10.73 · Lord Kṛṣṇa Blesses the Liberated Kings

• niruddhāḥ — imprisoned
  From ni + √rudh, 'shut in'. Jarāsandha's prison foreshadows the larger nirodha of saṁsāra; the same root reappears in verse 7 as saṁrodhana.
• giridroṇyām — in the fortress Giridroṇī
  Jarāsandha's mountain-citadel. Named in the Bhāgavatam to mark a real place from which Kṛṣṇa Himself draws the kings out — a tīrtha by proximity to His līlā.
• ghana-śyāmam — dark as a rain-cloud
  The Gauḍīya signature varṇa of Kṛṣṇa. Rain-cloud blue is the bhakta's first glimpse, and the kings' first sight after imprisonment is precisely this complexion — already a mercy.
• śrīvatsa-aṅkam — marked with the Śrīvatsa
  The curl of hair on Bhagavān's chest where Lakṣmī resides. It identifies this rescuer as Nārāyaṇa Himself, not a mere prince come on diplomatic errand.
• padma-hastam — holding a lotus in His hand
  Of the four emblems, the lotus is offered, not wielded. To kings who held only scepters and lost them, Bhagavān shows the soft hand first.

• Radhe Shyam Pr SB 10-73-01-23 - 2019-03-10 ISKCON NVCC
  His Grace Radhe Shyam Prabhu· 2019-03-10· English
• Sesa Pr SB 10-73-01-06 - 2015-09-01 ISKCON Alachua
  His Grace Sesa Prabhu· 2015-09-01· English

• What recent suffering of mine might be priming me for a clearer vision of the Lord?
• How does my image of Kṛṣṇa change when I really need Him?

Picture the released captives of Giridroṇī blinking in sunlight, gaunt and ragged, then turning their eyes to a cloud-dark form in yellow silk, four-armed, lotus-eyed, makara earrings flashing. The dungeon was Jarāsandha's; the door is Kṛṣṇa's. The same Lord who governs the wheel of time stands before them not as judge but as refuge.

• kṛṣṇa-sandarśana — the sight of Lord Kṛṣṇa
  Sandarśana is not casual seeing but full meeting of eyes — the precise mechanism by which Bhagavān imports His own ānanda into the seer. Gauḍīyas treat darśana as itself a form of bhakti.
• āhlāda — ecstasy
  From ā + √hlād, 'to gladden fully'. Hlādinī is the pleasure-potency of Bhagavān; āhlāda here is its taste flooding back into starved hearts.
• klamāḥ — weariness
  Physical and saṁsāric fatigue together. The verse's economy — one glance, all klama gone — is the Gauḍīya proof that bhakti is svayaṁ-phala, self-fruiting.
• hṛṣīkā-īśam — supreme master of the senses
  Hṛṣīkeśa: the Lord who owns the senses. The kings address Him by this name precisely when their senses are saturated with His form — confessing whose property the indriyas always were.
• prāñjalayaḥ — with joined palms
  Añjali is the bodily posture of śaraṇāgati. After scepters were stripped from these palms, they meet again in the only gesture that matters.

• Where am I trying to fix myself before I can come into the Lord's sight?
• What burden could be set down simply by coming before Him as I am?

Long-imprisoned men, on stepping into open air, would normally collapse from accumulated exhaustion. These kings do the opposite: one darśana of Kṛṣṇa burns the fatigue off them as the rising sun burns mist off a valley. The body remembers nothing of the dungeon once the eyes find Hṛṣīkeśa.

• deva-deva-īśa — O Lord of the lords of the demigods
  Triple-graded address: above demigods, above their controllers, above all. The kings begin not by listing their woes but by correctly locating Kṛṣṇa.
• prapanna-ārti-hara — remover of distress of the surrendered
  A standing Vaiṣṇava epithet. The condition is prapanna — already surrendered. The kings claim that status in the same breath as the title, enacting śaraṇāgati.
• avyaya — O inexhaustible one
  A + vyaya, 'not-spent'. Unlike the kingdoms that drained away, Bhagavān's mercy does not deplete with use — the doctrinal ground for repeated calling.
• nirviṇṇān — despondent / disgusted with material life
  Nirveda — disgust with saṁsāra — is in Gauḍīya analysis the necessary preliminary mood (vyabhicāri-bhāva) that ripens into śaraṇāgati. The kings name their own qualification.
• ghora-saṁsṛteḥ — from terrible material existence
  Saṁsṛti is the flowing — saṁ + √sṛ — through births. The adjective ghora insists that material life is itself the dungeon; Giridroṇī was only its emblem.

• What unvarnished prayer have I been dressing up?
• Where could I just ask the Lord to take away what is too heavy?

A drowning man does not negotiate terms with the rope; he grips it. The kings, surfacing from saṁsāra's deep water, do not bargain — they cry 'pāhi naḥ' and name Kṛṣṇa Avyaya, the inexhaustible, because only what cannot run out can save what is endlessly sinking.

