Text 25] The Meeting of Nanda Mahārāja and Vasudeva
341
one is present in this world, to meet with intimate friends and dear relatives in this material world is extremely difficult.
PURPORT
Vasudeva had been imprisoned by Kamsa, and therefore, although present in Mathurā, he was unable to see Nanda Mahārāja for many years. Therefore when they met again, Vasudeva considered this meeting to be another birth.
TEXT 25
नैकत्र प्रियसंवासः सुहृदां चित्रकर्मणाम् । 
    ओघेन व्यूहमानानां प्रवानां स्रोतसो यथा ॥२५॥
naikatra priya-saṁvāsaḥ 
    suhṛdāṁ citra-karmaṇām 
    oghena vyūhyamānānāṁ 
    plavānāṁ srotaso yathā
na—not; ekatra—in one place; priya-saṁvāsaḥ—living together with dear friends and relatives; suhṛdāṁ—of friends; citra-karmaṇām—of all of us who have had varieties of reactions to our past karma; oghena—by the force; vyūhyamānānāṁ—carried away; plavānāṁ—of sticks and other objects floating in the water; srotasaḥ—of the waves; yathā—as.
TRANSLATION
Many planks and sticks, unable to stay together, are carried away by the force of a river's waves. Similarly, although we are intimately related with friends and family members, we are unable to stay together because of our varied past deeds and the waves of time.
PURPORT
Vasudeva was lamenting because he and Nanda Mahārāja could not live together. Yet how could they live together? Vasudeva warns that all of us, even if intimately related, are carried away by the waves of time according to the results of past karma.