Text 30
śrī-nārada uvāca
nāti-citram idaṁ viprā
vasudevo bubhutsayā
kṛṣṇam matvārbhakaṁ yan naḥ
pṛcchati śreya ātmanaḥ
śrī-nāradaḥ uvāca — Śrī Nārada said; na — not; ati — very; citram — wonderful; idam — this; viprāḥ — O brāhmaṇas; vasudevaḥ — Vasudeva; bubhutsayā — with the desire of learning; kṛṣṇam — Lord Kṛṣṇa; matvā — thinking; arbhakam — a boy; yat — the fact that; naḥ — from us; pṛcchati — he asks; śreyaḥ — about the highest good; ātmanaḥ — for himself.
Śrī Nārada Muni said: O brāhmaṇas, it is not so amazing that in his eagerness to know, Vasudeva has asked us about his ultimate benefit, for he considers Kṛṣṇa a mere boy.
Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī relates Nārada’s thoughts: Śrī Nārada understood how Vasudeva, in line with his mood of pretending to be an ordinary householder, asked the sages about karma-yoga, although he had already attained spiritual goals even great yogīs and ṛṣis cannot achieve. But Nārada was still concerned that Vasudeva might create an awkward mood by treating Lord Kṛṣṇa as a mere child in the presence of all the sages. Nārada and the other sages felt obliged to maintain their attitude of reverence toward Lord Kṛṣṇa, so how could they ignore Him and presume to answer Vasudeva themselves? To avoid this embarrassment, Nārada took this opportunity to remind everyone present of Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s absolute supremacy.