FolioCorpusŚrīmad-Bhāgavatam

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.26.7

क्‍वचिद्धैयङ्गवस्तैन्ये मात्रा बद्ध उदूखले । गच्छन्नर्जुनयोर्मध्ये बाहुभ्यां तावपातयत् ॥ ७ ॥
kvacid dhaiyaṅgava-stainye
[kvachid dhaiyangava-stainye]
mātrā baddha udūkhale
[maatraa baddha udookhale]
gacchann arjunayor madhye
[gachchann arjunayor madhye]
bāhubhyāṁ tāv apātayat
[baahubhyaam taav apaatayat]
Word-for-word
kvacit — once haiyaṅgava — butter stainye — engaged in stealing mātrā — by His mother baddhaḥ — bound up udūkhale — to a large mortar gacchan — moving arjunayoḥ — the twin arjuna trees madhye — between bāhubhyām — by His hands tau apātayat — He made them fall .
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
kvacid dhaiyaṅgava-stainye
kvacit
once
haiyaṅgava
butter
stainye
engaged in stealing
mātrā baddha udūkhale
mātrā
by His mother
baddhaḥ
bound up
udūkhale
to a large mortar
gacchann arjunayor madhye
gacchan
moving
arjunayoḥ
the twin arjuna trees
madhye
between
bāhubhyāṁ tāv apātayat
bāhubhyām
by His hands
tau apātayat
He made them fall .
Important Words
  • haiyaṅgava — butter
    Haiyaṅgava — fresh butter from the previous day's milk. The most precious household good of Vraja; Kṛṣṇa's theft of it is the Gauḻīya emblem of how Bhagavān steals the heart-cream of His devotees while pretending to need it Himself.
  • stainye — engaged in stealing
    Locative of stainya (theft). The 'crime' is structurally necessary — Yaśodā's binding follows from it. Gauḻīyas read every Vraja transgression as Kṛṣṇa engineering occasions for His devotees' intimate service.
  • mātrā — by His mother
    Instrumental of mātṛ. Yaśodā's binding (Dāmodara-līlā, SB 10.9) is the supreme proof of vātsalya: love itself, not power, ties down the Unbindable. The damodara prayers of Kārtika commemorate this verse-family.
  • udūkhale — to a large mortar
    Locative of ūdūkhala. The mortar is the agent that liberates Nalakūvara and Maṇigrīva — a household tool become the wheel of cosmic mercy. Bhakti has no special instruments; the kitchen suffices.
  • arjunayoḥ — the twin arjuna trees
    Genitive dual of arjuna. The trees are the Yakṣa sons under Nārada's curse — placed there long beforehand for this very moment. Vraja-līlā is never coincidence; it is choreography across yugas.
Once, His mother tied Him with ropes to a mortar because she had caught Him stealing butter. Then, crawling on His hands, He dragged the mortar between a pair of arjuna trees and pulled them down.
Purport

The two arjuna trees were old and thick, and they towered above little Kṛṣṇa’s courtyard. Nevertheless, they were pulled down quite easily by the naughty child.

— A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda
Gauḍīya Ācāryas
Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura Gauḍīya
Translation
Once, His mother tied Him with ropes to a mortar because she had caught Him stealing butter. Then, crawling on His hands, He dragged the mortar between a pair of arjuna trees and pulled them down.
Commentary

How could he who was tied up because he had stolen butter crawl around and knock down the two arjuna trees?

Jīva Gosvāmī Gauḍīya
Commentary

The word kvacit means once. It should be understood in the verses following as well. Moving by his hands (bāhubhyām) he made the trees fall. This indicates that a lot of strength was needed to pull the mortar.

Related values & verses
Concepts
Jiva
Related lectures
Personal Guidance
Tied to a mortar for stealing butter, He crawled and pulled down two huge arjuna trees. The discipline imposed on Him becomes the vehicle of His next pastime — bondage in His case opens new movement.
Reflection Questions
  • Which discipline I am chafing against might be the vehicle of an unexpected pastime?
  • Where do I confuse being tied for being stuck?
Analogy

A toddler tied to a mortar drags the heavy stone behind him as he crawls — and the rope, looped around two pillar-like trees, pulls those very trees out of the ground. The gopas tell this as if recounting a strange coincidence; Gauḻīyas hear in it the snap of an ancient curse, the liberation of two demigod sons.

Stories
Nalakūvara and Maṇigrīva

Nārada had cursed the two haughty Yakṣa sons of Kuvera to become trees in Vraja, awaiting Kṛṣṇa's touch for release (SB 10.10). For long ages they stood as twin arjuna trees on the banks of the Yamunā until Yaśodā tied her boy to the mortar in chapter 9.

In 10.10 the mortar lodged between their trunks, and Kṛṣṇa's gentle pull brought both trees down — releasing the sons restored, chastened, devotees. Gauḻīyas treat this as Kṛṣṇa's signature: a mother's rope around His belly becomes the instrument of cosmic liberation.

📝 My note

Source: vedabase.io

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