• anusūyāmaḥ — we do not find fault
  From anu + √asūy, 'to begrudge, resent'. The mature Vaiṣṇava response is non-asūyā: never resent the instrument because the operator is the Lord.
• madhusūdana — slayer of the demon Madhu
  Kṛṣṇa is invoked precisely as the killer of demons — to indicate that even the demon Jarāsandha's blow served a sūdana of subtler demons, namely the kings' own madas.
• anugrahaḥ — mercy
  Anu + √grah, 'a taking-after'. Distinguished from kṛpā by its asymmetry — anugraha often comes disguised as loss. The kings name the disguise correctly.
• rājya-cyutiḥ — the falling from one's dominion
  Cyuti is the same root used for jīvas falling from spiritual position. The political fall is read as a spiritual mercy, undoing a deeper cyuti.

• Whom am I blaming for what is actually the Lord's loving rearrangement?
• How does seeing the Lord's hand in difficulty free me from resentment?

A patient feverish for years curses neither the medicine nor the bitter herb the physician used; he sees the physician's hand alone. The kings refuse to hate Jarāsandha — he was Kṛṣṇa's lancet, and the abscess of royal pride was Kṛṣṇa's target.

• rājya-aiśvarya-mada — intoxication with sovereignty and opulence
  Three-term compound: rule + lordliness + intoxication. Mada is one of the six ari ṣaḍ-vargas; here it is named as the specific royal poison.
• unnaddhaḥ — becoming unrestrained / puffed-up
  From ud + √nah, literally 'tied up high' — bound by one's own elevation. A signature Bhāgavata diagnosis: bondage by promotion.
• śreyaḥ — real benefit
  Contrasted classically with preyas, the merely pleasing. The drunk king pursues preyas and so 'does not obtain śreyas' — the verse's clinical core.
• tvat-māyā-mohitaḥ — deluded by Your potency of illusion
  Māyā is Kṛṣṇa's own śakti, not a rival principle. Gauḍīyas insist on tvat — 'Your' — to keep the illusion personalist and removable by the same Lord.
• anityāḥ — temporary
  A-nitya — not-eternal. The kings' diagnosis names sampadaḥ as anitya and yet held as acala (immovable). The corrective is acyuta — Kṛṣṇa Himself, the only true acala.

• Revati Raman Pr SB 10-73-10 Telugu Translation - 2013-12-03 ISKCON Tirupati
  His Grace Revati Raman Prabhu· 2013-12-03· Telugu
• IDS SB 10-73-10 - How to overcome pride - 2007-12-19 Melbourne
  His Holiness Indradyumna Swami· 2007-12-19· English

• Where has some success quietly induced me to forget impermanence?
• What practice keeps me remembering even when things are going well?

A man drunk on his own wealth is like a swimmer wearing iron ornaments: every jewel pulls him further down, and he calls the descent ascent. Kṛṣṇa's māyā furnishes the wine, the swimmer mistakes the cup for the shore.

• mṛga-tṛṣṇām — a mirage (lit. 'deer-thirst')
  Classical Indian image: the gazelle running to water that is not there. Used here for material assets — the more you chase, the further they retreat.
• bālāḥ — men of childish intelligence
  Not children in age but in discrimination — viveka-rahita. Gauḍīyas use bāla for those who, lacking guru, mistake reflections for substance.
• vaikārikīm — subject to transformations
  Vaikārika — that which undergoes vikāra, change. Māyā is defined by mutation; the kings here name the philosophical reason it cannot be vastu.
• ayuktāḥ — those lacking discrimination / yoga
  A + yukta. The yukta is one whose intellect is joined to Bhagavān; the ayukta sees māyā's mutations as substance because he is not connected to the only thing that does not mutate.
• vastu — real substance
  Vastu in Vaiṣṇava usage is reserved for that which is svarūpa-siddha — self-establishedly real. Only Bhagavān, His dhāma, His associates, and bhakti qualify.

• What mirage am I currently working toward?
• What would training my eyes to see Māyā as Māyā require?

A child running across hot sand sees water shimmering ahead and runs faster, never reaching it, never doubting it. So the irrational mind, says the verse, races toward māyā's transformations and never asks why the pond keeps receding.

• śrī-mada-naṣṭa-dṛṣṭayaḥ — whose sight was lost from intoxication with opulence
  Five-word compound diagnosing the moral blindness of kings. The eyes are physically present but spiritually 'destroyed' by śrī-mada.
• ati-nirghṛṇāḥ — extremely cruel
  Nir + ghṛṇā, 'devoid of compassion'. The kings name their own crime against prajā — and a king's chief duty is precisely the opposite, prajā-rakṣaṇa.
• avigaṇayya — disregarding
  A + vi + √gaṇ, 'to not count, to brush aside'. The verse names the kings' precise sin: mṛtyu stood as Kṛṣṇa Himself in front (mṛtyum puraḥ tvā), and they refused to count Him. Ignoring time is ignoring Bhagavān.
• tanvā — by (Your) personal form
  Tanu — personal body. The verse explicitly assigns kāla a tanu and assigns that tanu to bhavataḥ — 'Yours'. Time is a līlā-form of Bhagavān, not a neutral measure.
• vinaṣṭa-darpāḥ — whose pride is destroyed
  Darpa is the gross-est form of mada. Its destruction is the doorway: the next breath is 'caraṇau smarāma te' — let us remember Your feet — śaraṇāgati's actual content.

• IDS SB 10-73-13 - Always remember Krishna and never forget him - 2007-12-21 ISKCON Melbourne
  His Holiness Indradyumna Swami· 2007-12-21· English

• Where might the Lord be using time itself to correct me?
• How does seeing time as His form change my response to loss?

