vasudeva upaśrutya
bhrÄtaraá¹ nandam Ägatam
jñÄtvÄ datta-karaá¹ rÄjñe
yayau tad-avamocanam
vasudevaḥ - Vasudeva; upaÅ›rutya - when he heard; bhrÄtaram - that his dear friend and brother; nandam - Nanda MahÄrÄja; Ägatam - had come to MathurÄ; jñÄtvÄ - when he learned; datta-karam - and had already paid the taxes; rÄjñe - unto the King; yayau - he went; tat-avamocanam - to the residential quarters of Nanda MahÄrÄja.
When Vasudeva heard that Nanda MahÄrÄja, his very dear friend and brother, had come to MathurÄ and already paid the taxes to Kaá¹sa, he went to Nanda MahÄrÄja’s residence.
Vasudeva and Nanda MahÄrÄja were so intimately connected that they lived like brothers. Furthermore, it is learned from the notes of ÅšrÄ«pÄda MadhvÄcÄrya that Vasudeva and Nanda MahÄrÄja were stepbrothers. Vasudeva’s father, Śūrasena, married a vaiÅ›ya girl, and from her Nanda MahÄrÄja was born. Later, Nanda MahÄrÄja himself married a vaiÅ›ya girl, YaÅ›odÄ. Therefore his family is celebrated as a vaiÅ›ya family, and Kṛṣṇa, identifying Himself as their son, took charge of vaiÅ›ya activities (kṛṣi-go-raká¹£ya-vÄṇijyam). BalarÄma represents plowing the land for agriculture and therefore always carries in His hand a plow, whereas Kṛṣṇa tends cows and therefore carries a flute in His hand. Thus the two brothers represent kṛṣi-raká¹£ya and go-raká¹£ya.
