From the Bhagavata Purana, Book 10, Chapter 8
The eighth chapter of the tenth book of the Bhagavata Purana tells two stories that belong together. The first is the naming: Garga, the sage of the Yadus, comes in secret to Vraja and gives the two boys their names — Rama for the son of Rohini, Krishna for the son of Yashoda. Garga speaks in veiled prophecy, hinting at past incarnations and divine identity without saying it plainly, lest Kamsa discover the truth.
The second is the vision. Between the naming and the vision, the chapter gives us the most beloved portrait of Krishna's infancy — the butter-theft, the mischief, the mothers of Vraja driven to tender distraction. Then comes the pivot: the other boys tell Yashoda that Krishna has eaten mud. She scolds him. He denies it. She tells him to open his mouth. And there, in the mouth of a toddler, she sees the entire universe — sky, stars, mountains, oceans, the wheel of constellations, the three qualities of nature, and herself standing in Vraja looking into her son's mouth. For one instant she glimpses the truth. Then Krishna, the almighty, spreads over her the illusion made of a mother's love, and she forgets. She places him on her lap, and her heart is as before.
This is a Good Works Translation from the Sanskrit text of the Bhagavata Purana as published by GRETIL (Göttingen Register of Electronic Texts in Indian Languages). The chapter continues the narrative begun in chapter 3 (The Birth of Krishna), following the infant into the village of the cowherds where he will grow up as Nanda and Yashoda's son.
Shuka spoke:
Garga, the great ascetic, family priest of the Yadus, came to Nanda's Vraja — sent by Vasudeva.
Seeing him, Nanda rose with great joy, palms joined, and worshipped him with a bow — knowing him to be beyond the reach of the senses.
When the sage was well seated and well received, Nanda delighted him with sweet words and said: O Brahman, what can we do for one who is already complete?
The movement of the great ones toward humble householders serves only the highest good — never otherwise.
You have set forth the science of the stars — that knowledge beyond the senses by which a man knows the high and the low.
You are the greatest among knowers of Brahman. Perform the rites for these two boys — for the brahman is the guru of all men from birth.
Garga spoke:
I am known everywhere as the teacher of the Yadus. If I perform the rites for your son, Kamsa will think him Devaki's child.
Kamsa, that evil mind, knows of your friendship with Anakadundubhi. He knows that Devaki's eighth child cannot be a girl.
Though he heard the girl's words and set aside his suspicion — still, if he suspects again, that would bring us ruin.
Nanda spoke:
Then do it here in secret, in the cow settlement, unseen even by my own people — with the blessing-chant first.
Shuka spoke:
Thus requested, the sage — who had intended the same — performed the naming ceremony in secret for the two boys.
Garga spoke:
This son of Rohini, who delights his friends by his qualities, shall be called Rama. Because of his surpassing strength, the wise call him Bala. And because he draws the Yadus together as one, they call him Sankarshana.
Your son has taken bodies in three ages — white, red, and yellow. Now he has come as the dark one.
This child was once born as Vasudeva's son — so the wise call him Vasudeva.
Your son has many names and many forms, each answering to his qualities and deeds. I know them. Others do not.
This child — the joy of the cowherds and of Gokula — will bring you the highest good. Through him you will cross all dangers with ease.
In former times, O lord of Vraja, the righteous — oppressed by robbers, without a king — were protected by one such as him. They flourished and overcame their enemies.
Those blessed ones who love him — no enemies can overcome them, just as demons cannot overcome those who stand with Vishnu.
Therefore, Nanda, this son of yours is equal in qualities to Narayana — in beauty, in glory, and in power. Guard him with care.
Shuka spoke:
Having spoken this charge, Garga went home. And Nanda, overjoyed, considered himself fulfilled in every wish.
In a short time, Rama and Keshava in Gokula began crawling on their knees and hands, playing in the settlement.
Dragging their little feet, creeping through the mud of Vraja with the sweet tinkling of their anklets, their hearts delighted by the sound — they followed after the people, and then, as if suddenly shy, ran back to their mothers.
Their mothers, brimming with tenderness, took the mud-smeared boys in their arms. And as the children drank from the breast, the mothers gazed at those innocent smiling faces — tiny teeth just showing — and were overcome with joy.
