Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.55.36
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
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vijñāta-arthaḥ
—
who fully understood the matter
Compound: vijñāta (fully known) + arthaḥ (meaning, situation). Bhagavān is sarva-jña; the Bhāgavatam never lets us forget this even in His moments of seeming-not-knowing. His silence here is choice, not ignorance.
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tūṣṇīm-āsa
—
remained silent
Adverb + verb: tūṣṇīm (silently) + āsa (was). Bhagavān's tūṣṇīm is a positive act — a held silence, not an absence of speech. The Bhāgavatam at 1.7.6 also uses this exact construction of Vyāsa absorbed in bhakti.
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janārdanaḥ
—
Janārdana, Kṛṣṇa
Etymology: jana (people) + ardana (one who removes / agitates) — the Lord who removes distress from the people. The title is chosen for this verse because what Nārada is about to narrate is precisely the removal of His own household's distress.
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śambara-āharaṇa-ādikam
—
beginning with Śambara's kidnapping
Compound: śambara (Śambara) + āharaṇa (the kidnapping) + ādikam (beginning with). Nārada starts from the original wrong. Gauḍīya narrative principle: the telling must include the wound from which the recovery proceeds; no glossing over to the happy ending.
Though he knew everything about the matter, he remained silent because he gives to all people (janārdana) happiness by his variegated pastimes. Of course it was possible for Rukmiṇī, who had been grieving for a long time, to realize the facts. Nārada suddenly arrived by the will of Kṛṣṇa.
Though knowing the truth about this in detail (vijñāta) by direct perception, because he is bhagavān. Past tense is used (he knew) though it was happening at present, because he was recollecting previous events or ascertaining the events. He also gives pain to the demons. He arranged for the killing of Śambara. He was silent to indicate he did not know anything. Rukmiṇī had lamented and would think badly of him if he had known everything without telling her. Though it is not mentioned that Nārada has arrived, he had come through the air at that time, being omniscient and dear to Kṛṣṇa. Or it can be explained that he was constantly with Kṛṣṇa. govinda-bhuja-guptāyāṁ dvāravatyāṁ kurūdvaha avātsīn nārado 'bhīkṣṇaṁ kṛṣṇopāsana-lālasaḥ O best of the Kurus! Eager to engage in the worship of Kṛṣṇa, Nārada Muni stayed constantly in Dvārakā, which was always protected by the arms of Govinda. SB 11.2.1 Nārada explained how Śambara had taken the child, or had thrown him in the ocean, and he also told how he was killed and revealed the identity of Māyāvatī.
- Where could you let a sage speak rather than yourself?
- When does silence of the principal serve the moment more than His speech?
Janārdana knows everything yet stays silent — and Nārada explains, beginning from Śambara's kidnapping. Bhagavān deliberately yields the telling to His devotee. The Lord could narrate His own son's story; instead He listens to it from Nārada's mouth. The līlā includes the role of the human storyteller.
Across the Bhāgavatam, Kṛṣṇa repeatedly stays silent when His own glories are being told — at Yudhiṣṭhira's Rājasūya (Canto 10.74), at Kuru-sabhā after the Pāṇḍava exile, at Vidura's quarters. He lets others speak Him.
Gauḍīyas read this as the Lord's relish of śravaṇa — hearing about Himself from His devotees is His own pleasure. Bhakti's first limb (śravaṇa) is something Bhagavān practices on Himself, by His devotees' mouths.
My note
Source: vedabase.io