HV 59.3
कौतूहलाद् इदं वाक्यं कृष्णः प्रोवाच तत्र वै । को ऽयं शक्रमहो नाम येन वो हर्ष आगतः ॥
kautūhalād idaṃ vākyaṃ kṛṣṇaḥ provāca tatra vai | ko 'yaṃ śakramaho nāma yena vo harṣa āgataḥ
With curiosity, Kṛṣṇa spoke this word there: 'What is this Śakra-festival by which joy has come to you?'
The Living Words
*Kautūhalāt*, 'out of curiosity'. *Ko 'yaṃ śakramaho nāma*, 'what is this so-called Śakra-festival?' — the *nāma* is disarming; the child is asking what the name of the thing is. *Yena vo harṣa āgataḥ*, 'by which joy has come to you?' The question is placed on the right side: Kṛṣṇa asks about the source of the villagers' joy, not the ritual correctness.
The Heart of It
The whole chapter turns on this innocent-seeming question. Kṛṣṇa does not open with a critique of Indra-worship; he opens with a question about joy. The Harivaṃśa's narrative wisdom: the way to redirect worship is not to denounce the old but to ask where the worshipper's own joy is coming from. The Varkari saints' approach to the various rites of the tradition is continuous with this. They do not denounce; they ask. Jñāneśvar's Haripāṭh does not argue for the Name against other practices; it asks whether the other practices have brought you the joy they promised. The question itself starts the shift.