Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.40.21
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
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vāsudevāya
—
to Vāsudeva
The supreme of the four vyūhas, also the Person of Kṛṣṇa Himself. Etymologically: vasu (the worlds) + deva (the Lord who shines through). Gauḍīyas read this name as svayaṁ-bhagavān-vācaka — naming Kṛṣṇa Himself, the Person of Vraja.
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saṅkarṣaṇāya
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to Saṅkarṣaṇa
From sam + √kṛṣ — the One who attracts everything together at dissolution. Balarāma in Vraja, Saṅkarṣaṇa in the vyūha order. Jīva Gosvāmī assigns Him jīva-tattva and the saṁhāra function.
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pradyumnāya
—
to Pradyumna
Pra + dyumna — the greatly resplendent. In the vyūha, governs the mind. Born to Kṛṣṇa from Rukmiṇī; identified by Gauḍīyas as Kāmadeva-svarūpa, the Lord's manas expansion.
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aniruddhāya
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to Aniruddha
a + niruddha — unimpeded. The vyūha presiding over citta and the antaryāmī of the universe. Grandson of Kṛṣṇa in the līlā; cosmic principle in the vyūha. The line ends with Him because creation begins from Him outward.
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sātvatām pataye
—
to the Lord of the Sātvatas
Compound: sātvata (those of pure sattva, the Yadu-line bhāgavatas) + pati (lord). Akrūra's own community-name. He is bowing as a Sātvata to the Lord of the Sātvatas — confessing affiliation in the act of praise.
The meaning is this. Saṅkarṣaṇa refers to Balarāma. He is included in the catur-vyūha starting with Kṛṣṇa called Vāsudeva. After offering respects to Balarāma as a member of the catur-vyūha, I offer respects to them all. He offers respects to Pradyumna and Aniruddha though they had not appeared yet, since they are mentioned in scriptures like Gopāla-tāpanī Upaniṣad and are thus eternal. He thus quotes scripture by mentioning their names. All of these persons are leaders of the Sātvatas. The purpose is to glorify the dynasty. The word namaḥ should be applied to Pradyumna and Aniruddha.
Kṛṣṇa has been described, but Balarāma has not. He is included among the avatāras and thus offered respects in describing the catur-vyūha in this verse. Saṅkarṣaṇa means Balarāma. They are non-different. This is mentioned in Bhāgavatam. Or instead of the caturvyūha, after offering respect to Balarāma, Kṛsṇa’s future son Pradyumna and his grandson Aniruddha are offered respects. I offer respects (namaḥ) to Balarāma (saṅkarṣaṇāya), who is the son of Vasudeva (vāsudevāya), and to Kṛṣṇa’s son (namaḥ) and grandson (namaḥ). The second namaḥ is for Pradyumna and third one for Aniruddha. Or out of devotion for him as the elder brother, namaḥ is repeated for Balarāma. The goal of the three is described: they are to protectors of the Yadus or the devotees (sātvatām pataye). They appear in those forms to give happiness to the Yadus by their pastimes. Mad-bhaktānāṁ vinodārtaṁ karomi vividhāḥ kriyāḥ: for the pleasure of my devotees I perform various actions. (Padma Purāṇa)
- What deeper structure of the Lord could you study to deepen worship?
- Where does intellectual learning about Him directly fuel emotional worship?
One sun seen from four directions — Vāsudeva at the zenith, Saṅkarṣaṇa to the east, Pradyumna to the south, Aniruddha to the west — all the same sun, four windows on the same fire. The Pāñcarātra catur-vyūha is not four gods but one Bhagavān viewed through four functions of His own inner glory.
In the Bhagavat-sandarbha and Kṛṣṇa-sandarbha, Jīva Gosvāmī works out the metaphysics of the catur-vyūha at length. Vāsudeva is the source; Saṅkarṣaṇa is His expansion governing the ahaṅkāra; Pradyumna manifests the mind; Aniruddha the citta.
Akrūra, the Sātvata, addresses the Lord by the very lineage-name of Pāñcarātra worship: sātvatām pataye — Lord of the Sātvatas. He bows to all four vyūhas because they are the four faces of the one Kṛṣṇa now standing in front of him as charioteer.
My note
Source: vedabase.io