Kāla is Bhagavān's quiet hand. We do not see it until we feel our crowns slip. The kings here describe the very moment the hand closes: the wine of conquest goes flat, the throne lurches, time-as-Kṛṣṇa walks in wearing the face we had refused to see at the door of every battlefield.

• mṛga-tṛṣṇi-rūpitam — appearing as a mirage
  Rūpita — given a form. The kingdom is not nothing; it is the wrong shape of something — māyā's form imposed on the kṣetra that is really the Lord's.
• rujām — of diseases
  Genitive plural of ruj — disease. Modifies bhuvā ('the birthplace'). The body is named not as the seat of pleasures but as the soil from which rujā grow — the Bhāgavata diagnosis of dehātma-buddhi.
• upāsitavyam — to be served / worshiped
  Same root (√upās) used elsewhere for upāsanā of Bhagavān. The verse mocks the inversion: the body that should be the servant of Bhagavān has been worshiped as the master of kings.
• karṇa-rocanam — enticement for the ears
  Rocana — that which makes pleasant. The promise of svarga-phala is named as ear-candy only. A sharp Bhāgavata reading of karma-kāṇḍa's reward-talk.

• IDS SB 10-73-14 - Chosen one - 2007-12-20 Melbourne
  His Holiness Indradyumna Swami· 2007-12-20· English

• Where am I still trading bhakti for the promise of better worldly conditions?
• What would 'I will not chase mirages anymore' look like as a daily resolution?

A man who has just been pulled out of one mirage does not run toward the next mirage labeled 'svarga'. The kings refuse the second pond also. The body is a leaking water-pot; the heavens are a noisier mirage with sweeter labels. Both fail the same test: anityā.

• samādiśa — please instruct
  Sam + ā + √diś — fully, completely point out. A prayer for upadeśa, not opinion. The verse establishes Kṛṣṇa as ādi-guru in the chapter.
• upāyam — the means
  Upāya is technical: the practical method. Gauḍīya theology distinguishes sādhya (goal) from sādhana / upāya (means). The kings ask for upāya because the goal — His feet — they have already accepted.
• caraṇa-abjayoḥ — of the two lotus feet
  Caraṇa + abja (lotus), dual locative — His two pāda-padma. The Gauḍīya focal object of smaraṇa, which is one of the nine aṅgas of bhakti (śravaṇaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṇoḥ smaraṇam…).
• na viramet — may not cease
  From vi + √ram. The kings ask for uninterrupted smṛti — the very content of viraha-rahita bhakti, remembrance that never stops even in the cycle of birth and death.
• saṁsaratām — for those traveling through birth and death
  Genitive plural participle from √sṛ. The petition acknowledges saṁsāra continues; the request is not for exit but for unbroken smaraṇa within it.

• Revati Raman Pr SB 10-73-15 Telugu Translation - 2013-12-08 ISKCON Tirupati
  His Grace Revati Raman Prabhu· 2013-12-08· Telugu
• Bhakti Vikas Sw SB 10-73-15 - 2003-01-03 Baroda
  His Holiness Bhakti Vikas Swami· 2003-01-03· English
• IDS SB 10-73-15 - Mood of prayers - 2007-12-21 Melbourne
  His Holiness Indradyumna Swami· 2007-12-21· English

• If I could ask Kṛṣṇa for one thing today, would it be this?
• What single practice would make remembrance more constant?

A traveler on a long road does not ask the king to abolish the road; he asks for water that will not run out. The kings here ask for a smṛti — a remembrance of His feet — that will not break with each new birth, knowing they will still walk through saṁsāra.

• vāsudevāya — to the son of Vasudeva
  The Vasudeva-tanaya is the para-tattva of Gauḍīya theology — svayaṁ-bhagavān Kṛṣṇa, not a vyūha. Naming Him as son of Vasudeva insists on the personal, hugged, kissed Lord of Mathurā-Dvārakā.
• haraye — to Hari
  Hari — He who takes away. Specifically takes away suffering and sin. The kings, just released, name Bhagavān by the very function He has just performed.
• parama-ātmane — to the Supersoul
  Paramātmā — Bhagavān as inner witness of every heart. The kings, who had ruled outwardly, now address Him as the inward King; the same Person under another epithet.
• govindāya — to Govinda
  Go-vinda — knower / finder / pleaser of cows and senses and earth. Brahma-saṁhitā's first verse — govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ — points to Him as ādi-puruṣa. The chapter's prayer closes on the Gauḍīya Name.
• namaḥ namaḥ — repeated obeisances
  The doubling enacts the verse: japa as the form devotional prayer takes when the analytical mind has finished.

• What devotional phrase or practice am I bored with that I should renew through repetition?
• How does 'again and again' actually deepen rather than dilute?

When mere words run out, the bhakta does what a child does at the gate of the house — repeats the name. The verse is a small japa: kṛṣṇāya, vāsudevāya, haraye, govindāya, namaḥ namaḥ — six addresses, one Person, the kings spending the only currency that the dungeon could not confiscate.

