FolioCorpusŚrīmad-Bhāgavatam

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.56.34

निशम्य देवकी देवी रक्‍मिण्यानकदुन्दुभि: । सुहृदो ज्ञातयोऽशोचन् बिलात् कृष्णमनिर्गतम् ॥ ३४ ॥
niśamya devakī devī
[nishamya devakee devee]
rakmiṇy ānakadundubhiḥ
[rakminy aanakadundubhih]
suhṛdo jñātayo ’śocan
[suhrido jnaatayo ’shochan]
bilāt kṛṣṇam anirgatam
[bilaat krishnam anirgatam]
Word-for-word
niśamya — hearing devakī — Devakī devī rukmiṇī — the divine Rukmiṇī ānakadundubhiḥ — Vasudeva suhṛdaḥ — friends jñātayaḥ — relatives aśocan — they lamented bilāt — from the cave kṛṣṇam — Kṛṣṇa anirgatam — not come out .
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
niśamya devakī devī
niśamya
hearing
devakī
Devakī
devī rukmiṇī
the divine Rukmiṇī
rakmiṇy ānakadundubhiḥ
ānakadundubhiḥ
Vasudeva
suhṛdo jñātayo ’śocan
suhṛdaḥ
friends
jñātayaḥ
relatives
aśocan
they lamented
bilāt kṛṣṇam anirgatam
bilāt
from the cave
kṛṣṇam
Kṛṣṇa
anirgatam
not come out .
Important Words
  • devakī — Devakī
    The mother. Once she lost six sons to Kaṁsa; now she fears she has lost her seventh. The Bhāgavatam never lets her vātsalya rest — every absence reopens that wound.
  • rukmiṇī — Rukmiṇī
    The chief queen, Lakṣmī Herself. Her name appears before the new wife Satyabhāmā even arrives — the Bhāgavatam establishes that no new wife displaces Rukmiṇī's primacy. Gauḍīya commentators read her here as patient sovereignty.
  • aśocan — they lamented
    Imperfect of √śuc. The same verb the Gītā opens with — Arjuna's śoka. The chapter uses identical vocabulary to mark that even the Lord's intimates pass through Gītā-class grief in His absence.
When Devakī, Rukmiṇī-devī, Vasudeva and the Lord’s other relatives and friends heard that He had not come out of the cave, they all lamented.
Gauḍīya Ācāryas
Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura Gauḍīya
Translation
When Devakī, Rukmiṇī-devī, Vasudeva and the Lord's other relatives and friends heard that He had not come out of the cave, they all lamented.
Jīva Gosvāmī Gauḍīya
Commentary

Devī can modify Devakī and Rukmiṇī and indicates they were worthy of worship. They are mentioned first because of their great prema and representing the highest śakti. Vasudeva and others are mentioned afterwards because of lesser prema. Suhrḍaḥ can mean relatives or friends.

Related values & verses
Related values
Bhakti (Devotion)Tejas (Inner Radiance / Vigour)Kshama (Forgiveness / Patience)
Related verses
SB 1.2BG 14.1 BG 15.7 BG 15.9 BG 9.29 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 BG 6.47
Concepts
Jiva
Related lectures
Personal Guidance
Devakī, Rukmiṇī, Vasudeva and other relatives lament hearing He hasn't come out. Family lament is shared community grief; the Lord's apparent disappearance affects His circle.
Reflection Questions
  • Whose absence in your community shapes everyone's grief at once?
  • How do you grieve in community without amplifying despair?
Analogy

Devakī mourns; Rukmiṇī mourns; Vasudeva mourns. The Lord's absence is felt first in the mothers and the wives — those whose love is hourly. Cosmic disappearance is registered most precisely in the kitchens of the women who feed Him.

📝 My note

Source: vedabase.io

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