Å›rÄ«-garga uvÄca
ayaṠhi rohiṇī-putro
ramayan suhṛdo guṇaiḥ
ÄkhyÄsyate rÄma iti
balÄdhikyÄd balaá¹ viduḥ
yadÅ«nÄm apá¹›thag-bhÄvÄt
saṅkarṣaṇam uśanty api
Å›rÄ«-gargaḥ uvÄca - Gargamuni said; ayam - this; hi - indeed; rohiṇī-putraḥ - the son of Rohiṇī; ramayan - pleasing; suhá¹›daḥ - all His friends and relatives; guṇaiḥ - by transcendental qualities; ÄkhyÄsyate - will be called; rÄmaḥ - by the name RÄma, the supreme enjoyer; iti - in this way; bala-ÄdhikyÄt - because of extraordinary strength; balam viduḥ - will be known as BalarÄma; yadÅ«nÄm - of the Yadu dynasty; apá¹›thak-bhÄvÄt - because of not being separated from you; saá¹…kará¹£aṇam - by the name Saá¹…kará¹£aṇa, or uniting two families; uÅ›anti - attracts; api - also.
Garga Muni said: This child, the son of Rohiṇī, will give all happiness to His relatives and friends by His transcendental qualities. Therefore He will be known as RÄma. And because He will manifest extraordinary bodily strength, He will also be known as Bala. Moreover, because He unites two families — Vasudeva’s family and the family of Nanda MahÄrÄja — He will be known as Saá¹…kará¹£aṇa.
Baladeva was actually the son of DevakÄ«, but He was transferred from Devakī’s womb to that of Rohiṇī. This fact was not disclosed. According to a statement in the Hari-vaá¹Å›a:
pratyuvÄca tato rÄmaḥ
sarvÄá¹s tÄn abhitaḥ sthitÄn
yÄdaveá¹£v api sarveá¹£u
bhavanto mama vallabhÄḥ
Garga Muni did disclose to Nanda MahÄrÄja that BalarÄma would be known as Saá¹…kará¹£aṇa because of uniting two families — the yadu-vaá¹Å›a and the vaá¹Å›a of Nanda MahÄrÄja — one of which was known as ká¹£atriya and the other as vaiÅ›ya. Both families had the same original forefather, the only difference being that Nanda MahÄrÄja was born of a vaiÅ›ya wife whereas Vasudeva was born of a ká¹£atriya wife. Later, Nanda MahÄrÄja married a vaiÅ›ya wife, and Vasudeva married a ká¹£atriya wife. So although the families of Nanda MahÄrÄja and Vasudeva both came from the same father, they were divided as ká¹£atriya and vaiÅ›ya. Now Baladeva united them, and therefore He was known as Saá¹…kará¹£aṇa.
