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Bhāgavata Purāṇa 10.13–14 (Brahma-vimohana-līlā)

The Double Herd

Brahmā Steals the Cowherd Boys

Brahmā hides the cowherd boys and calves of Vraja to test Kṛṣṇa. What is a single moment for Brahmā passes as a full year on Earth — and Brahmā himself cannot tell the difference.

Beginner· 6 min read· 5 chapters
Ch. 1 · A doubt in heaven

A doubt in heaven

Four-headed Brahmā watches from the heavens as young Kṛṣṇa shares curd rice with the cowherd boys.
A doubt in heaven

High above the worlds, four-headed Brahmā watched a boy eat curd rice on the grass with his friends, laughing, clay still on his hands from some earlier game. "They say this child is the source of everything that is," Brahmā murmured to himself. "Let me see for myself." He descended, unseen, to the edge of the forest where the cowherd boys of Vraja played.

✦ Visual cue — Four-headed Brahma peering down from the clouds at a small boy with clay-smudged hands eating with other children in a sunlit meadow, his expression equal parts curiosity and suspicion.