Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.46.19
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
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āyāsyati
—
will He come
Third-person singular future of ā-√yā. The whole verse turns on this verb. Nanda's question is the entire eschatology of the chapter compressed: will He come back? The answer will be deferred till Uddhava's reply in verse 34.
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govindaḥ
—
Govinda
From go (cow) + √vid (to find, please). The cowherd-name of Kṛṣṇa. Nanda uses Govinda — not Kṛṣṇa, not Vāsudeva — because vātsalya speaks in the dhāma's native vocabulary. The Mathurā-Kṛṣṇa is not yet at home on Nanda's tongue.
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sakṛt
—
once
Adverb: 'a single time.' The smallness of the request measures the depth of the longing. Vipralambha asks for a single glance — not residence, not return. Gauḍīya tradition recognizes this sakṛt-asking as the signature of pure prema.
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drakṣyāma
—
we may glance upon
First-person plural future of √dṛś. The optative force: we might see. Nanda uses 'we,' folding Yaśodā and the whole village into his own prayer. Vraja never grieves singly.
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su - nasam
—
with a beautiful nose
Compound modifying vaktram. The Bhāgavatam itemizes the face — nose, smile, eyes — because in viraha the totality is unbearable; love survives by fragments. Gauḍīya alaṅkāra-śāstra recognizes this as aṅga-varṇana, limb-praise, the bhāva-stricken lover's prayer-form.
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su - smita - īkṣaṇam
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with a beautiful smile and (beautiful) eyes
Compound: su (beautiful) + smita (smile) + īkṣaṇa (glance). Note that for Nanda the eyes are inseparable from the smile — Kṛṣṇa's gaze and Kṛṣṇa's amusement are remembered as one feature. The grammar refuses to split them.
Now that Kṛṣṇa had become a prince in the great city of Mathurā, Nanda had lost hope that He would come back to live in the simple cowherd village of Vṛndāvana. But he hoped against hope that Kṛṣṇa would come back at least once to visit the simple cowherd folk who had raised Him from birth.
Nanda began to worry, “My son is grateful and intelligent. But also he said he had to satisfy his relatives in Mathurā (SB 10.45.23). This will cause some delay.” He then asked about some other pleasant result. Will Govinda return to see his people? Govinda is the protector of Gokula. He must return. He must return to see those who are objects of affection, his own people (sva-janān). Let him not come repeatedly. Will he come even once just to console everyone? Desire that he come to see them indicates that they are suffering as if from a serious illness. He should come at least once, since some inhabitants of Vraja may not continue to live. There are some among us who are in the process of dying, having given up hope of living, who suffer from not seeing him again. Others, who will live a little longer, suffer from the impossibility of again seeing him. In both cases, intolerable suffering from longing will be destroyed if he comes once. With his coming there will be another pleasant result. Nanda reveals this with agitation. If he will come at some time, then we will see his face. Instead of tarhi sometimes karhi is seen. Kṛṣṇa promised to come and see them (SB 10.45.23). Thus they would not go to Mathurā and see him. Remembering his face he remembers its beauty, almost fainting.
Thinking that Kṛṣṇa, being intelligent and grateful, will remember them at all times, he asks another urgent question. He is the king of Gokula (govindaḥ). Thus he must return. He must see the people who are objects of his affection (sva-janān). He must see them at least once, since they are suffering. Will he satisfy them with his sweet words? Or will he come to see us once, not doing anything else? We expect to see him once, and not anywhere else. This is a statement made in misery. “He sees everything. Even staying there he sees you at all times. Why should he come here?” We will see his beautiful eyes, smile and nose. Though all his limbs are beautiful, the nose and eyes being the chief limbs are mentioned to represent all his limbs. By his coming, our desires will be fulfilled completely. Out of great longing, and loss of control Nanda utters “When will this be (karhi—instead of tarhi)?” Asking this question, they expect to see him in Vraja.
- What 'one visit' from Kṛṣṇa would actually be enough for you for now?
- Where could you scale back expectation to honest hope?
A father imagines his son's face the way a parched traveler imagines water — nose, smile, eyes — feature by feature, because the whole is too much to hold at once. The promise Nanda asks for is small: 'come once, that we may glance.' Vipralambha asks for almost nothing — and asks for it endlessly.
My note
Source: vedabase.io