When the two boys played their charming games inside the settlement — dragged here and there by calves whose tails they had seized — the women of Vraja left their housework, gathered to watch, and laughed with delight.
Horns, fire, fangs, blades, water, birds, and thorns — the two boys, mad with play, ran headlong toward every danger. Their mothers could not keep them still, could not finish any household task. Their minds knew no rest.
In a short time, O royal sage, Rama and Krishna rose to their feet — knees no longer scraped — and walked freely through Gokula.
Then the Lord Krishna, together with Rama and his playmates among the village boys, played and played — bringing joy to the women of Vraja.
Watching Krishna's delightful boyish mischief, the cowherd women gathered and told his mother:
He lets the calves loose before milking time and laughs at the uproar. He steals and eats the curds and milk by clever tricks. He shares the spoils with the monkeys — and if he cannot eat it all, he smashes the pot. When he gets nothing, he storms off in a rage, scolding the little ones.
When the pots are hung out of reach, he stacks benches and grinding mortars to climb up. He knows every gap and crack in the hanging baskets. In the dark house, his own jewel-adorned body serves as the lamp — and he strikes when the women are busy with their chores.
And other bold acts he commits in the houses — devising schemes of theft, then sitting there so sweet-faced, as though he had done nothing.
As the women spoke — looking at Krishna with eyes that were frightened yet beautiful — Yashoda, her face bright with laughter, did not want to scold him.
One day, as they were playing, Rama and the other cowherd boys came to Krishna's mother and said: Krishna has eaten mud.
Yashoda, wanting only his good, took Krishna by the hand and scolded him. His eyes were wide with apprehension. She said:
Why have you eaten mud in secret, you naughty child? Your own friends say so — and your elder brother too.
Krishna spoke:
I have not eaten it, Mother. They are all lying. If their words are true, then look — see for yourself inside my mouth.
Then open wide, she said.
And the Lord Hari — whose power is never checked, who only plays at being a human child — opened his mouth.
And there she saw the whole universe — all that moves and all that is still. The sky. The directions. The globe of the earth with its mountains, continents, and oceans. Wind. Fire. Moon. Stars.
The wheel of constellations. Water. Light. Air. Space itself. The senses born of creation. The mind. The subtle elements. The three qualities.
All this diversity — living beings, time, nature, action, the subtle traces of desire, the marks that distinguish one thing from another — she saw in the body of her son, in his opened mouth. And she saw Vraja. And she saw herself. And doubt seized her.
Is this a dream? Is this the illusion of a god? Or is my own mind deluded? Or perhaps — this is simply my child's own innate power.
Then — it cannot be grasped by speculation. Not by thought, nor mind, nor deed, nor word. That ground on which all rests, from which all comes, by which all is known — inconceivable — before that, I bow.
I am "I." This is "my husband." This is "my son." I am the chaste wife of the lord of Vraja, keeper of all his wealth. These are my cowherds, my cowherd women, my cattle. By whose illusion I think this way — that one is my refuge.
When the cowherd woman had glimpsed the truth, the Lord — the almighty sovereign — spread over her his Vaishnavi Maya: the illusion made of a mother's love.
Instantly her memory vanished. She placed her son on her lap. And her heart — thick with deepening love — was as before.
She whose child is Hari — whose greatness is sung by the three Vedas, the Upanishads, Sankhya, Yoga, and the Pancharatra — she regarded him simply as her son.
The King spoke:
What did Nanda do, O sage, to earn such supreme good fortune? And blessed Yashoda — from whose breast Hari himself drank?
Even Vasudeva and Devaki, his true parents, did not witness Krishna's generous childhood play — which poets celebrate to this day as that which washes away the world's impurity.
Shuka spoke:
Drona, foremost among the Vasus, together with his wife Dhara, was about to carry out Brahma's command. He spoke to him:
When we are born on earth along with the great god Hari, Lord of the universe — may our devotion to him be supreme, so that all beings may easily cross over suffering.
So be it, said Brahma. And Drona, of great renown, was born in Vraja as the one known as Nanda. And Dhara became Yashoda.