• saṁstūyamāṇaḥ — being nicely praised
  Sam + √stu — present passive. Bhagavān is the object of stuti throughout 8–16; verse 17 marks the hinge from prayer to reply, structurally important.
• mukta-bandhanaiḥ — by those whose bondage is loosed
  Mukta — freed; bandhana — bondage. The freedom is double: physical (Jarāsandha's chain) and ontological (saṁsāra's chain, by the very stuti they just offered).
• karuṇaḥ — merciful
  Karuṇā in Vaiṣṇava idiom is the response to ārta — the wounded. The kings became ārta in their prayer; Bhagavān becomes karuṇa in His reply. The two attributes meet across the verse.
• śaraṇyaḥ — the giver of shelter
  From √śri — that to which one resorts. Śaraṇya is the technical complement of śaraṇāgata. The kings made themselves śaraṇāgata in verse 8; Kṛṣṇa here is named śaraṇya in confirmation.
• ślakṣṇayā — with gentle (words)
  Ślakṣṇa — smooth, soft. Paired with girā ('words'). The adjective marks the rasa-quality of Bhagavān's instruction: vātsalya toward newly humbled children.

• Where am I expecting the Lord to keep correcting me when He may actually want to speak gently?
• What 'gentle voice' is waiting for me to settle enough to hear it?

After the river of stuti slows, Bhagavān speaks — and the brief is striking: ślakṣṇayā girā, with a soft voice. The Lord of all worlds, whom Jarāsandha could not match, lowers His voice for the men who have just confessed they were cruel. The volume of Bhagavān's reply is itself an answer to the prayer.

• adya prabhṛti — beginning from now
  A datable benediction. The verse marks an actual start-line for these kings' bhakti — not a vague trajectory but a Bhagavān-fixed moment.
• mayi-ātmani-akhila-īśvare — to Me, the Self, the controller of all
  Three locatives in apposition: personal Lord (mayi), indwelling Self (ātmani), universal controller (akhila-īśvare). Gauḍīyas read this as the Bhāgavata's standard Brahman-Paramātmā-Bhagavān sequence, all collapsed into mayi.
• su-dṛḍhā — very firm (devotion)
  Dṛḍha — fixed, unshakeable; intensified by su-. The qualifier is essential: Kṛṣṇa does not promise mere bhakti but su-dṛḍhā, the kind that does not break when thrones return.
• bāḍham — assuredly
  An emphatic affirmative. Rare in Bhagavān's mouth; here it functions as a vow-particle. What follows is not contingent.
• āśaṁsitam — what is desired / hoped for
  From ā + √śaṁs. Kṛṣṇa frames the boon as fulfilling their own prayer — the kings asked for smṛti (v.15); He grants su-dṛḍhā bhakti, the soil in which that smṛti grows.

• What promise of the Lord am I afraid to take as already given?
• Where could I rest in His assurance rather than working to earn it?

A gardener does not promise that the seed will sprout; he simply waters where the soil has been opened. The kings opened their soil in verses 8–16. Kṛṣṇa here only confirms: 'bāḍham' — assuredly — the bhakti you asked for will arise. The promise is given because the prayer was honest.

• diṣṭyā — fortunately
  An interjection of joyous good-fortune. Bhagavān Himself rejoices when His own conclusion is repeated by His servant — the structure of guru-śiṣya confirmation.
• vyavasitam — resolve / firm conclusion
  Vi + ava + √so. Same word Arjuna uses in BG 2.7 (śiṣyas te 'haṁ). The kings have arrived at vyavasāya, the settled determination that BG 2.41 makes the entry-point to bhakti.
• ṛta-bhāṣiṇaḥ — speakers of truth
  Ṛta — cosmic-moral truth. Higher than mere satya in some readings — alignment of word and dharma. The kings are praised not for piety but for accuracy.
• unmādakam — maddening
  From ud + √mad. The very root mad — intoxication — is intensified. Bhagavān confirms the kings' own diagnosis from v.10 verbatim.

• Where in my life is restraint the actual answer, not more analysis?
• What one habit of restraint would I begin this week?

A doctor who has watched many of the same case smiles when this patient finally names the symptom himself. Kṛṣṇa says 'diṣṭyā' — fortunately — because the diagnosis is now correct. The cure works only when the patient stops blaming the bed.

• haihayaḥ — Kārtavīrya Arjuna of the Haihaya dynasty
  Thousand-armed emperor felled by Paraśurāma for theft of the sage Jamadagni's cow. Standing emblem of strength-pride.
• nahuṣaḥ — King Nahuṣa
  Promoted to Indra's post and cursed to fall as a serpent for arrogance. The verse uses him as the demigod-rank example.
• veṇaḥ — King Vena
  Killed by sages for forbidding Viṣṇu-worship. The man-rank example, paired with the canonical Bhāgavata 4.13–14 narrative.
• rāvaṇaḥ narakaḥ — Rāvaṇa and Naraka
  Two demon-rulers, ground by Rāma and Kṛṣṇa respectively. The three pairs cover deva, nara, asura — the verse's point being species-independent.
• śrī-madāt-bhraṁśitāḥ-sthānāt — made to fall from position by intoxication with opulence
  Four consecutive synonym-chunks naming the mechanism Kṛṣṇa diagnosed in v.19 — same compound śrī-mada. Position does not save; only su-dṛḍhā bhakti (v.18) saves position.

• Which historical fall most resembles a temptation I face?
• What lesson from these stories should I post on my own wall?

