Text 5
muṣṇanto ’nyonya-śikyādīn
jñātān ārāc ca cikṣipuḥ
tatratyāś ca punar dūrād
dhasantaś ca punar daduḥ
muṣṇantaḥ — stealing; anyonya — from one another; śikya-ādīn — lunch bags and other belongings; jñātān — having been understood by the proprietor of the bag; ārāt ca — to a distant place; cikṣipuḥ — threw away; tatratyāḥ ca — those who were in that place also; punaḥ dūrāt — then again threw farther away; hasantaḥ ca punaḥ daduḥ — when they saw the proprietor, they threw it farther away and enjoyed laughing, and when the owner sometimes cried, his bag was given to him again.
All the cowherd boys used to steal one another’s lunch bags. When a boy came to understand that his bag had been taken away, the other boys would throw it farther away, to a more distant place, and those standing there would throw it still farther. When the proprietor of the bag became disappointed, the other boys would laugh, the proprietor would cry, and then the bag would be returned.
This kind of playing and stealing among boys still exists even in the material world because this kind of sporting pleasure is present in the spiritual world, from which this idea of enjoyment emanates. Janmādy asya yataḥ (Vedānta-sūtra 1.1.2). This same enjoyment is displayed by Kṛṣṇa and His associates in the spiritual world, but there the enjoyment is eternal, whereas here, on the material platform, it is temporary; there the enjoyment is brahman, whereas here the enjoyment is jaḍa. The Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is meant to train one how to transfer oneself from the jaḍa to the Brahman, because human life is meant for this purpose. Athāto brahma jijñāsā (Vedānta-sūtra 1.1.1). Kṛṣṇa comes down to teach us how we can enjoy with Him on the spiritual platform, in the spiritual world. Not only does He come, but He personally displays His pastimes in Vṛndāvana and attracts people to spiritual enjoyment.