Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.75.23
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
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bandhūn
—
his more distant relatives
Accusative plural of bandhu. Distant kin — those most easily overlooked. The verse marks them first; the bhakta's gratitude reaches the periphery, not just the center.
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jñātīn
—
his immediate family
Accusative plural of jñāti — those known by birth. Distant and close: both classes named, both honored. Bhakti does not skip the kin who are 'already' there.
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abhīkṣṇam
—
constantly
Continuously, repeatedly. The honoring is not a single rite; it is a steady weather. Gauḍīyas read this as the bhakta's continuous-mode honoring — never an event, always a state.
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nārāyaṇa-paraḥ
—
devoted to Lord Nārāyaṇa
Compound: nārāyaṇa + para (devoted to, having as supreme). The Bhāgavatam's standard epithet for one whose ultimate is Viṣṇu. Yudhiṣṭhira's social grace is explicitly traced to his theistic anchoring — not to natural courtesy.
The previous verse mentioned that others were also honored. Now the others are described. He honored intimate friends like Kṛṣṇa, relatives like Bhīṣma, other friends like Virāṭa, and other relatives (suhṛdaḥ) like Drupāda. They were all kings (nṛpān). “Others” indicates neutral kings. The list is from most intimate to least intimate. He worshipped them in that order. nārāyaṇas tvaṁ na hi sarva-dehinām ātmāsy adhīśākhila-loka-sākṣī nārāyaṇo ’ṅgaṁ nara-bhū-jalāyanāt tac cāpi satyaṁ na tavaiva māyā O Lord, of whom Mahāviṣṇu is your expansion! Nārāyaṇa, Mahāviṣṇu, the source of the other puruṣas, is not you. Nor is the third puruṣa, dwelling within all beings, nor is the second puruṣa, the witness of all planets. Mahāviṣṇu, called Nārāyaṇa because he is the shelter of the Kāraṇa Ocean, which gives rise to material creation, is simply your expansion. That expansion of yours is real, not illusory. SB 10.14.14 Thus Yudhiṣṭhira was fully dedicated to Kṛṣṇa (nārāyaṇa-paraḥ) in order to please him.
- Where could devotion to the Lord overflow into more visible honor of those around me?
- Whose honor have I neglected to offer?
A man wholly devoted to Nārāyaṇa cannot help honoring everyone — because once you see the Lord in the heart of all, every guest is the deity arrived for darśana. Yudhiṣṭhira's continuous worship of his relatives is Nārāyaṇa-paratva worked outward.
My note
Source: vedabase.io