Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.28.5
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
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adya
—
today
Adverb. Repeated twice for emphasis. Gauḍīyas note: bhakti collapses time. Varuṇa's vast tenure is concentrated into one "today" — the day the Lord appears, eternity is gathered into a moment.
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arthaḥ
—
the goal, the meaning
Artha here is not wealth but puruṣārtha — life's true aim. Varuṇa, a demigod with limitless aiśvarya, names darśana of Kṛṣṇa as his real artha — re-ordering the four puruṣārthas under prema.
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tvat-pāda-bhājaḥ
—
those who serve Your lotus feet
Compound: tvat (Your) + pāda (foot) + bhājaḥ (servitors, from √bhaj). The same root as bhakti. Varuṇa identifies the path: not status, not sacrifice — those who bhaj Your feet cross the path of saṁsāra.
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bhagavan
—
O Lord
Vocative. Varuṇa addresses Kṛṣṇa as Bhagavān — the same title Śukadeva applied in verse 3. The devatā confirms in worship what the narrator names in story: this child by the Yamunā is Bhagavān.
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pāram
—
the far shore, transcendence
Pāra is the other bank of a river — a Vedic image for mokṣa. Gauḍīyas finely qualify: for bhaktas, pāram is not impersonal cessation but reaching Kṛṣṇa's feet, the only riverbank that satisfies.
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adhvanaḥ
—
of the path (of saṁsāra)
Genitive of adhvan, a road. Saṁsāra is described as a road one is on; pāda-bhaj alone delivers the traveler. Vedic-Upaniṣadic image (cf. nāyam ātmā…) reread through bhakti.
Varuṇa ecstatically exclaims here that since he has now seen the infinitely gorgeous body of Lord Kṛṣṇa, the trouble of assuming a material body has now been supremely justified. Indeed, the artha, the goal or real value of Varuṇa’s life, has now been achieved. Because Lord Kṛṣṇa’s form is transcendental, those who accept His lotus feet go beyond the boundary of material existence, and thus only the spiritually unaware would presume that the Lord’s lotus feet are material.
"All the thousands of bodies which I have received till now have been useless because in all those lives I did not see you. Today my body has become successful." That is the indication of the word nibhrta (ni for nitaram complete or successful and bhrta for accepting a body). "Today I have understood what is most valuable. Though I possess all jewels, I have not obtained such a jewel as you yet. Those who worship your lotus feet cross the ocean of material life (adhvan--path). I have without effort attained your darsana. How fortunate I am."
O lord of the universe, rare to meet (prabho)! Those who worship your feet attain liberation easily (avāpuḥ). All desires of my body are fulfilled (nibhṛtaḥ). Though the reason is given in the second half of the verse, the desires are fulfilled because real wealth has been attained (adyaivārtho ’dhigataḥ). Those who worship your feet attain liberation. Or nibhṛtaḥ can mean “complete attainment by the possessor of a body.” Today I have attained the highest result for my body. Why? Today I have attained what I consider to be the most valuable. The reason is given. Those who attain your lotus feet, having attained the method (adhvanaḥ), attain the ultimate (param), since you are Svayam Bhagavān.
O lord of the universe, rare to meet (prabho)! Those who worship your feet attain (avāpuḥ). Vaikuṇṭha easily. Or I have today attained (adhigataḥ) the result of maintaining (nibhrṭaḥ dehaḥ) a body constantly. I have attained special liberation (arthaḥ). The reason is given. Those who worship your feet attain Vakuṇṭha. Or by qualification (adhi) I have attained (gataḥ) bhakti. Today I have understood that bhakti to you is my goal (arthaḥ). He then states the result in the next line. Persons who somehow or other worship your feet attain Vaikuṇṭha (pāram adhvanaḥ). That is suitable since you are the distributor of your glory (bhagavān). Or “What more should be said?” Today I have attained what is most difficult to attain. Your devotees attain Vaikuṇṭha but I have attained you as the son of Nanda directly in my house.
- Where am I postponing 'goal achieved' until other markers land that have nothing to do with His seeing?
- Could I let today's existence be 'function fulfilled' simply because He is in it?
A long-employed minister, who has done his duty for ages but never been seen by the emperor face-to-face, finally has the door open — and in that moment he says, "My whole career was for this look." Varuṇa, who has administered the waters for cosmic ages, names this single darśana as the goal of his embodied life. Service finds its meaning only in Bhagavān's appearance.
My note
Source: vedabase.io