Verse 1.12.117-118

Bengali text, Devanagari and Unicode transliteration of verse 1.12.117-118:

প্রভু-সঙ্গে গোপ-গণ করে পরিহাস ‘মামা মামা’ বলি’ সবে করযে সম্ভাষ কেহ বোলে,—“চল, মামা, ভাত খাই গিযা” কোন গোপ কান্ধে করি যায ঘরে লৈযা ॥ ১১৭-১১৮ ॥

प्रभु-सङ्गे गोप-गण करे परिहास ‘मामा मामा’ बलि’ सबे करये सम्भाष केह बोले,—“चल, मामा, भात खाइ गिया” कोन गोप कान्धे करि याय घरे लैया ॥ ११७-११८ ॥

prabhu-saṅge gopa-gaṇa kare parihāsa ‘māmā māmā’ bali’ sabe karaye sambhāṣa keha bole,—“cala, māmā, bhāta khāi giyā” kona gopa kāndhe kari yāya ghare laiyā || 117-118 ||

prabhu-sange gopa-gana kare parihasa ‘mama mama’ bali’ sabe karaye sambhasa keha bole,—“cala, mama, bhata khai giya” kona gopa kandhe kari yaya ghare laiya (117-118)

English translation:

(117-118) They began to joke with the Lord and address Him as uncle. One of them said, “Come, uncle, let us go eat some rice.” Then one of them took Nimāi on his shoulder and carried Him to his house.

Commentary: Gauḍīya-bhāṣya by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura:

The phrase ‘māmā māmā’ bali is explained as follows: The cowherd men addressed Nimāi as their maternal uncle. In the Hindu community of Bengal, all inferior castes accept the superiority of the brāhmaṇas. That is why the lower castes address male members of the upper caste brāhmaṇa families as dādā ṭhākura even today. Since the cowherd ladies were accustomed to address Nimāi as dādā ṭhākura, or elder brother, their cowherd sons sweetly addressed Nimāi as māmā, or maternal uncle,

according to familial relationship. Since Nimāi addressed the cowherd boys as beṭā, or sons, they were on the level of His son. As the Lord impulsively requests food from His servants, when Mahāprabhu also requested or desired a great donation or large present from the cowherd boys, then due to their intimate relationship with the Lord they humorously offered Him the insignificant gift of their cooked rice. The occupation or business of the cowherd community was to prepare various foodstuffs from milk. The mothers of the cowherd boys breast fed them in their infancy and later fed them solid foods like cooked rice. Therefore they also humorously proposed to feed the Lord solid foods like cooked rice rather than soft children’s foods like yogurt, milk, cheese, ghee, and butter.