FolioCorpusŚrīmad-Bhāgavatam

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.26.20

पुरानेन व्रजपते साधवो दस्युपीडिता: । अराजके रक्ष्यमाणा जिग्युर्दस्यून्समेधिता: ॥ २० ॥
purānena vraja-pate
[puraanena vraja-pate]
sādhavo dasyu-pīḍitāḥ
[saadhavo dasyu-peeditaah]
arājake rakṣyamāṇā
[araajake rakshyamaanaa]
jigyur dasyūn samedhitāḥ
[jigyur dasyoon samedhitaah]
purā — formerly anena — by Kṛṣṇa vraja - pate — O King of Vraja sādhavaḥ — those who were honest dasyu - pīḍitāḥ — being disturbed by rogues and thieves arājake — when there was an irregular government rakṣyamāṇāḥ — were protected jigyuḥ — conquered dasyūn — the rogues and thieves samedhitāḥ — flourished .
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
purānena vraja-pate
purā
formerly
anena
by Kṛṣṇa
vraja - pate
O King of Vraja
sādhavo dasyu-pīḍitāḥ
sādhavaḥ
those who were honest
dasyu - pīḍitāḥ
being disturbed by rogues and thieves
arājake rakṣyamāṇā
arājake
when there was an irregular government
rakṣyamāṇāḥ
were protected
jigyur dasyūn samedhitāḥ
jigyuḥ
conquered
dasyūn
the rogues and thieves
samedhitāḥ
flourished .
  • arājake — when there was an irregular government
    A (not) + rājaka (kingly rule). Bhāgavatam treats arājakatā as the condition that calls Bhagavān into history. BG 4.7-8 (yadā yadā hi dharmasya) is the doctrinal parallel — He descends to restore the broken order.
  • sādhavaḥ — those who were honest
    Sādhus — the saintly, the devoted. Their protection is the explicit cause of avatāra (paritrāṇāya sādhūnām, BG 4.8). Garga names the recipients of Kṛṣṇa's prior interventions so Nanda hears himself included.
  • dasyu-pīḍitāḥ — being disturbed by rogues and thieves
    Dasyu (rogue) + pīḍita (oppressed). The dasyus prefigure the asuras Kṛṣṇa has been killing this very chapter — Pūtanā, Tṛṇāvarta, Baka, Vatsa, Dhenuka, Pralamba, Kāliya. The pattern is one pattern.
  • rakṣyamāṇāḥ — were protected
    Present passive participle of √rakṣ — to protect. Rakṣaṇa is the avatāra's signature; Govardhana itself is rakṣaṇa-līlā par excellence. Garga is saying: this is what He does.
  • vraja-pate — O King of Vraja
    Vraja + pati (lord). Garga calls Nanda the king of Vraja while explaining that the King of all worlds has come to his household. The political and the cosmic are layered in one address.
O Nanda Mahārāja, as recorded in history, when there was an irregular, incapable government, Indra having been dethroned, and when honest people were being harassed and disturbed by thieves, this child appeared in order to curb the rogues and to protect the people and enable them to flourish.
Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura Gauḍīya
Translation
O Nanda Mahārāja, as recorded in history, when there was an irregular, incapable government, Indra having been dethroned, and when honest people were being harassed and disturbed by thieves, this child appeared in order to curb the rogues and to protect the people and enable them to flourish.
Related values
Anahankarah (Freedom from False Ego)Dhriti (Resilience / Steadfastness / Fortitude)
Related verses
'When government was irregular, Indra dethroned, honest people harassed by thieves, this child appeared to curb rogues and protect the people.' The Lord's appearance has political and social purpose — He arrives when civic order has failed.
Reflection Questions
  • Where in my civic life is order failing, and am I noticing His response in unexpected forms?
  • What 'rogue-curbing' is the Lord doing through small agents around me?

When the watchman is asleep and the village gates hang open and bandits come every evening, sometimes a stranger arrives, settles among the villagers, and within a season the bandits are gone — not because he announced himself but because his being there altered the air. Garga is telling Nanda that this same Person has come to Vraja before, in other roles.

Pṛthu Mahārāja's reign

In SB 4.15-23, when the earth was barren and rogues ruled the kingless world, Bhagavān empowered Pṛthu Mahārāja as the first cakravartī. Pṛthu chastised the earth into yielding grain, subdued bandits, and was honored as a śaktyāveśa-avatāra of Viṣṇu.

Garga's words to Nanda echo this pattern: when arājakatā (anarchy) prevails, Viṣṇu enters history to protect the sādhus and curb the dasyus. Gauḻīyas read both Pṛthu and Kṛṣṇa as instances of one continuing protective intention.

📝 My note

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