A list of tombstones along one road: Haihaya, Nahuṣa, Veṇa, Rāvaṇa, Naraka. Demigod, man, demon — three species, one cause of death. The Lord recites the list aloud so the kings, walking back to their thrones, will pass the same tombstones and remember why they did not stop.

• deha-ādi-utpādyam-anta-vat — the body etc., subject to birth, having an end
  Four consecutive synonym-chunks giving triple specification — has a beginning, has an end, is therefore not the self. Sāṅkhya frame redirected into bhakti: knowing this, worship Me.
• adhvaraiḥ — with Vedic sacrifices
  Adhvara — sacrifice (lit. 'without injury'). Kṛṣṇa endorses karma-kāṇḍa here only as a vehicle for mām yajantaḥ — for worship of Himself.
• yuktāḥ — having clear intelligence / yoked
  From √yuj. The same yukta the previous verses lacked (ayuktāḥ, v.11). Bhagavān now installs them as yukta-rājans.
• prajāḥ-dharmeṇa-rakṣyatha — you should protect your subjects according to religion
  Three consecutive synonym-chunks: subjects + by dharma + you should protect. Kṣatriya-dharma stated in one breath with bhakti — the Gauḍīya model of yukta-vairāgya: full engagement in svadharma offered to Bhagavān.

• Tamohara Pr SB 10-73-21-35 - 2015-09-07 ISKCON Alachua
  His Grace Tamohara Prabhu· 2015-09-07· English

• What does 'worship through sacrifice' look like in my present life?
• Whose protection has been entrusted to me, and am I exercising it justly?

Bhagavān hands back the scepters with operating instructions printed on the handle: the body is anta-vat, the kingdom is anta-vat, only the worship is not. Rule, He says, but as a yajña — every act offered upward into the same Fire that just freed you.

• santanvantaḥ-prajā-tantūn — extending the threads of progeny
  Three consecutive synonym-chunks. Tantu — thread, generation. Kṛṣṇa explicitly licenses gṛhastha-līlā for these kings; bhakti does not require flight.
• sukham-duḥkham-bhava-abhavau — happiness, distress, birth, death
  Four consecutive synonym-chunks forming the standard dvandva of saṁsāra. Listed without horror — these are the weather, not the destination.
• sevantaḥ — accepting / serving / undergoing
  From √sev. A striking word — the kings 'serve' even sukha-duḥkha because they have a higher object of seva now (mat-cittāḥ). Reframes ordinary life as offered to Bhagavān.
• mat-cittāḥ — with minds fixed on Me
  Citta on Kṛṣṇa is the operational definition of bhakti in BG 9.34. The chapter's instruction collapses to these two syllables: mat-cittāḥ.
• vicariṣyatha — you should go about / move around
  Vi + √car. Movement is sanctioned — saṁnyāsa is not commanded. The kings will move through their kingdoms, but with mind already gone home.

• What anchor — mantra, image, glance — could keep my mind fixed on Kṛṣṇa amid daily turbulence?
• Where does my distraction usually start, and what could meet it?

A boat crossing the ocean rises and falls with every wave; the boatman's eyes do not leave the polestar. Live, marry, fight, mourn, says Kṛṣṇa — but mat-cittāḥ, with mind on Me. The waves are not the problem; losing the star is.

• udāsīnāḥ — indifferent (to the body etc.)
  Ud + ā + √sad — 'seated apart, above'. Neutral toward deha-ādau (body, sons, wealth). Not hating the body, not worshiping it — the middle path of yukta-vairāgya stated precisely.
• ātma-ārāmāḥ — self-satisfied / taking pleasure in the Self
  Ātmārāma — a Bhāgavata signature term. In Gauḍīya reading the ātmārāma verse (1.7.10) explicitly extends this term to bhaktas of Kṛṣṇa; the self-pleasure here is the Lord's own sweetness within.
• dhṛta-vratāḥ — holding firmly to vows
  Vrata — devotional vow. The kings are returning to kingdoms; without vrata, the mat-cittāḥ of v.22 would erode. Vrata is bhakti's rebar.
• āveśya — concentrating / causing to enter
  Causative gerund of ā + √viś. The mind (manaḥ) is to be made to enter Bhagavān completely (samyak). The same term Caitanyadeva later uses for full immersion in nāma.
• brahma — the Absolute Truth
  Brahma here, by Gauḍīya reading, is Para-Brahman — Bhagavān Kṛṣṇa Himself (BG 14.27: brahmaṇo hi pratiṣṭhāham). The destination (yāsyatha) is not impersonal merging but His abode.

• BSS SB 10-73-23 - Pastimes of Lord Jagannath - 2007-12-26 ISKCON Melbourne
  His Holiness Bhaktisiddhanta Swami· 2007-12-26· English

• Which of detachment, contentment, steadfastness, and concentration is weakest in me?
• What small practice could strengthen the weakest link?

A lamp in a windless room burns straight; bring even a draft and it shudders. Kṛṣṇa prescribes ātma-ārāma — windlessness — so that the citta-flame fixed on Him in verse 22 burns straight enough to reach Brahman at the end.

