Vasudeva's joy.

First-pass synopsis; pending review by a Sanskritist.

Verse 1

स्ववधं चिन्त्यमानस् तु कन्यावाक्यम् अनुस्मरन् प्राग् एव वसुदेवस् तु व्रजे शुश्राव रोहिणीम् प्रजातां पुत्रम् एवाग्रे चन्द्रात् कान्ततराननम्

svavadhaṃ cintyamānas tu kanyāvākyam anusmaran prāg eva vasudevas tu vraje śuśrāva rohiṇīm prajātāṃ putram evāgre candrāt kāntatarānanam

Thinking over his own danger and remembering the maiden's word, Vasudeva heard even before then that Rohiṇī in Vraja had borne a son whose face was more beautiful than the moon.

Verse 2

स नन्दगोपं त्वरितः प्रोवाच शुभया गिरा गच्छानया सह त्वं तु व्रजम् एव यशोदया

sa nandagopaṃ tvaritaḥ provāca śubhayā girā gacchānayā saha tvaṃ tu vrajam eva yaśodayā

Verse 3

यदा च रोहिणी पुत्रं प्रसूता कमलेक्षणा यशोदापि तदैवेयं प्रसूता तनयं विभो तत्रेमौ दारकौ गत्वा जातकर्मादिभिर् गुणैः योजयित्वा व्रजे तात संवर्धय यथासुखम् रौहिणेयं च मे पुत्रं परिरक्ष शिशुं व्रजे

yadā ca rohiṇī putraṃ prasūtā kamalekṣaṇā yaśodāpi tadaiveyaṃ prasūtā tanayaṃ vibho tatremau dārakau gatvā jātakarmādibhir guṇaiḥ yojayitvā vraje tāta saṃvardhaya yathāsukham rauhiṇeyaṃ ca me putraṃ parirakṣa śiśuṃ vraje

Verse 4

पालयस्व तदा तात प्रमादबहुले व्रजे बाल्ये केलिकिलः सर्वो बाल्ये मूर्च्छन्त्य् अमानुषाः बाल्ये चण्डतमः सर्वस् तत्र यत्नपरो भव

pālayasva tadā tāta pramādabahule vraje bālye kelikilaḥ sarvo bālye mūrcchanty amānuṣāḥ bālye caṇḍatamaḥ sarvas tatra yatnaparo bhava

Verse 5

अहं वाच्यो भविष्यामि पितृपक्षेषु पुत्रिणाम् यो ऽहम् एकस्य पुत्रस्य न पश्यामि शिशोर् मुखम्

ahaṃ vācyo bhaviṣyāmi pitṛpakṣeṣu putriṇām yo 'ham ekasya putrasya na paśyāmi śiśor mukham

Verse 6

ह्रियते हि बलात् प्रज्ञा प्राज्ञस्यापि सतो मम अस्माद् धि मे भयं कंसान् निर्घृणाद् वै शिशोर् वधे

hriyate hi balāt prajñā prājñasyāpi sato mama asmād dhi me bhayaṃ kaṃsān nirghṛṇād vai śiśor vadhe

Verse 7

तद् यथा रौहिणेयं त्वं नन्दगोप ममात्मजम् गोपायसि यथा तात तत्त्वान्वेषी तथा कुरु विघ्ना हि बहवो लोके बालान् उत्त्रासयन्ति हि

tad yathā rauhiṇeyaṃ tvaṃ nandagopa mamātmajam gopāyasi yathā tāta tattvānveṣī tathā kuru vighnā hi bahavo loke bālān uttrāsayanti hi

Verse 8

स च पुत्रो मम ज्यायान् कनीयांस् तव चाप्य् अयम् उभाव् अपि समं प्रेम्णा निरीक्षस्व यथासुखम्

sa ca putro mama jyāyān kanīyāṃs tava cāpy ayam ubhāv api samaṃ premṇā nirīkṣasva yathāsukham

Verse 9

वर्धमानाव् उभाव् एतौ समानवयसौ यथा शोभेतां गोव्रजे तस्मिन् नन्दगोप तथा कुरु

vardhamānāv ubhāv etau samānavayasau yathā śobhetāṃ govraje tasmin nandagopa tathā kuru

