HV 67.14
तं दृष्ट्वा दुद्रुवुर् गोपाः स्त्रियश् च शिशुभिः सह । क्रन्दमाना जगन्नाथं कृष्णं नाथम् उपाश्रिताः ॥
taṃ dṛṣṭvā dudruvur gopāḥ striyaś ca śiśubhiḥ saha | krandamānā jagannāthaṃ kṛṣṇaṃ nātham upāśritāḥ
Seeing him, the cowherds fled, and the women with their children. Wailing, they took refuge in Kṛṣṇa, Lord of the worlds, as their protector.
The Living Words
Three verbs carry the verse: *dudruvuḥ* (they ran), *krandamānāḥ* (crying out), *upāśritāḥ* (they took refuge). The first two are gestures of terror. The third is a theological act. Upa-√śri, "to take refuge in," is the oldest vocabulary of śaraṇāgati. And the verse makes an astonishing identification: the refuge is a boy. The cowherds call him *jagannātha*, Lord of the worlds; they also call him *nātha*, simply, "protector." The cosmic title and the village title sit side by side. The one is not a theological upgrade to the other. The same child who tended calves is the same child who holds the worlds, and the village knows both at once, which is why they run to him.
The Heart of It
The verse shows the first, indispensable step of bhakti: to *run*. To stop trying to manage the thing that frightens you. The cowherds do not organise a counter-attack. They do not debate whether they deserve help. They take their children and run to the one they love. The whole chapter's teaching hangs on this small domestic movement. A demon will be killed in a few verses. But before that, a theology is performed: the frightened look at each other, pick up what is most precious to them, and run toward the one whose name is on their tongues. That is enough to start.