FolioCorpusŚrīmad-Bhāgavatam

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.76.31

व्यक्तं मे कथयिष्यन्ति हसन्त्यो भ्रातृजामय: । क्लैब्यं कथं कथं वीर तवान्यै: कथ्यतां मृधे ॥ ३१ ॥
vyaktaṁ me kathayiṣyanti
[vyaktam me kathayishyanti]
hasantyo bhrātṛ-jāmayaḥ
[hasantyo bhraatri-jaamayah]
klaibyaṁ kathaṁ kathaṁ vīra
[klaibyam katham katham veera]
tavānyaiḥ kathyatāṁ mṛdhe
[tavaanyaih kathyataam mridhe]
Word-for-word
vyaktam — certainly me — My kathayiṣyanti — will speak of hasantyaḥ — laughing bhrātṛ - jāmayaḥ — My brothers’ wives klaibyam — unmanliness katham — how katham — how vīra — O hero tava — Your anyaiḥ — by Your enemies kathyatām — tell us mṛdhe — in battle .
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
vyaktaṁ me kathayiṣyanti
vyaktam
certainly
me
My
kathayiṣyanti
will speak of
hasantyo bhrātṛ-jāmayaḥ
hasantyaḥ
laughing
bhrātṛ - jāmayaḥ
My brothers’ wives
klaibyaṁ kathaṁ kathaṁ vīra
klaibyam
unmanliness
katham
how
katham
how
vīra
O hero
tavānyaiḥ kathyatāṁ mṛdhe
tava
Your
anyaiḥ
by Your enemies
kathyatām
tell us
mṛdhe
in battle .
Important Words
  • bhrātṛ-jāmayaḥ — My brothers' wives
    Contiguous join (bhrātṛ + jāmayaḥ). Jāmi — kinswoman by marriage. The women named here are Sāmba's, Cārudeṣṇa's, Akrūra's wives — the Yadu antaḥpura. In Vraja, Kṛṣṇa is teased by gopīs; in Dvārakā, His son will be teased by sisters-in-law.
  • klaibyam — unmanliness
    Noun-form of klība (cf. verse 29). Pradyumna circles the same word a second time — repetition that betrays anxiety. The Bhāgavatam's prosody allows the speaker's wound to show through his vocabulary.
  • vīra — O hero
    Vocative of vīra. The sisters-in-law (Pradyumna imagines) will address him by precisely the title he feels he has forfeited. Sanskrit ridicule's sharpest tool: the right address with the wrong tone.
  • katham katham — how, how
    Doubled interrogative — mocking insistence. The Bhāgavatam's rhetorical use of doubling: katham katham conveys taunting laughter, not earnest inquiry. The grammar paints the imagined scene already happening.
  • mṛdhe — in battle
    Locative of mṛdh — battle, conflict. Vedic word for war. Pradyumna's imagined teasing locates the offense exactly: in mṛdh he turned away, and women who never go to mṛdh will name the turning.
“Certainly My sisters-in-law will laugh at Me and say, ‘O hero, tell us how in the world Your enemies turned You into such a coward in battle.’”
Gauḍīya Ācāryas
Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura Gauḍīya
Translation
"Certainly My sisters-in-law will laugh at Me and say, 'O hero, tell us how in the world Your enemies turned You into such a coward in battle.' "
Commentary

The wives of my brothers will ask while laughing, "O warrior, lease tell us how you become cowardly in fighting with others?" Katham is repeated twice to show their astonishment.

Jīva Gosvāmī Gauḍīya
Commentary

Having fallen from my great dharma, I will be mocked. The wives of my elder cousins will speak. Tell us how you became impotent because of the enemies (anyaiḥ). O hero! They will joke in saying this. Or, will this weakness be described by others? It will not be spoken by anyone. The meaning they will convey is, “You should not be embarrassed.” He says this to scold his charioteer. Such wounding words would not actually be said by his relatives.

Related values & verses
Related values
Adambhitva (Non-hypocrisy / Authenticity)Vairagya (Detachment / Dispassion)Tejas (Inner Radiance / Vigour)Discriminative Wisdom
Related verses
BG 5.18 BG 8.4 BG 14.12 BG 14.1 BG 12.1 BG 18.37 BG 11.1 BG 3.3 SB 1.2BG 12.3 BG 4.8 BG 15.9 BG 6.35 BG 18.74
Concepts
Jiva
Related lectures
Personal Guidance
Pradyumna imagined His sisters-in-law mocking Him for cowardice. Sometimes our worst fears about how we'll be seen reveal what we actually value about ourselves.
Reflection Questions
  • What fear of being seen as a coward reveals about my values?
  • Could I address the value directly rather than just dreading the mockery?
Analogy

Like a young man more afraid of his sisters-in-law's laughter than of any enemy's club, Pradyumna imagines the women of Dvārakā at His return. The Bhāgavatam captures the kṣatriya's deepest dread — domestic ridicule outranks battlefield wound.

📝 My note

Source: vedabase.io

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