etad brūhi mahān kāmo
mahyaḿ śuśrūṣave pitaḥ
na hi gopyaḿ hi sadhūnāḿ
kṛtyaḿ sarvātmanām iha
asty asva-para-dṛṣṭīnām
amitrodāsta-vidviṣām
etat -- this; bruhi -- please speak; mahan -- great; kamah -- desire; mahyam -- to Me; susrushave -- who am ready to hear faithfully; pitah -- 0 father; na -- not; hi -- indeed; gopyam -- to be kept secret; hi -- certainly; sadhunam -- of saintly persons; krityam -- the activities; sarva-atmanam -- who see everyone as equal to themselves; iha -- in this world; asti -- there is; asva-para-drishtinam -- who do not distinguish between what is their own and what is another's; amitra-udasta-vidvisham -- who do not distinguish between friends, neutral parties and enemies.
Please tell Me about it, O father. I have a great desire to know and am ready to hear in good faith. Certainly, no secrets are to be kept by saintly personalities, who see all others as equal to themselves, who have no conception of "mine" or "another's" and who do not consider who is a friend, who is an enemy and who is neutral.
Lord Krishna's father might have thought that his son was a mere child and thus could not properly question the validity of a Vedic sacrifice. But the Lord's clever statement here would certainly have convinced Nanda that Sri Krishna was making a serious, not a whimsical, inquiry and that a serious answer should thus be given.
