Å›rÄ«-Å›uka uvÄca
tataÅ› ca paugaṇá¸a-vayaḥ-Å›rÄ«tau vraje
babhÅ«vatus tau paÅ›u-pÄla-sammatau
gÄÅ› cÄrayantau sakhibhiḥ samaá¹ padair
vá¹›ndÄvanaá¹ puṇyam atÄ«va cakratuḥ
Å›rÄ«-Å›ukaḥ uvÄca - ÅšrÄ« Åšukadeva GosvÄmÄ« said; tataḥ - then; ca - and; paugaṇá¸a vayaḥ - the age of paugaṇá¸a (years six to ten); Å›ritau - attaining; vraje - in Vá¹›ndÄvana; babhÅ«vatuḥ - They (RÄma and Kṛṣṇa) became; tau - the two of Them; paÅ›u-pÄla - as cowherds; sammatau - appointed; gÄḥ - the cows; cÄrayantau - tending; sakhibhiḥ samam - along with Their friends; padaiḥ - with the marks of Their feet vá¹› ndÄvanam - ÅšrÄ« Vá¹›ndÄvana; puṇyam - auspicious; atÄ«va - extremely, cakratuḥ — They made.
Åšukadeva GosvÄmÄ« said: When Lord RÄma and Lord Kṛṣṇa attained the age of paugaṇá¸a [six to ten] while living in Vá¹›ndÄvana, the cowherd men allowed Them to take up the task of tending the cows. Engaging thus in the company of Their friends, the two boys rendered the land of Vá¹›ndÄvana most auspicious by imprinting upon it the marks of Their lotus feet.
Lord Kṛṣṇa wanted to encourage His cowherd boyfriends, who had been swallowed by AghÄsura and then stolen by Lord BrahmÄ. Therefore the Lord decided to bring them into the palm-tree forest called TÄlavana, where there were many delicious ripe fruits. Since Lord Kṛṣṇa’s spiritual body had apparently grown slightly in age and strength, the senior men of Vá¹›ndÄvana, headed by Nanda MahÄrÄja, decided to promote Kṛṣṇa from the task of herding calves to the status of a regular cowherd boy. He would now take care of the full-grown cows, bulls and oxen. Out of great affection, Nanda MahÄrÄja had previously considered Kṛṣṇa too small and immature to take care of full-grown cows and bulls. It is stated in the KÄrttika-mÄhÄtmya section of the Padma PurÄṇa:
Å›uklÄá¹£á¹amÄ« kÄrttike tu
smá¹›tÄ gopÄá¹£á¹amÄ« budhaiḥ
tad-dinÄd vÄsudevo ’bhÅ«d
gopaḥ pūrvaṠtu vatsapaḥ
“The eighth lunar day of the bright fortnight of the month of KÄrttika is known by authorities as GopÄá¹£á¹amÄ«. From that day, Lord VÄsudeva served as a cowherd, whereas previously He had tended the calves.â€
The word padaiḥ indicates that Lord Kṛṣṇa blessed the earth by walking on her surface with His lotus feet. The Lord wore no shoes or other footgear but walked barefoot in the forest, giving great anxiety to the girls of Vá¹›ndÄvana, who feared that His soft lotus feet would be injured.