When the Lord Janardana became their son, the devotion of that couple — and of all the cowherds and cowherd women — was boundless, O descendant of Bharata.
And Krishna, the almighty, living in Vraja with Rama — to fulfill Brahma's word — brought them joy through his divine play.
Colophon
The eighth chapter of the tenth book (Skandha) of the Bhagavata Purana contains the naming ceremony (nama-karana) of Krishna and Balarama by the sage Garga, the childhood pranks of the two divine boys, and the celebrated episode in which Yashoda sees the entire universe inside her son's mouth. The Bhagavata Purana was composed in Sanskrit, most likely between the 9th and 10th centuries CE, and is attributed to the sage Vyasa. The cosmic vision in Krishna's mouth (verses 37–42) is one of the most famous passages in all of Hindu scripture — the moment where maternal love and divine revelation collide, and love wins.
This is a Good Works Translation from the Sanskrit text as published by GRETIL (Göttingen Register of Electronic Texts in Indian Languages), University of Göttingen. Translated by the New Tianmu Anglican Church (Sūtra, with Claude), 2026. The gospel register is used throughout. The English is independently derived from the Sanskrit source text in IAST transliteration.
Compiled and formatted for the Good Work Library by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, 2026.
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Source Text
Nāma-karaṇa — Bhāgavata Purāṇa 10.8
Sanskrit source text in IAST transliteration from the GRETIL digital edition of the Bhagavata Purana (Bhagavata-Purana 10), Göttingen Register of Electronic Texts in Indian Languages. Presented here for reference, study, and verification alongside the English translation above.
śrī-śuka uvāca
gargaḥ purohito rājan yadūnāṃ sumahā-tapāḥ
vrajaṃ jagāma nandasya vasudeva-pracoditaḥ
taṃ dṛṣṭvā parama-prītaḥ pratyutthāya kṛtāñjaliḥ
ānarcādhokṣaja-dhiyā praṇipāta-puraḥsaram
sūpaviṣṭaṃ kṛtātithyaṃ girā sūnṛtayā munim
nandayitvābravīd brahman pūrṇasya karavāma kim
mahad-vicalanaṃ nṛṇāṃ gṛhiṇāṃ dīna-cetasām
niḥśreyasāya bhagavan kalpate nānyathā kvacit
jyotiṣām ayanaṃ sākṣād yat taj jñānam atīndriyam
praṇītaṃ bhavatā yena pumān veda parāvaram
tvaṃ hi brahma-vidāṃ śreṣṭhaḥ saṃskārān kartum arhasi
bālayor anayor nṛṇāṃ janmanā brāhmaṇo guruḥ
śrī-garga uvāca
yadūnām aham ācāryaḥ khyātaś ca bhuvi sarvadā
sutaṃ mayā saṃskṛtaṃ te manyate devakī-sutam
kaṃsaḥ pāpa-matiḥ sakhyaṃ tava cānakadundubheḥ
devakyā aṣṭamo garbho na strī bhavitum arhati
iti sañcintayañ chrutvā devakyā dārikā-vacaḥ
api hantā gatāśaṅkas tarhi tan no 'nayo bhavet
śrī-nanda uvāca
