Verse 2.1.217

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration, Word-for-word and English translation of verse 2.1.217:

बाल्य-लीला-स्थलीभिश् च ताभिस् ताभिर् अलङ्कृता ।
निवसामि यथात्राहं तथा तत्रापि विभ्रमन् ॥ २१७ ॥

bālya-līlā-sthalībhiś ca tābhis tābhir alaṅkṛtā |
nivasāmi yathātrāhaṃ tathā tatrāpi vibhraman || 217 ||

bālya–childhood; līlā-sthalībhiḥ–with My pastimes places; ca–also; tābhiḥ tābhiḥ–with various; alaṅkṛtā–adorned; nivasāmi–I reside; yathā–as; atra–here; aham–I; tathā–so; tatra api–still; vibhraman–wandering.

“Mathurā is adorned with the places of My childhood pastimes. Just as I reside here, I also reside there.

Commentary: Dig-darśinī-ṭīkā with Bhāvānuvāda

(By Śrīla Sanātana Gosvāmī himself including a deep purport of that commentary)

Śrī Jagannātha-deva continues, “That Mathurā-maṇḍala is totally indescribable because it is beautified by My childhood pastimes (bālya-līlā). Since Mathurā is the abode of those pastimes, it is also famous as being most dear to Me.” Here, the term bālya-līlā implies that this time period includes the pastimes performed by the Lord during the stages prior to youth: kaumāra, infancy; paugaṇḍa, childhood; and kaiśora, puberty.

The following is an example that describes the stages of life:

जन्म बाल्यं ततः सर्वो जन्तुः प्राप्नोति यौवनम्
अव्याहतैव भवति ततो’नु-दिवसं जरा

janma bālyaṃ tataḥ sarvo jantuḥ prāpnoti yauvanam
avyāhataiva bhavati tato’nu-divasaṃ jarā

After birth, all living beings experience childhood and then youth. When youth elapses, old age gradually arrives.

This statement affirms that the three main stages of life are childhood, youth, and old age.

Śrī Gopa-kumāra might say to Śrī Jagannātha-deva, “Since You are present here in manifest form, You are not seen there (Mathurāmaṇḍala) in a manifest form.”

The Lord replies, “Just as I reside here (in Jagannātha Purī), absorbed in pastimes, similarly, I also reside there, engaged in My pastimes.” The word vibhramaṇa denotes vihāra, sportive enjoyment, or roaming about in a special way. This also reveals, as previously mentioned, the uniqueness of the Lord’s residing in Vraja.