FolioCorpusŚrīmad-Bhāgavatam

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.65.23

उपगीयमानचरितो वनिताभिर्हलायुध: । वनेषु व्यचरत् क्षीवो मदविह्वललोचन: ॥ २३ ॥
upagīyamāna-carito
[upageeyamaana-charito]
vanitābhir halāyudha
[vanitaabhir halaayudha]
vaneṣu vyacarat kṣīvo
[vaneshu vyacharat ksheevo]
mada-vihvala-locanaḥ
[mada-vihvala-lochanah]
upagīyamāna — being sung caritaḥ — His pastimes vanitābhiḥ — with the women halāyudhaḥ — Lord Balarāma vaneṣu — among the forests vyacarat — wandered kṣīvaḥ — inebriated mada — by the intoxication vihvala — overcome locanaḥ — His eyes .
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
upagīyamāna-carito
upagīyamāna
being sung
caritaḥ
His pastimes
vanitābhir halāyudha
vanitābhiḥ
with the women
halāyudhaḥ
Lord Balarāma
vaneṣu vyacarat kṣīvo
vaneṣu
among the forests
vyacarat
wandered
kṣīvaḥ
inebriated
mada-vihvala-locanaḥ
mada
by the intoxication
vihvala
overcome
locanaḥ
His eyes .
  • halāyudhaḥ — Lord Balarāma
    Compound: hala (plow) + āyudha (weapon). 'He whose weapon is the plow.' Balarāma's signature epithet — the plow is both an agricultural tool and, in the next verses, the instrument that drags Yamunā. Gauḍīyas note: Bhagavān's weapon is also a cultivation tool. Both functions are present in the name.
  • kṣīvaḥ — inebriated
    Drunk. The Bhāgavatam does not euphemize. Gauḍīya theology distinguishes between Bhagavān's līlā-mada (which is rasa-overflow) and conditioned drunkenness — the bodily symptoms may converge but the cause is opposite.
  • mada — by the intoxication
    Mada — intoxication, but also pride, exuberance, even sap (as in elephant temporal-gland secretion). The word puns: Balarāma is gajavat (elephant-like, v. 21) and mada-vihvala in the elephant sense too.
  • vihvala — overcome
    Trembling, agitated, swooning. A technical term in rasa-śāstra for the body taken over by bhāva. Gauḍīyas treat vihvala-tā as a marker that aiśvarya has yielded to mādhurya.
  • vaneṣu — among the forests
    Locative plural of vana. The plural is intentional — Vṛndāvana's twelve forests. Balarāma's wandering covers the full geography that the Six Gosvāmīs would later catalog forest by forest.
As His deeds were sung, Lord Halāyudha wandered as if inebriated among the various forests with His girlfriends. His eyes rolled from the effects of the liquor.
Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura Gauḍīya
Translation
As His deeds were sung, Lord Halāyudha wandered as if inebriated among the various forests with His girlfriends. His eyes rolled from the effects of the liquor.
Jīva Gosvāmī Gauḍīya
Commentary

He held his plough on his shoulder. The use of the plough will be clear later. His eyes rolled because of intoxication.

Related values
Anahankarah (Freedom from False Ego)
Related verses
Concepts
Jiva
Halāyudha wanders, singing His own deeds — the Lord is not too dignified to enjoy His own story. Self-delight in divine action is not vanity; it is the joy of pure being.
Reflection Questions
  • Do I let myself enjoy the goodness God has worked through me, or do I dismiss it?
  • How might genuine self-delight differ from ego pride in my own experience?

A great strong man with rolling eyes wandering with his beloveds is not embarrassing in Vraja — it is exhilarating, because the strength is no threat and the rolling eyes are the body's honest answer to too much rasa. Bhagavān permits Himself ordinary intoxications because nothing about Him can be made smaller by them.

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