Verse 10

न च वृन्दावने कार्यो गवां घोषः कदाचन तत्रासौ वसति क्रूरो मांसभोजी दुरात्मवान् तत्र वासे तु भेतव्यं केशिनः पापदर्शिनः

na ca vṛndāvane kāryo gavāṃ ghoṣaḥ kadācana tatrāsau vasati krūro māṃsabhojī durātmavān tatra vāse tu bhetavyaṃ keśinaḥ pāpadarśinaḥ

Verse 11

सरीसृपेभ्यः कीटेभ्यः शकुनिभ्यस् तथैव च गोष्ठेषु गोभ्यो वत्सेभ्यो रक्ष्यौ ते द्वाव् इमौ शिशू

sarīsṛpebhyaḥ kīṭebhyaḥ śakunibhyas tathaiva ca goṣṭheṣu gobhyo vatsebhyo rakṣyau te dvāv imau śiśū

Verse 12

यमुना नैव गन्तव्या तस्यां वसति कालियः नन्दगोप गता रात्रिः शीघ्रयानो व्रजाशुगः इमे त्वां त्वरयन्तीह पक्षिणः सव्यदक्षिणाः

yamunā naiva gantavyā tasyāṃ vasati kāliyaḥ nandagopa gatā rātriḥ śīghrayāno vrajāśugaḥ ime tvāṃ tvarayantīha pakṣiṇaḥ savyadakṣiṇāḥ

Verse 13

रहिते वसुदेवेन सो ऽनुज्ञातो महात्मना यानं यशोदया सार्धम् आरुरोह मुदा युतः

rahite vasudevena so 'nujñāto mahātmanā yānaṃ yaśodayā sārdham āruroha mudā yutaḥ

Verse 14

कुमारं स्कन्धवाह्यायां शिविकायां समाहितः शयने तं शिशुं चैव संवेश्य मृदुसंस्तरे संवेशयामास शिशुं शयनीये महामतिः

kumāraṃ skandhavāhyāyāṃ śivikāyāṃ samāhitaḥ śayane taṃ śiśuṃ caiva saṃveśya mṛdusaṃstare saṃveśayāmāsa śiśuṃ śayanīye mahāmatiḥ

Verse 15

स जगाम विविक्तेन शीतानिलविसर्पिणा बहूदकेन मार्गेन यमुनातीरशोभिना

sa jagāma viviktena śītānilavisarpiṇā bahūdakena mārgena yamunātīraśobhinā

He went by an unpeopled path, cooled by the soft night breeze, rich with water, bright along the Yamunā's bank.

Verse 16

स ददर्श शिवे देशे गोवर्धननगोपगे यमुनातीरसंबद्धं शीतमारुतसेवितम्

sa dadarśa śive deśe govardhananagopage yamunātīrasaṃbaddhaṃ śītamārutasevitam

Verse 17

विरतश्वापदं रम्यं लतावल्लीमहाद्रुमम् गोभिस् तृणनिमग्नाभिः स्यन्दन्तीभिर् अलंकृतम्

virataśvāpadaṃ ramyaṃ latāvallīmahādrumam gobhis tṛṇanimagnābhiḥ syandantībhir alaṃkṛtam

Verse 18

समप्रचारं च गवां समतीर्थजलाशयम् विषाणस्कन्धघातैश् च वृषाणां घृष्टपादपम्

samapracāraṃ ca gavāṃ samatīrthajalāśayam viṣāṇaskandhaghātaiś ca vṛṣāṇāṃ ghṛṣṭapādapam

Verse 19

भासामिपादानुसृतं श्येनैश् चामिषगृद्धिभिः सृगालमृगसिंहैश् च वसामेदोशिभिर् वृतम्

bhāsāmipādānusṛtaṃ śyenaiś cāmiṣagṛddhibhiḥ sṛgālamṛgasiṃhaiś ca vasāmedośibhir vṛtam

Verse 20

शार्दूलशब्दाभिरुतं नानापक्षिसमाकुलम् स्वादुपुष्पफलं रम्यं पर्याप्ततृणसंस्तरम्

śārdūlaśabdābhirutaṃ nānāpakṣisamākulam svādupuṣpaphalaṃ ramyaṃ paryāptatṛṇasaṃstaram

Verse 21

गोव्रजं गोरुतशिवं गोपनारीभिर् आवृतम् हम्भारवैश् च वत्सानां सर्वतः कृतनिस्वनम्

govrajaṃ gorutaśivaṃ gopanārībhir āvṛtam hambhāravaiś ca vatsānāṃ sarvataḥ kṛtanisvanam

