śrī-śuka uvāca
tataś ca paugaṇḍa-vayaḥ-śrītau vraje
babhūvatus tau paśu-pāla-sammatau
gāś cārayantau sakhibhiḥ samaḿ padair
vṛndāvanaḿ puṇyam atīva cakratuḥ
sri-sukah uvaca -- Sri Sukadeva Gosvami said; tatah -- then; ca -- and; pauganda vayah -- the age of pauganda (years six to ten); sritau -- attaining; vraje -- in Vrindavana; babhuvatuh -- They (Rama and Krishna) became; tau -- the two of Them; pasu-pala -- as cowherds; sammatau -- appointed; gah -- the cows; carayantau -- tending; sakhibhih samam -- along with Their friends; padaih -- with the marks of Their feet vrindavanam -- Sri Vrindavana; punyam -- auspicious; ativa -- extremely, cakratuh -- They made.
Sukadeva Gosvami said: When Lord Rama and Lord Krishna attained the age of pauganda [six to ten] while living in Vrindavana, 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 Vrindavana most auspicious by imprinting upon it the marks of Their lotus feet.
Lord Krishna wanted to encourage His cowherd boyfriends, who had been swallowed by Aghasura and then stolen by Lord Brahma. Therefore the Lord decided to bring them into the palm-tree forest called Talavana, where there were many delicious ripe fruits. Since Lord Krishna's spiritual body had apparently grown slightly in age and strength, the senior men of Vrindavana, headed by Nanda Maharaja, decided to promote Krishna 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 Maharaja had previously considered Krishna too small and immature to take care of full-grown cows and bulls. It is stated in the Karttika-mahatmya section of the Padma Purana:
suklashtami karttike tu
smrita gopashtami budhaih
tad-dinad vasudevo 'bhud
gopah purvam tu vatsapah
"The eighth lunar day of the bright fortnight of the month of Karttika is known by authorities as Gopashtami. From that day, Lord Vasudeva served as a cowherd, whereas previously He had tended the calves."
The word padaih indicates that Lord Krishna 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 Vrindavana, who feared that His soft lotus feet would be injured.
