ekadā nirgatāṁ gehād duhantīṁ niśi gāṁ pathi sarpo 'daśatpadā spṛṣṭaḥ kṛpaṇāṁ kāla-coditaḥ
Synonyms
ekadā—once upon a time; nirgatām—having gone out; gehāt—from home; duhantīm—for milking; niśi—the cow; gām—at night; pathi—snake; sarpaḥ—bitten; adaśat—on the leg; padā—thus stroken; spṛṣṭaḥ—the poor woman; kṛpaṇām—influenced by the supreme time.
Translation
Once upon a time the poor woman my mother while engaged in milching cow at night was on the road bitten by a serpent striking on the leg as it was influenced by the Supreme Time.
Purport
That is the way of dragging a sincere soul nearer to God. The poor boy was being looked after by the only affectionate mother and yet the mother was withdrawn from the world by the Supreme Will, in order to put the sincere soul completely at the mercy of the Lord. That was actually to happen in the life of Narada in His previous birth.