Verse 22

सकटावर्तविपुलं कण्टकीवाटसंकुलम् पर्यन्तेश्व् आवृतं वन्यैर् बृहद्भिः पतितैर् द्रुमैः

sakaṭāvartavipulaṃ kaṇṭakīvāṭasaṃkulam paryanteśv āvṛtaṃ vanyair bṛhadbhiḥ patitair drumaiḥ

Verse 23

वत्सानां रोपितैः कीलैर् दामभिश् च विभूषितम् करीषाकीर्णवसुधं कटच्छन्नकुटीमठम्

vatsānāṃ ropitaiḥ kīlair dāmabhiś ca vibhūṣitam karīṣākīrṇavasudhaṃ kaṭacchannakuṭīmaṭham

Verse 24

क्षमप्रचारबहुलं हृष्टपुष्टजनायुतम् दामनीप्रायबहुलं गर्गरोद्गारनिस्वनम्

kṣamapracārabahulaṃ hṛṣṭapuṣṭajanāyutam dāmanīprāyabahulaṃ gargarodgāranisvanam

Verse 25

तक्रनिस्रावबहुलं दधिमण्डार्द्रमृत्तिकम् नवनीतपरिक्षिप्तम् आज्यगन्धविभूषितम् मन्थानवलयोद्गारैर् गोपीनां जनितस्वनम्

takranisrāvabahulaṃ dadhimaṇḍārdramṛttikam navanītaparikṣiptam ājyagandhavibhūṣitam manthānavalayodgārair gopīnāṃ janitasvanam

Verse 26

काकपक्षधरैर् बालैर् गोपालैः क्रीडितालयम् दारकैर् दारिकाभिश् च परस्परसमाकुलम् सार्गलद्वारगोवाटं मध्ये गोस्थानसंकुलम् सर्पिषा पच्यमानेन सुरभीकृतमारुतम्

kākapakṣadharair bālair gopālaiḥ krīḍitālayam dārakair dārikābhiś ca parasparasamākulam sārgaladvāragovāṭaṃ madhye gosthānasaṃkulam sarpiṣā pacyamānena surabhīkṛtamārutam

Verse 27

नीलपीताम्बराभिश् च तरुणीभिः समन्ततः वन्यपुष्पावतंसाभिर् गोपकन्याभिर् आवृतम्

nīlapītāmbarābhiś ca taruṇībhiḥ samantataḥ vanyapuṣpāvataṃsābhir gopakanyābhir āvṛtam

Verse 28

सीमन्तमधुरालापाः स्मितभ्रूललितेक्षणाः सीत्कारभ्रूविलासैश् च चेतोबुद्धिमनोहराः सर्वास् ताश् चन्द्रवदना गोपनार्यः सुशोभनाः तासां नूपुरशब्देन मेखलानां स्वनेन च स्वनन्तीनां च शब्देन मयूरा ननृतुस् तदा शिरसा धृतकुम्भाभिर् बद्धैर् उद्ग्रथिताम्बरैः यमुनातीरमार्गेण जलहारीभिर् आवृतम्

sīmantamadhurālāpāḥ smitabhrūlalitekṣaṇāḥ sītkārabhrūvilāsaiś ca cetobuddhimanoharāḥ sarvās tāś candravadanā gopanāryaḥ suśobhanāḥ tāsāṃ nūpuraśabdena mekhalānāṃ svanena ca svanantīnāṃ ca śabdena mayūrā nanṛtus tadā śirasā dhṛtakumbhābhir baddhair udgrathitāmbaraiḥ yamunātīramārgeṇa jalahārībhir āvṛtam

Verse 29

तक्रविक्रययुक्ताभिर् दधिसर्पिःक्रयेषु च स तत्र प्रविशन् हृष्टो गोव्रजं गोपनादितम् प्रत्युद्गतो गोपवृद्धैः स्त्रीभिर् वृद्धाभिर् एव च निवेशं रोचयामास परिवर्ते सुखाश्रये

takravikrayayuktābhir dadhisarpiḥkrayeṣu ca sa tatra praviśan hṛṣṭo govrajaṃ gopanāditam pratyudgato gopavṛddhaiḥ strībhir vṛddhābhir eva ca niveśaṃ rocayāmāsa parivarte sukhāśraye

Verse 30

सा यत्र रोहिणी देवी वसुदेवसुखावहा तत्र तं बालसूर्याभं कृष्णं गूढं न्यवेशयत्

sā yatra rohiṇī devī vasudevasukhāvahā tatra taṃ bālasūryābhaṃ kṛṣṇaṃ gūḍhaṃ nyaveśayat

There, where Devī Rohiṇī dwelt, bringing joy to Vasudeva, he laid Kṛṣṇa in secret, the child shining like the sun at dawn.

