Å›rÄ«-Å›uka uvÄca
droṇo vasÅ«nÄá¹ pravaro
dharayÄ bhÄryayÄ saha
kariá¹£yamÄṇa ÄdeÅ›Än
brahmaṇas tam uvÄca ha

 Å›rÄ«-Å›ukaḥ uvÄca - ÅšrÄ« Åšukadeva GosvÄmÄ« said; droṇaḥ - by the name Droṇa; vasÅ«nÄm - of the eight Vasus (a type of demigod); pravaraḥ - who was the best; dharayÄ - with DharÄ; bhÄryayÄ - His wife; saha - with; kariá¹£yamÄṇaḥ - just to execute; ÄdeÅ›Än - the orders; brahmaṇaḥ - of Lord BrahmÄ; tam - unto him; uvÄca - said; ha - in the past.


Text

Åšukadeva GosvÄmÄ« said: To follow the orders of Lord BrahmÄ, Droṇa, the best of the Vasus, along with his wife, DharÄ, spoke to Lord BrahmÄ in this way.

Purport

As stated in the Brahma-saá¹hitÄ (5.37):

Änanda-cinmaya-rasa-pratibhÄvitÄbhis
 tÄbhir ya eva nija-rÅ«patayÄ kalÄbhiḥ
goloka eva nivasaty akhilÄtma-bhÅ«to
 govindam Ädi-puruá¹£aá¹ tam ahaá¹ bhajÄmi

When Kṛṣṇa descends anywhere, He is accompanied by His own associates. These associates are not ordinary living beings. Kṛṣṇa’s pastimes are eternal, and when He descends, He comes with His associates. Therefore Nanda and mother YaÅ›odÄ are the eternal father and mother of Kṛṣṇa. This means that whenever Kṛṣṇa descends, Nanda and YaÅ›odÄ, as well as Vasudeva and DevakÄ«, also descend as the Lord’s father and mother. Their personalities are expansions of Kṛṣṇa’s personal body; they are not ordinary living beings. MahÄrÄja ParÄ«ká¹£it knew this, but he was curious to know from Åšukadeva GosvÄmÄ« whether it is possible for an ordinary human being to come to this stage by sÄdhana-siddhi. There are two kinds of perfection — nitya-siddhi and sÄdhana-siddhi. A nitya-siddha is one who is eternally Kṛṣṇa’s associate, an expansion of Kṛṣṇa’s personal body, whereas a sÄdhana-siddha is an ordinary human being who, by executing pious activities and following regulative principles of devotional service, also comes to that stage. Thus the purpose of MahÄrÄja ParÄ«ká¹£it’s inquiry was to determine whether an ordinary human being can attain the position of mother YaÅ›odÄ and Nanda MahÄrÄja. Åšukadeva GosvÄmÄ« answered this question as follows.