Text 28
praviṣṭas tu gṛhaṁ pitroḥ
pariṣvaktaḥ sva-mātṛbhiḥ
vavande śirasā sapta
devakī-pramukhā mudā
praviṣṭaḥ — after entering; tu — but; gṛham — houses; pitroḥ — of the father; pariṣvaktaḥ — embraced; sva-mātṛbhiḥ — by His own mothers; vavande — offered obeisances; śirasā — His head; sapta — seven; devakī — Devakī; pramukhā — headed by; mudā — gladly.
主の父の家に入った後に、主はそこにいた母たちによって抱きしめられた。そして、彼は両親の足もとに頭を置いて挨拶をした。母たちは実母のデーヴァキーが中心となっていた。
It appears that Vasudeva, the father of Lord Kṛṣṇa, had completely separate residential quarters where he lived with his eighteen wives, out of whom Śrīmatī Devakī is the real mother of Lord Kṛṣṇa. But in spite of this, all other stepmothers were equally affectionate to Him, as will be evident from the following verse. Lord Kṛṣṇa also did not distinguish His real mother from His stepmothers, and He equally offered His obeisances unto all the wives of Vasudeva present on the occasion. According to scriptures also, there are seven mothers: (1) the real mother, (2) the wife of the spiritual master, (3) the wife of a brāhmaṇa, (4) the wife of the king, (5) the cow, (6) the nurse, and (7) the earth. All of them are mothers. Even by this injunction of the śāstras, the stepmother, who is the wife of the father, is also as good as the mother because the father is also one of the spiritual masters. Lord Kṛṣṇa, the Lord of the universe, plays the part of an ideal son just to teach others how to treat their stepmothers.