Verse commentary

The Secret Journey to Vraja

व्रजगमनम्

Verses 2, 4, 15, 30: Vasudeva's directive to Nanda-gopa, the warning about childhood, the quiet crossing of the Yamunā at night, the laying of the child in Rohiṇī's arms. Template commentary, pending Editorial Council review.

HV 49 is the first of the Gokula chapters. Vasudeva has seen the māyā-girl taken from Kaṃsa's hands and rise to the sky; he has heard that Rohiṇī has already given birth in Vraja; the plan that HV 47 set in motion is now being carried out. The chapter is, in its whole texture, a quiet one: a new father delivers instructions to another new father; a cool night breeze moves along the Yamunā; an eighth-born child is laid secretly in a woman's arms in a cowherd settlement. None of it is spoken of. The Harivaṃśa keeps the pact even at the level of its own prose.

HV 49.2

स नन्दगोपं त्वरितः प्रोवाच शुभया गिरा । गच्छानया सह त्वं तु व्रजम् एव यशोदया ॥

sa nandagopaṃ tvaritaḥ provāca śubhayā girā | gacchānayā saha tvaṃ tu vrajam eva yaśodayā

In haste he spoke to Nanda-gopa in an auspicious voice: 'Go to Vraja with this one — with Yaśodā.'

The Living Words

*Sa nandagopaṃ tvaritaḥ provāca*: Vasudeva addresses Nanda-gopa, the other father. *Śubhayā girā*: with an auspicious voice — calm, not alarmed, chosen. *Gacchānayā saha tvaṃ tu vrajam eva yaśodayā*: 'go to Vraja with her, with Yaśodā.' The whole transfer is cast as a matter of travel instruction. A husband tells another husband to take his wife home.

The Heart of It

The delicacy of the verse matters. Vasudeva does not say, 'here is God.' He does not say, 'protect this child.' He says, 'go to Vraja with Yaśodā.' The children will be raised by their own claim-of-love rather than by being handed over as a special responsibility. The Varkari tradition's understanding that grace arrives quietly — that one is not told, one discovers — is modeled in Vasudeva's choice of speech. The god who will be raised by Yaśodā will be her son, not a ward.

HV 49.4

पालयस्व तदा तात प्रमादबहुले व्रजे । बाल्ये केलिकिलः सर्वो बाल्ये मूर्च्छन्त्य् अमानुषाः । बाल्ये चण्डतमः सर्वस् तत्र यत्नपरो भव ॥

pālayasva tadā tāta pramādabahule vraje | bālye kelikilaḥ sarvo bālye mūrcchanty amānuṣāḥ | bālye caṇḍatamaḥ sarvas tatra yatnaparo bhava

'Take care of him, father, in Vraja which is full of heedlessness. In childhood all are prone to mishap; in childhood even the non-human lose their reason; in childhood each is fiercest. Be intent on effort there.'

The Living Words

*Pramāda-bahule vraje*: Vraja is 'full of heedlessness', meaning full of distractions, accidents, things a parent cannot control. *Kelikilaḥ*: prone to mishap in play. *Amānuṣāḥ mūrcchanti*: even the 'non-human' ones (demons, dangerous creatures) lose their heads in a childhood-world. *Caṇḍatamaḥ*: fiercest. The Sanskrit triple is exact: childhood is the age of accident, of sudden losses of composure, of extremes. Vasudeva's instruction to Nanda is as specific as any pediatrician's.

The Heart of It

One of the tenderest verses in the Purāṇa. The father of a god is worried about ordinary childhood dangers. He does not say 'protect him from Kaṃsa's spies'; he says 'watch out for Vraja's heedlessness, for the wildness of childhood, for the fiercest things that come in it.' The Harivaṃśa is refusing to let the god's childhood be uncomplicated by the fact of being a child. The Varkari imagination's attention to Kṛṣṇa's actual infant actions — stealing butter, falling, crawling, putting thumbs in mouths — has a scriptural ground here.

