FolioCorpusŚrīmad-Bhāgavatam

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.55.39

नष्टं प्रद्युम्नमायातमाकर्ण्य द्वारकौकस: । अहो मृत इवायातो बालो दिष्‍ट्येति हाब्रुवन् ॥ ३९ ॥
naṣṭaṁ pradyumnam āyātam
[nashtam pradyumnam aayaatam]
ākarṇya dvārakaukasaḥ
[aakarnya dvaarakaukasah]
aho mṛta ivāyāto
[aho mrita ivaayaato]
bālo diṣṭyeti hābruvan
[baalo dishtyeti haabruvan]
Word-for-word
naṣṭam — lost pradyumnam — Pradyumna āyātam — returned ākarṇya — hearing dvārakā - okasaḥ — the residents of Dvārakā aho — aḥ mṛtaḥ — dead iva — as if āyātaḥ — come back bālaḥ — the child diṣṭyā — by the favor of providence iti — thus ha — indeed abruvan — they spoke .
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
naṣṭaṁ pradyumnam āyātam
naṣṭam
lost
pradyumnam
Pradyumna
āyātam
returned
ākarṇya dvārakaukasaḥ
ākarṇya
hearing
dvārakā - okasaḥ
the residents of Dvārakā
aho
aḥ
aho mṛta ivāyāto
mṛtaḥ
dead
iva
as if
āyātaḥ
come back
bālo diṣṭyeti hābruvan
bālaḥ
the child
diṣṭyā
by the favor of providence
iti
thus
ha
indeed
abruvan
they spoke .
Important Words
  • dvārakā-okasaḥ — the residents of Dvārakā
    Compound: dvārakā (the city) + okasaḥ (dwellers). Okas — dwelling-place; the suffix marks belonging-to-a-city. All who dwell within Dvārakā's gates are participants in the līlā, not spectators.
  • aho — ah! oh!
    Exclamation of wonder. The same particle Kṛṣṇa uses (aho bata) when moved. The crowd's spontaneous aho is the city-scale equivalent of the queens' personal vismaya.
  • mṛtaḥ-iva-āyātaḥ — returned as if from death
    Compound: mṛtaḥ (dead) + iva (as if) + āyātaḥ (come back). Exact echo of v.37 — the citizens speak in the same idiom as the palace women, signaling that the chapter's resurrection-grammar is now public.
  • diṣṭyā — by providence, by good fortune
    Instrumental of diṣṭi — fate, providential ordering. A common Bhāgavata exclamation (cf. Nanda at 10.6.41, Dhṛtarāṣṭra at 1.9.46). Gauḍīyas read diṣṭyā as the citizens' inarticulate recognition that Bhagavān, not chance, has arranged this homecoming.
Hearing that lost Pradyumna had come home, the residents of Dvārakā declared, “Ah, providence has allowed this child to return as if from death!”
Gauḍīya Ācāryas
Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura Gauḍīya
Translation
Hearing that lost Pradyumna had come home, the residents of Dvārakā declared, "Ah, providence has allowed this child to return as if from death!"
Jīva Gosvāmī Gauḍīya
Commentary

All the residents of Dvārakā became joyful. They remembered previous stories about him.

Śrīdhara Svāmī Gauḍīya
Commentary

All the residents of Dvārakā became joyful. Aho indicates astonishment. Ha indicates joy. By fate, we are most fortunate. Bālaḥ here means that though he was at the stage of new youth, out of affection they saw him as an infant, or that in infancy, he had been lost.

Related values & verses
Related values
Bhakti (Devotion)Tejas (Inner Radiance / Vigour)Daksya (Resourcefulness / Skill)
Related verses
SB 1.2BG 14.1 BG 15.7 BG 15.9 BG 3.27 BG 3.3 BG 3.11 BG 9.11 BG 6.35 BG 14.12 BG 12.6 BG 15.2 BG 17.3 BG 5.4
Concepts
MayaJiva
Personal Guidance
Dvārakā's residents declare: 'Ah, providence has allowed this child to return as if from death!' Public commentary frames the event theologically; the city acknowledges providence by name.
Reflection Questions
  • What event in your community deserves public theological framing rather than secular celebration?
  • Where do you under-name providence in your speech?
Analogy

The citizens of Dvārakā, on hearing the news, exclaim: 'Ah, by providence's grace the child has come back as if from the dead!' The whole city, not only the palace, registers the recovery. Bhagavān's household joys ripple outward through every street.

📝 My note

Source: vedabase.io

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