Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.65.33
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
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adya
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today
Today — i.e., still, in the present of the speaker (Śukadeva to Parīkṣit) and, by extension, the present of every reader. The Bhāgavatam claims contemporaneity: the līlā is still visible.
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ākṛṣṭa
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pulled
Past participle of ā-√kṛṣ (to drag) — the same root as Kṛṣṇa and Saṅkarṣaṇa. The Bhāgavatam puns: the river was 'dragged' by the supreme Dragger. Gauḍīyas: every soul is being ā-kṛṣṭa by Bhagavān; the Yamunā shows what it looks like geologically.
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vartmanā
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whose currents
Path, course (instrumental). The river's course was rearranged. The Bhāgavatam uses vartma in didactic contexts for spiritual 'path' as well — Yamunā's vartmā became Balarāma's signature.
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ananta
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unlimited
An (not) + anta (end). Endless. Balarāma's vīrya is endless — same word that names Ananta-Śeṣa, the cosmic serpent who supports the worlds and is Balarāma's prakāśa. Gauḍīya systematic theology connects these names.
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vīryasya
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of whose potency
Genitive of vīrya — heroic potency. Same root as tat-vīryaiḥ in v. 22; the chapter brackets itself with the term. The Bhāgavatam wants vīrya named both at the entry (the praising sages) and the exit (the visible river).
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sūcayatī
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indicating
Causative of √sūc (to indicate, point). The river indicates — she is a witness, a footnote. Gauḍīyas treat Vraja's natural features (rivers, hills, trees) as sūcakas, indicators that line up with the text.
Yamuna is even today marked with paths made by his dragging his plow.
By the mercy of Balarāma the river flows there even today. The river is seen (vartamanā) in the trough made by dragging of the plough. Or the river indicates to some degree (iva) Balarāma’s power by the path (vartmanā) made by pulling the plough, since he actually has unlimited powers (ananta-vīryasya). The word hi indicates that this is well known. Hari-vaṁśa describes his order: lāṅgalākṛṣṭa-mārgās tv imaṁ me priya-darśane / deśam ambu-pradānena plāvayasvākhilaṁ śubham// lokā hi yāvat sthāsyanti tāvat sthāsyati me yaśaḥ // This path made by my plough should flood the beautiful place by spreading water. My fame shall remain as long as people remain.
By the mercy of Balarāma the river flows there even today. The river is seen in the trough made by dragging of the plough (vartamanā). Or by this to some degree (iva) Balarāma’s power is indicated. Actually by pulling deeply the flow of the river became crooked. Or the river could go nowhere else since he desired that it wander in Vṛndāvana. Or this is just the local saying, without too much meaning. Hi means certainly. “By showing his power, would did he not become less in power?” He is unlimited (anantasya), because he has the greatest strength (balasya). By describing his prowess his glorious position is indicated. Or the cause of his prowess is his unlimited power. No one can refuse to follow his order. Hari-vaṁśa describes his order: lāṅgalākṛṣṭa-mārgās tv imaṁ me priya-darśane / deśam ambu-pradānena plāvayasvākhilaṁ śubham// lokā hi yāvat sthāsyanti tāvat sthāsyati me yaśaḥ // This path made by my plough should flood the beautiful place by spreading water. My fame shall remain as long as people remain.
- What current 'shape' of my life carries the carved mark of God's past action?
- How does looking back at His old workings strengthen my trust now?
A river that today still flows in many channels through the plains of Vraja is the visible signature of a moment in which Bhagavān insisted on being recognized. Geography becomes scripture: the channels are the Bhāgavatam's footnotes written in water.
Five centuries after Mahāprabhu, the Six Gosvāmīs (Rūpa, Sanātana, Jīva, Raghunātha Bhaṭṭa, Raghunātha Dāsa, Gopāla Bhaṭṭa) systematically identified Vraja's geography — every kuṇḍa, every vana, every ghaṭa named in the Bhāgavatam. The many channels of the Yamunā mentioned in this verse were part of their map.
Gauḍīyas treat the recovery of Vraja-bhūmi as a sacred parallel to recovering the text: the land is the body of the līlā, and the multi-channel Yamunā is, literally, the trace of Balarāma's plow.
My note
Source: vedabase.io