HV 49.15

स जगाम विविक्तेन शीतानिलविसर्पिणा । बहूदकेन मार्गेण यमुनातीरशोभिना ॥

sa jagāma viviktena śītānilavisarpiṇā | bahūdakena mārgena yamunātīraśobhinā

He went by an unpeopled path, cooled by a soft night breeze, rich with water, bright along the Yamunā's bank.

The Living Words

Four adjectives for one journey. *Vivikta*: 'solitary, unpeopled'; the path is chosen for its emptiness. *Śītānila-visarpiṇā*: 'cooled by a soft breeze', a gentle night wind. *Bahūdakena*: 'rich with water', fords along the way. *Yamunā-tīra-śobhinā*: 'bright along the Yamunā's bank.' The scene-setting is unhurried. Vasudeva is carrying the child, but the verse does not describe his anxiety; it describes the path.

The Heart of It

One of Sanskrit scripture's loveliest interior-night verses. A father carries his eighth son through a cowherd's country in the dark, along a river bright in the moonlight. The Harivaṃśa chooses to record the coolness of the wind. It is a verse the devotee can physically remember. The Varkari tradition's great walking-pilgrimage to Pandharpur carries the same atmosphere: a long quiet nighttime walk through specific ordinary country, cool wind on the skin, the god in one's hands. The verse gives scripture's permission for the devotional walk to be merely a walk.

HV 49.30

सा यत्र रोहिणी देवी वसुदेवसुखावहा । तत्र तं बालसूर्याभं कृष्णं गूढं न्यवेशयत् ॥

sā yatra rohiṇī devī vasudevasukhāvahā | tatra taṃ bālasūryābhaṃ kṛṣṇaṃ gūḍhaṃ nyaveśayat

There, where Devī Rohiṇī dwelt, bringing joy to Vasudeva, he laid Kṛṣṇa — shining like the morning sun — in secret.

The Living Words

The verse's one image is the laying down. *Bāla-sūrya-ābham*: 'like the morning sun'. *Gūḍhaṃ nyaveśayat*: 'laid him secretly'. The son born in a stone dungeon has been brought out along the Yamunā's bank and placed in the arms of the woman who was raising the older brother. The verse's final word, *nyaveśayat*, 'he laid down', is the whole chapter's action.

The Heart of It

The god is now in a cowherd house, placed in the arms of a woman who does not know who he is. The Harivaṃśa refuses any scene of acknowledgment. No stars appear. No hymns are sung. A father simply lays a child down in the arms of a mother who thinks it is her husband's from elsewhere. The Varkari tradition's enduring confidence that God arrives in exactly this way — quietly, without ceremony, laid down in a life where he will be raised by someone who doesn't know — is sourced in verses like this. Jñāneśvar's devotee standing at the door (Haripāṭh 1.1) has already, if he knew it, received the god in his arms much earlier. The god's arrivals are not announced.

Thread

The chapter's four selected verses trace the shape of a quiet operation: the directive (49.2), the warning about childhood (49.4), the night journey (49.15), the laying down (49.30). No voice from heaven, no flash of divinity, no star. The god has been carried along a river at night and placed in a woman's arms in secret.

Echo in the saints

The Varkari tradition's love of night-journey imagery — devotees walking to Pandharpur through the dark, with Vitthal's image hidden in a small bundle — is rooted in verses like HV 49.15. The god is carried quietly. He arrives by a path chosen for its solitude. Tukaram's songs about walking to Pandharpur describe the same cool breeze, the same rich water, the same river-bank brightness. The scripture taught the sensibility.

Scripture references

EchoesBhagavad Gītā 9.22

God chooses the unlit and unpeopled path.

अनन्याश् चिन्तयन्तो मां ये जनाः पर्युपासते । तेषां नित्याभियुक्तानां योगक्षेमं वहाम्यहम् ॥

ananyāś cintayanto māṃ ye janāḥ paryupāsate | teṣāṃ nityābhiyuktānāṃ yoga-kṣemaṃ vahāmy aham

For those who are devoted to no other and who worship me constantly, I carry their yoga-kṣema.

Vasudeva, not as devotee but as father, does yoga-kṣema for the child — carrying the 'acquisition' to safety, setting the 'preservation' in Rohiṇī's arms. The god, who will later carry his devotees this way, is first being carried by a father.

BORI critical edition, ed. P. L. Vaidya (1969). Digital text from the GRETIL Zurich constituted text. Distributed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0.