82 Srimad-Bhagavatam [Canto 3, Ch. 2
parito vatsapair vatsams
carayan vyaharad vibhuh
yamunopavane kujad-
dvija-sankulitanghripe

paritah—surrounded by; vatsapaih—cowherd boys; vatsan—calves;
carayan—herding, tending; vyaharat—enjoyed by traveling; vibhuh—the
Almighty; yamuna—the Yamuna River; upavane—gardens on the shore;
kujat—vibrated by the voice; dvija—the twice-born birds; sankulita—
densely situated; anghripe—trees.

TRANSLATION

In His childhood, the Almighty Lord was surrounded.by cowherd boys
and calves, and thus He traveled on the shore of the Yamuna River,
through gardens densely covered with trees and filled with vibrations of
chirping birds.

PURPORT

Nanda Maharaja was a landholder for King Kamsa, but because by caste
he was a vaisya, a member of the mercantile and agricultural community,
he maintained thousands of cows. It is the duty of the vaisyas to give
protection to the cows, just as the ksatriyas are to give protection to the
human beings. Because the Lord was a child, He was put in charge of the
calves with His other cowherd boy friends. These cowherd boys were great
rsis and yogis in their previous births, and after many such pious births,
they gained the association of the Lord and could play with Him on equal
terms. Such cowherd boys never cared to know who Krsna was, but they
played with Him as a most intimate and lovable friend. They were so fond
of the Lord that at night they would only think of the next morning when
they would be able to meet the Lord and go together to the forests for
cowherding.

The forests on the shore of the Yamuna are all beautiful gardens full of
trees of mango, jackfruit, apples, guava, oranges, grapes, berries, palmfruit
and so many other plants and fragrant flowers. And because the forest was
on the bank of the Yamuna, naturally there were ducks, cranes and
peacocks on the branches of the trees. All these trees and birds and beasts
were pious living entities born in the transcendental abode of Vrndavana
just to give pleasure to the Lord and His eternal associates, the cowherd
boys.