• ādiśya — having instructed
  Verses 18–23 are now sealed as ādeśa — divine instruction. Verse 24's gerund closes the upadeśa-section of the chapter.
• bhagavān-bhuvana-īśvaraḥ — the Lord, master of all the worlds
  Three consecutive synonym-chunks forming Kṛṣṇa's full epithet, placed right before He arranges for baths. The verse intentionally collides cosmic supremacy with personal service — a Gauḍīya hallmark.
• nyayuṅkta — engaged / appointed
  From ni + √yuj. Kṛṣṇa is the niyuṅkta — He who engages others in service. The whole Vaiṣṇava community organism flows from this verb.
• majjana-karmaṇi — in the work of bathing / cleansing
  Majjana — immersion, bathing. The same root tones the spiritual majjana of these kings in the bhakti they just received: outer abhiṣeka mirrors inner.

• Where do I give counsel without offering practical care?
• What practical care could accompany advice I have already given?

The doctor who has just diagnosed and prescribed now Himself draws the bath and lays out clean robes. Kṛṣṇa, master of all worlds, organizes the soap. The hierarchy of the verse — Bhuvana-īśvara engaging menservants in majjana-karma — is itself a definition of Vaiṣṇava care.

• saparyām — service / honoring
  Saparyā — formal hospitable worship. The Lord arranges for kings who came out of chains to receive royal saparyā the same hour.
• sahadevena — by Sahadeva (Jarāsandha's son)
  Note: this Sahadeva is the son of Jarāsandha installed in Magadha, not Pāṇḍava Sahadeva. The reconciliation is pointed: the new king of the old jailer's house performs hospitality.
• nara-deva-ucitaiḥ — befitting kings (lit. man-gods)
  Nara-deva — a standard term for king. The dignity of their position is restored before they are sent back to it.
• srak-vilepanaiḥ — with garlands and sandalwood paste
  Srak (garland) and vilepana (anointing). Both are normally offered to deities; offered here to the kings, marking that bhaktas in royal posts now wear what the deity would wear.

• Whose dignity could I help restore, not just whose immediate problem could I fix?
• What gift would 'dress someone for who they actually are'?

The newly bathed kings are dressed by the son of the enemy they once feared — Sahadeva, Jarāsandha's own son, hands them garlands. Vairam is undone at the level of household objects. Kṛṣṇa's victory always ends in clothing, not in further punishment.

• bhojayitvā-vara-annena — having fed (them) with excellent food
  Three consecutive synonym-chunks. Anna-prasāda from Bhagavān's own arrangement: the kings who had been kṣut-kṣāmāḥ (v.4) are now fed by His hand — the verse closes that loop deliberately.
• samalaṅkṛtān — well decorated
  Sam + alaṅkṛta. Full ornamentation. Vaiṣṇava aesthetics: not minimum dignity, but full beauty restored.
• tāmbūla-ādyaiḥ — with betel nut and so on
  Tāmbūla is the post-meal offering. Its mention is a tenderness — Bhagavān as perfect host, attentive to the small final courtesy.
• nṛpa-ucitaiḥ — befitting kings
  The qualifier is repeated from v.25 — Kṛṣṇa is precise about role-appropriate restoration. Bhakti does not flatten station; it sanctifies it.

• Where could my care for others include attention to their bodily comfort and enjoyment?
• What sensory gesture would honor someone today?

Bhagavān does not merely free; He hosts. The same Hand that turned time against Jarāsandha now arranges betel after dinner. The detail of tāmbūla — a host's last small gift — shows that mokṣa-from-jail and proper hospitality belong to the same Person.

• pūjitāḥ-mukundena — honored by Mukunda
  Two consecutive synonym-chunks. Mukunda — the giver of mukti. The Lord who hands liberation is the same Lord arranging the after-dinner honoring: mokṣa-dāyī Himself is also pūjana-kartā here.
• mṛṣṭa-kuṇḍalāḥ — with gleaming earrings
  Mṛṣṭa — polished, cleansed. A small physical detail that locks the simile: their earrings shine the way grahāḥ shine after rain.
• mocitāḥ-kleśāt — released from distress
  Two consecutive synonym-chunks. Mocita — past passive of √muc, the same root as Mukunda. The verse names Him and His action with the same verbal family: He is the Releaser and they the Released, identified at the level of grammar.
• prāvṛṭ-ante — at the end of the rainy season
  Two consecutive synonym-chunks. The classical Indian image of clarity-after-suffering: autumn sky cleared of monsoon clouds, the moon and grahāḥ shining. Vyāsa places the freed kings inside the simile.

• Where might my recent 'rainy season' be ending, even if I haven't noticed yet?
• What brightness could I let myself shine with?

After the long monsoon, the night sky clears and the moon and planets appear again, washed and bright. The kings, washed of dungeon-grime and ego-grime together, walk out shining — Bhagavān's mercy operates like the season: the grahas were always there, only the cloud is removed.

• sat-aśvān — fine horses
  Sat — good, real, well-trained. Even the animals at Kṛṣṇa's gift are sat. Vaiṣṇava aesthetic again: the medium of mercy matches its content.
• maṇi-kāñcana-bhūṣitān — decorated with jewels and gold
  The compound restores their kṣatriya splendor; the kings who lost everything (v.12–13) ride out in jewels given by the One who took the jewels away.
• prīṇayya-sunṛtaiḥ-vākyaiḥ — gratifying with pleasant words
  Three consecutive synonym-chunks. Sunṛta — true and pleasing speech (ṛta + su). Bhagavān's final speech to the kings is named sunṛta: both true and sweet, the Vaiṣṇava ideal.
• pratyayāpayat — He sent off
  Causative of prati + √ay — caused them to return. The verb structurally mirrors v.24's nyayuṅkta and v.17's āha: Kṛṣṇa is the active causer at every joint of the chapter.

