gopÄn gokula-raká¹£ÄyÄá¹
nirÅ«pya mathurÄá¹ gataḥ
nandaḥ kaá¹sasya vÄrá¹£ikyaá¹
karaá¹ dÄtuá¹ kurÅ«dvaha
gopÄn - the cowherd men; gokula-raká¹£ÄyÄm - in giving protection to the state of Gokula; nirÅ«pya - after appointing; mathurÄm - to MathurÄ; gataḥ - went; nandaḥ - Nanda MahÄrÄja; kaá¹sasya - of Kaá¹sa; vÄrá¹£ikyam - yearly taxes; karam - the share of profit; dÄtum - to pay; kuru-udvaha - O MahÄrÄja ParÄ«ká¹£it, best protector of the Kuru dynasty.
Åšukadeva GosvÄmÄ« continued: Thereafter, my dear King ParÄ«ká¹£it, O best protector of the Kuru dynasty, Nanda MahÄrÄja appointed the local cowherd men to protect Gokula and then went to MathurÄ to pay the yearly taxes to King Kaá¹sa.
Because the killing of babies was going on and had already become known, Nanda MahÄrÄja was very much afraid for his newborn child. Thus he appointed the local cowherd men to protect his home and child. He wanted to go immediately to MathurÄ to pay the taxes due and also to offer some presentation for the sake of his newborn son. For the protection of the child, he had worshiped various demigods and forefathers and given charity to everyone’s satisfaction. Similarly, Nanda MahÄrÄja wanted not only to pay Kaá¹sa the yearly taxes but also to offer some presentation so that Kaá¹sa too would be satisfied. His only concern was how to protect his transcendental child, Kṛṣṇa.
