Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.23.15
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
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patnī-śālāyām
—
in the house of the wives of the brāhmaṇas
Compound: patnī (wife) + śālāyām (in the hall, locative). A women's quarter — the ritual world's inner room. Bhakti's center of gravity in this chapter is here, not in the homa-maṇḍapa.
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su-alaṅkṛtāḥ
—
nicely ornamented
Compound: su (well) + alaṅkṛtāḥ (ornamented). The wives wear their ornaments for Kṛṣṇa's arrival — Gauḍīya readers note the bridal undertone; the heart was waiting even when the news had not yet come.
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dvija-satīḥ
—
to the chaste wives of the brāhmaṇas
Compound: dvija (twice-born) + satīḥ (chaste). Satī carries the weight of pati-vrata. The narrative will reframe what 'chastity' means — not literal proximity to husband, but interior residence in Bhagavān (verse 14).
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praśritāḥ
—
humbly
Past participle of pra + √śri — 'leaning toward, deferring.' The bodily posture of humility. Bhakti's first lesson is praśritatā, never assertion.
They went after Kṛṣṇa spoke (atha), since otherwise they would not have gone. It would not be proper to go again and beg from the same place. They came at an opportune time, since the wives were seated suitability, for conversation arises from peaceful heart, being well dressed and from proper behavior. Dependent on their husbands, after cooking they bathed and then sat without movement, absorbed in talks of the Lord with each other. They were ornamented properly by their husbands and were ornamented with ecstatic symptoms by absorption in prema for the Lord. Thought they were the best wives of brāhmaṇas, they were endowed with the highest behavior because they had all qualities arising from bhakti to the Lord. The boys were by nature humble but they were especially modest on hearing from Kṛṣṇa that the wives had the highest affection for Kṛṣṇa.
They went after Kṛṣṇa spoke (atha). The wives were sitting, not engaged in action like their husbands. They were sitting comfortable happy with devotion to the lord. Ornaments were the sign that they were wives of the brāhmaṇas. Or they were ornamented with signs of prema. They were wives (satīh) of the brāhmaṇas. Though they were wives they were also pure (satīh), having bhakti for the Lord. They were purer or superior to their husbands, the brāhmaṇas. The boys were polite by nature (vinītāḥ or prāśritāḥ) or because they had heard of the wives’ affection for the Lord.
- Where am I more humble to credentialed authority than to invisible devotee-authority?
- Whose home of devotees deserves the same bow I give to formal institutions?
Court messengers entering the inner chamber of the queens — they bow low at the threshold, eyes down, voices soft. The boys do not bring Vraja-rusticity into the brāhmaṇa-patnī-śālā; even Kṛṣṇa's emissaries observe varṇa-etiquette.
My note
Source: vedabase.io