• How do I send people back to their lives after I have helped them — well-equipped, blessed?
• What does a gracious send-off look like in my context?

Bhagavān sends them home not on foot but on jewelled chariots drawn by fine horses, with pleasant words for the journey. The exit from Kṛṣṇa's presence is itself a kind of mercy — He does not just open the door, He fits the wheels.

• mocitāḥ-kṛcchrāt — freed from difficulty
  Two consecutive synonym-chunks. Kṛcchra — hardship, ascetic ordeal. The dungeon was an unwanted kṛcchra; Bhagavān made it cause su-dṛḍhā bhakti — a tapas they did not choose but received its phala.
• su-mahā-ātmanā — by the greatest of personalities
  Su-mahā-ātman — the greatest Self. The kings will keep this name on their lips; the verse marks their settled estimation of Kṛṣṇa, no longer 'King of Dvārakā' but mahā-ātmā.
• dhyāyantaḥ — meditating
  Present participle of √dhyai. The kings are now constant meditators — the smṛti they begged for in v.15, granted in v.18, operating as they ride.
• kṛtāni — the deeds (of the Lord of the universe)
  Past passive participle, neuter plural — 'things done'. Smaraṇa is here directed at līlā (kṛtāni), not merely on form. Gauḍīyas insist līlā-smaraṇa is the ripest form of remembrance; the verse seats the kings inside it.

• What recent mercy from the Lord could refocus my attention if I let it?
• Where has remembrance slipped, and what could bring it back?

Chariots roll out of Indraprastha in many directions, but inside every chariot the same scene replays: one cloud-dark form, four arms, soft voice. Geography disperses, dhyāna gathers. Released from kṛcchra outwardly, they have been bound inwardly to His kṛtāni.

• jagaduḥ-prakṛtibhyaḥ — they told their ministers
  Two consecutive synonym-chunks. Prakṛti in royal idiom = ministers / subjects / the seven aṅgas of statecraft. Bhakti is communicated, not hoarded — the kings preach as soon as they arrive.
• mahā-puruṣa-ceṣṭitam — the activities of the Supreme Person
  Mahā-puruṣa — the standard Bhāgavata title for Kṛṣṇa as supreme Person. Ceṣṭita — deeds. The same līlā-smaraṇa of v.29 is now made public hari-kathā.
• anvaśāsat-bhagavān — the Lord instructed
  Two consecutive synonym-chunks. Anu + √śās — 'instructed accordingly'. The kings treat Bhagavān's instruction (v.18–23) as direct order from a higher king. Vaiṣṇava polity: Bhagavān as the king of kings.
• atandritāḥ — without becoming lax / un-tired
  A + tandrita — without sluggishness. The promise of su-dṛḍhā bhakti (v.18) is already operative: their service is now alert, energetic, unwavering.

• What instruction from the Lord have I received but not yet translated into structural change?
• What conversation with my 'ministers' would begin to translate it?

The good news travels not as gossip but as instruction. The kings return and translate Bhagavān's audience into governance — prakṛtis briefed, orders carried out, no laziness. Bhakti hits the bureaucracy, and Kṛṣṇa's words become administrative policy.

• ghātayitvā — having had killed
  Causative gerund of √han. The grammar itself preserves Vaiṣṇava agency-theory: Kṛṣṇa is the causal slayer; Bhīma the instrumental.
• keśavaḥ — Lord Kṛṣṇa
  Keśava — slayer of the demon Keśī; also 'long-haired one' and 'lord of Brahmā and Śiva' per Mahābhārata gloss. Used when His sovereign demon-removing aspect is in view, as here.
• pārthābhyam-saṁyutaḥ — accompanied by the two sons of Pṛthā
  Two consecutive synonym-chunks. Pārthas = Bhīma and Arjuna in this dual. The verse highlights Kṛṣṇa's signature company — He is always flanked by His own bhaktas.
• sahadevena-pūjitaḥ — worshiped by Sahadeva
  Two consecutive synonym-chunks. Jarāsandha's own son installs himself as worshiper; the lineage of the slain enemy becomes the line of bhakti — a standard Bhāgavata pattern (cf. Bali after Vāmana).

• When I help arrange a good outcome, do I move on lightly, or linger for acknowledgment?
• What freedom would come with releasing the need for credit?

Bhīma is the arm, Kṛṣṇa is the mind. The mace-blow that ended Jarāsandha was Kṛṣṇa's plan executed by Pavana-suta's strength. The verse uses the causative ghātayitvā — 'having had killed' — to keep the agency exactly clear: it is the Lord who slays, the bhakta who is the instrument.

