Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.58.45
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
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baddhvā - parikaram
—
tightening His clothing
Verb-phrase: girding up. A homely, athletic gesture. Gauḍīya: Bhagavān prepares for the contest as a kṣatriya would — line by line. The līlā is in the details.
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saptadhā
—
into seven (parts)
Adverbial from sapta (seven) + dhā (manner). Sevenfold. Gauḍīya: Bhagavān's bahudhā (manifold) capability is exercised in exactly the number required. Plenitude is precise, not vague.
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nyagṛhṇāt
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He subdued
Imperfect of ni + √grah — to take down, restrain. The same verbal field as nigṛhīta (verse 44 — subdued). Gauḍīya: each bull is grasped, individually, by His matching form. Bhagavān does not herd; He addresses each.
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līlayā
—
easily (playfully)
Instrumental of līlā — by sport. The whole feat is līlā — effortless, joyful. Gauḍīya: this is the foundational adverb of Bhāgavata theology; everything Bhagavān does, He does līlayā, never śrameṇa (with toil).
According to Śrīla Śrīdhara Svāmī, Lord Kṛṣṇa expanded Himself into seven forms not only to playfully defeat the seven bulls but also to show Princess Satya that she would not have to compete with His other queens, since He could enjoy with all of them simultaneously.
In expanding himself into seven forms Krsna was showing Satya that he could enjoy with many women without any loss for her.
After hearing this rule the Lord bound his clothing. It should be understood that he smiled. He bound his clothing tightly, showing he was fully capable (prabhuḥ) or being capable because of previous practice as a cowherd. Expanding his form into seven, he easily subdued the bulls. The word eva can also indicate that it only appeared that he had seven forms, since he moved so quickly.
- Where do you skip the small step of 'tightening clothing' before the big task?
- What multiple forms might the Lord be deploying in your situation that you only see one of?
When seven bulls bar one door, Bhagavān does not seek a second door — He becomes seven. Multiplication is not a clever trick; it is the visible form of Kṛṣṇa's plenitude meeting plurality at exactly its own count.
In SB 10.33, when the gopīs began to think themselves uniquely close to Kṛṣṇa, He multiplied — placing one Kṛṣṇa with each gopī, so that every dancer had her own partner. The Bhāgavatam treats this as Bhagavān's plenipotent answer to plurality.
Gauḍīyas read the seven-Kṛṣṇa subduing of the seven bulls as a kṣatriya-mode echo of that mādhurya-mode multiplication. The same Lord, in a different rasa, answers the same numerical problem with the same solution.
My note
Source: vedabase.io