alakṣito 'smin rahasi māmakair api go-vraje
kuru dvijāti-saṃskāraṃ svasti-vācana-pūrvakam
śrī-śuka uvāca
evaṃ samprārthito vipraḥ sva-cikīrṣitam eva tat
cakāra nāma-karaṇaṃ gūḍho rahasi bālayoḥ
śrī-garga uvāca
ayaṃ hi rohiṇī-putro ramayan suhṛdo guṇaiḥ
ākhyāsyate rāma iti balādhikyād balaṃ viduḥ
yadūnām apṛthag-bhāvāt saṅkarṣaṇam uśanty api
āsan varṇās trayo hy asya gṛhṇato 'nuyugaṃ tanūḥ
śuklo raktas tathā pīta idānīṃ kṛṣṇatāṃ gataḥ
prāg ayaṃ vasudevasya kvacij jātas tavātmajaḥ
vāsudeva iti śrīmān abhijñāḥ sampracakṣate
bahūni santi nāmāni rūpāṇi ca sutasya te
guṇa-karmānurūpāṇi tāny ahaṃ veda no janāḥ
eṣa vaḥ śreya ādhāsyad gopa-gokula-nandanaḥ
anena sarva-durgāṇi yūyam añjas tariṣyatha
purānena vraja-pate sādhavo dasyu-pīḍitāḥ
arājake rakṣyamāṇā jigyur dasyūn samedhitāḥ
ya etasmin mahā-bhāgāḥ prītiṃ kurvanti mānavāḥ
nārayo 'bhibhavanty etān viṣṇu-pakṣān ivāsurāḥ
tasmān nandātmajo 'yaṃ te nārāyaṇa-samo guṇaiḥ
śriyā kīrtyanubhāvena gopāyasva samāhitaḥ
śrī-śuka uvāca
ity ātmānaṃ samādiśya garge ca sva-gṛhaṃ gate
nandaḥ pramudito mene ātmānaṃ pūrṇam āśiṣām
kālena vrajatālpena gokule rāma-keśavau
jānubhyāṃ saha pāṇibhyāṃ riṅgamāṇau vijahratuḥ
tāv aṅghri-yugmam anukṛṣya sarīsṛpantau
ghoṣa-praghoṣa-ruciraṃ vraja-kardameṣu
tan-nāda-hṛṣṭa-manasāv anusṛtya lokaṃ
mugdha-prabhītavad upeyatur anti mātroḥ
tan-mātarau nija-sutau ghṛṇayā snuvantyau
paṅkāṅga-rāga-rucirāv upagṛhya dorbhyām
dattvā stanaṃ prapibatoḥ sma mukhaṃ nirīkṣya
mugdha-smitālpa-daśanaṃ yayatuḥ pramodam
yarhy aṅganā-darśanīya-kumāra-līlāv
antar-vraje tad abalāḥ pragṛhīta-pucchaiḥ
vatsair itas tata ubhāv anukṛṣyamāṇau
prekṣantya ujjhita-gṛhā jahṛṣur hasantyaḥ
śṛṅgy-agni-daṃṣṭry-asi-jala-dvija-kaṇṭakebhyaḥ
krīḍā-parāv aticalau sva-sutau niṣeddhum
gṛhyāṇi kartum api yatra na taj-jananyau
śekāta āpatur alaṃ manaso 'navasthām
kālenālpena rājarṣe rāmaḥ kṛṣṇaś ca gokule
aghṛṣṭa-jānubhir padbhir vicakramatur añjasā
tatas tu bhagavān kṛṣṇo vayasyair vraja-bālakaiḥ
saha-rāmo vraja-strīṇāṃ cikṛīḍe janayan mudam
kṛṣṇasya gopyo ruciraṃ vīkṣya kaumāra-cāpalam
śṛṇvantyāḥ kila tan-mātur iti hocuḥ samāgatāḥ
vatsān muñcan kvacid asamaye krośa-sañjāta-hāsaḥ
steyaṃ svādv atty atha dadhi-payaḥ kalpitaiḥ steya-yogaiḥ
markān bhokṣyan vibhajati sa cen nātti bhāṇḍaṃ bhinnatti
dravyālābhe sagṛha-kupito yāty upakrośya tokān
hastāgrāhye racayati vidhiṃ pīṭhakolūkhalādyaiś
chidraṃ hy antar-nihita-vayunaḥ śikya-bhāṇḍeṣu tad-vit
dhvāntāgāre dhṛta-maṇi-gaṇaṃ svāṅgam artha-pradīpaṃ
kāle gopyo yarhi gṛha-kṛtyeṣu suvyagra-cittāḥ
evaṃ dhārṣṭyāny uśati kurute mehanādīni vāstau
steyopāyair viracita-kṛtiḥ supratīko yathāste
itthaṃ strībhiḥ sa-bhaya-nayana-śrī-mukhālokinībhir