• khāṇḍava-prastham — Indraprastha (Khāṇḍava plain)
  Founded on the burnt Khāṇḍava forest; the Pāṇḍava capital. Sets the geographical home-base to which Kṛṣṇa returns from Magadha.
• śaṅkhān-dadhmuḥ — they blew the conches
  Two consecutive synonym-chunks. Śaṅkha-dhvani is a recurrent līlā-marker; the blowing is itself a public ārati of victory. Vaiṣṇavas hear conches as announcements that Bhagavān has acted.
• jita-arayaḥ — those whose enemy is defeated
  Two consecutive synonym-chunks (jita + arayaḥ). A standing Sanskrit epithet for victors. The Dvārakā-Indraprastha alliance is named not by its power but by what it overcame.
• harṣayantaḥ — delighting (well-wishers)
  Causative present participle of √hṛṣ. Paired in the verse with asukha-āvahāḥ ('bringing displeasure to enemies') — same act, two effects. A precise statement of Bhagavān's ambivalent action upon the world.

• Whose joy and whose sorrow does my truth-telling create?
• Where am I softening news so it pleases everyone — and losing the truth in the process?

Conchshells over Khāṇḍava-prastha do what trumpets do at the city gate — they announce, simultaneously, joy to one side and dismay to the other. A single sound, two rasas. Bhagavān's līlā has the same double action: it gladdens the surrendered and unsettles those who oppose.

• prīta-manasaḥ — with pleased hearts
  Prīti — affectionate pleasure, the Vaiṣṇava emotional register. The whole city responds in bhakti-prīti, not merely civic relief.
• māgadham-śāntam — the Magadhan put to rest
  Two consecutive synonym-chunks. Śānta here is euphemism for slain; Vyāsa's word-choice signals that Jarāsandha's death is a śānti — a peace — not merely a kill.
• āpta-manaḥ-rathaḥ — whose mind-chariot is fulfilled
  Two consecutive synonym-chunks: āpta + manaḥ-rathaḥ. Manoratha — literally 'chariot of the mind', i.e., long-cherished desire. The compound names Yudhiṣṭhira's interior state with one image: the chariot has reached its destination.
• indraprastha-nivāsinaḥ — the residents of Indraprastha
  A single synonym-chunk. Indra-prastha — 'Indra's plain' — the Pāṇḍava capital. The verse names the city's whole population as the joyful audience; v.35 will then narrow to Yudhiṣṭhira alone.

• What conch-sound am I waiting for in my own life?
• What desire has been unspoken so long I have forgotten I'm carrying it?

A long-illness household hears a footstep at the gate and the whole house exhales together. The sound of the conch is not just news for Yudhiṣṭhira; it is medicine for an entire city. One Magadhan tyrant down, and Indraprastha breathes for the first time in years.

• abhivandya — having offered respects
  Abhi + √vand. Kṛṣṇa Himself (named in the next compound) offers vandana to Yudhiṣṭhira — Bhagavān bowing to His own bhakta, a Vaiṣṇava signature.
• bhīma-arjuna-janārdanāḥ — Bhīma, Arjuna, and Kṛṣṇa
  Janārdana — He who agitates the wicked. Listed third, last, almost incidental. Gauḍīyas treasure such verses where Bhagavān is placed as one-of-three among His devotees by rasa-camouflage.
• āśrāvayām cakruḥ — they made (Yudhiṣṭhira) hear
  Causative of √śru. Kṛṣṇa-kathā in its most local form — the day's events narrated to a beloved bhakta. The very form of śravaṇa-bhakti, occurring naturally inside the līlā.
• anuṣṭhitam — executed / carried out
  Past passive participle of anu + √sthā. The three (ātmanā — 'by themselves') credit themselves with the deed; the next verse will reveal Yudhiṣṭhira sees Keśava behind it all.

• Whom do I report to honestly about my actions, and whom do I conveniently skip?
• What conversation have I been avoiding that would close a chapter properly?

Three voices fill in the report — and Janārdana stands among Bhīma and Arjuna as one of three. The Lord of the universe debriefs the elder brother like a younger soldier home from a mission. This humility is not pretense; it is rasa.

• dharma-rājaḥ — the king of religion, Yudhiṣṭhira
  Closing epithet of the chapter. The kings of v.1–6 were drained of dharma; the Dharma-rāja, listening, weeps. Dharma's seat is reaffirmed at the close.
• keśavena-anukampitam — the mercy shown by Keśava
  Two consecutive synonym-chunks. Anukampā — the same root the released kings used in v.13 for their own anugraha. Yudhiṣṭhira recognizes Jarāsandha's death and the kings' rescue as one mercy by Keśava with two beneficiaries.
• ānanda-aśru-kalām — a flow of tears of ecstasy
  Two consecutive synonym-chunks (ānanda + aśru-kalām). Ānanda-aśru — tears of bliss — is an aṣṭa-sāttvika-bhāva in Rūpa Gosvāmī's later systematization (Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu). Vyāsa names the symptom precisely.
• premṇā — out of love
  Instrumental of preman. Premā here is the technical word — the highest bhāva. Speechlessness (na uvāca kiñcana) caused by premā is its physiological signature; the chapter ends not with a verdict but with prema rendering verdicts impossible.

• Where am I forcing language onto feelings that only tears or silence can carry?
• What space in my life could welcome speechless gratitude?

Words break down where prema rises. Yudhiṣṭhira hears the report, sees behind the three actors the one Actor, and tries to speak — but the throat will not work. Tears do the speaking. The chapter that began with 20,800 prisoners crying for words ends with the Dharma-rāja unable to find any.