vyākhyātārthā prahasita-mukhī na hy upālabdhum aicchat
ekadā krīḍamānās te rāmādyā gopa-dārakāḥ
kṛṣṇo mṛdaṃ bhakṣitavān iti mātre nyavedayan
sā gṛhītvā kare kṛṣṇam upālabhya hitaiṣiṇī
yaśodā bhaya-sambhrānta-prekṣaṇākṣam abhāṣata
kasmān mṛdam adāntātman bhavān bhakṣitavān rahaḥ
vadanti tāvakā hy ete kumārās te 'grajo 'py ayam
nāhaṃ bhakṣitavān amba sarve mithyābhiśaṃsinaḥ
yadi satya-giras tarhi samakṣaṃ paśya me mukham
yady evaṃ tarhi vyādehī-ty uktaḥ sa bhagavān hariḥ
vyādattāvyāhataiśvaryaḥ krīḍā-manuja-bālakaḥ
sā tatra dadṛśe viśvaṃ jagat sthāsnu ca khaṃ diśaḥ
sādri-dvīpābdhi-bhūgolaṃ sa-vāyv-agnīndu-tārakam
jyotiś-cakraṃ jalaṃ tejo nabhasvān viyad eva ca
vaikārikāṇīndriyāṇi mano mātrā guṇās trayaḥ
etad vicitraṃ saha-jīva-kāla-svabhāva-karmāśaya-liṅga-bhedam
sūnos tanau vīkṣya vidāritāsye vrajaṃ sahātmānam avāpa śaṅkām
kiṃ svapna etad uta devamāyā kiṃ vā madīyo bata buddhi-mohaḥ
atho amuṣyaiva mamārbhakasya yaḥ kaścanautpattika ātma-yogaḥ
atho yathāvan na vitarka-gocaraṃ ceto-manaḥ-karma-vacobhir añjasā
yad-āśrayaṃ yena yataḥ pratīyate sudurvībhāvyaṃ praṇatāsmi tat-padam
ahaṃ mamāsau patir eṣa me suto vrajeśvarasyākhila-vittapā satī
gopyaś ca gopāḥ saha-godhanāś ca me yan-māyayetthaṃ kumatiḥ sa me gatiḥ
itthaṃ vidita-tattvāyāṃ gopikāyāṃ sa īśvaraḥ
vaiṣṇavīṃ vyatanon māyāṃ putra-snehamayīṃ vibhuḥ
sadyo naṣṭa-smṛtir gopī sāropyāroham ātmajam
pravṛddha-sneha-kalila-hṛdayāsīd yathā purā
trayyā copaniṣadbhiś ca sāṅkhya-yogaiś ca sātvataiḥ
upagīyamāna-māhātmyaṃ hariṃ sāmanyatātmajam
śrī-rājovāca
nandaḥ kim akarod brahman śreya evaṃ mahodayam
yaśodā ca mahā-bhāgā papau yasyāḥ stanaṃ hariḥ
pitarau nānvavindetāṃ kṛṣṇodārārbhakehitam
gāyanty adyāpi kavayo yal loka-śamalāpaham
śrī-śuka uvāca
droṇo vasūnāṃ pravaro dharayā bhāryayā saha
kariṣyamāṇa ādeśān brahmaṇas tam uvāca ha
jātayor nau mahādeve bhuvi viśveśvare harau
bhaktiḥ syāt paramā loke yayāñjo durgatiṃ taret
astv ity uktaḥ sa bhagavān vraje droṇo mahā-yaśāḥ
jajñe nanda iti khyāto yaśodā sā dharābhavat
tato bhaktir bhagavati putrī-bhūte janārdane
dampatyor nitarām āsīd gopa-gopīṣu bhārata
kṛṣṇo brahmaṇa ādeśaṃ satyaṃ kartuṃ vraje vibhuḥ
saha-rāmo vasaṃś cakre teṣāṃ prītiṃ sva-līlayā
Source Colophon
Sanskrit text of the Bhagavata Purana, Skandha 10, Chapter 8 (Nāma-karaṇa), in IAST transliteration. Published by GRETIL (Göttingen Register of Electronic Texts in Indian Languages), University of Göttingen. The digital text is based on the critical edition of the Bhagavata Purana. Converted to Unicode (UTF-8). GRETIL texts are provided for reference purposes under the terms of use established by the GRETIL project.
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