Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.79.34
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
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anusmareta
—
regularly remembers
Optative of anu + √smṛ — 'should continually remember.' The same root that named the wrong remembrance in verse 28 (anusmarantau, of grievances) is now turned the right way: continuous remembrance of the Lord's pastimes. The chapter quietly closes its own loop on smaraṇa-as-bondage versus smaraṇa-as-liberation.
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sāyam prātaḥ
—
at dusk and dawn
Phrase: sāyam (evening) + prātaḥ (morning). The sandhyās — the joints of the day. Vedic culture marks these as the times most porous to the transcendent; bhakti adopts them as natural seats for smaraṇa and kīrtana.
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dayitaḥ bhavet
—
he becomes dear
Phrase: dayita (beloved) + bhavet (may become). The chapter's reward-clause. Dayita is the precise word the gopīs use for Kṛṣṇa (their dayita, beloved); here the reciter becomes dayita of Viṣṇu. The grammar of love is mutual.
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adbhuta-karmaṇaḥ
—
of the one whose deeds are amazing
Compound: adbhuta (wonderful, astonishing) + karman (deed). Balarāma's deeds are not ordinary martial exploits but adbhuta — they astonish, they exceed comprehension. The same adjective the Bhāgavatam uses for Kṛṣṇa's līlās; the brothers share the rasa of wonder.
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viṣṇoḥ
—
to Lord Viṣṇu
Genitive of Viṣṇu. The chapter began with Balarāma's pilgrimage and ends by promising dearness to Viṣṇu — Saṅkarṣaṇa and Viṣṇu are one tattva; remembering one secures the love of the other. Gauḍīyas note this as proof of the unity of catur-vyūha worship.
Śrīla Prabhupāda writes: “Lord Balarāma is the original Viṣṇu; therefore anyone remembering these pastimes of Lord Balarāma in the morning and evening will certainly become a great devotee of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and thus his life will become successful in all respects.” Thus end the purports of the humble servants of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda to the Tenth Canto, Seventy-ninth Chapter, of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, entitled “Lord Balarāma Goes on Pilgrimage.”
He who remembers the activities of Balarama day and night becomes dear to Krsna (visnoh), the younger brother of Balarama.
One should not think that glorifying his activities is exaggeration for they give great results directly. The person who remembers in his mind constantly Balarāma’s activities in the morning and evening becomes the object of mercy of Kṛṣṇa, who pervades the universe by his appearance in unlimited spiritual forms (viṣṇoḥ), or who entered Balarāma out of great affection. The mercy arises because Balarāma gives great pleasure to his devotees (rāmasya). It is said that Balarāma had some opposition to Kṛṣṇa because he gave mercy to Duryodhana, the enemy of the Pāṇḍavas, who were dear to Kṛṣṇa. Balarāma’s actions are astonishing (adbhūta-karmanaḥ). He increased Duryodhana’s pride, which was the cause of his death. When the Pāṇḍavas killed him, they attained great fame. This is because Balarāma’s heart was most profound and inscrutable (anantasya). Or, on remembering the pastimes of Balarāma, one becomes at all times the object of mercy of Kṛṣṇa who appears throughout the universe unlimitedly (viṣṇoḥ anantasya) by manifesting unlimited forms. Thus end the purports of the humble servants of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda to the Tenth Canto, Seventy-ninth Chapter, of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, entitled "Lord Balarāma Goes on Pilgrimage." 10.80: The Brāhmaṇa Sudāmā Visits Lord Kṛṣṇa in Dvārakā verses: Summary, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12-13, 14, 15, 16-17, 18, 19, 20-22, 23, 24, 25-26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35-36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45 Chapter Summary This chapter relates how Lord Kṛṣṇa worshiped His brāhmaṇa friend Sudāmā, who came to His palace seeking charity, and how the two of them discussed the pastimes they had shared while living at the home of their spiritual master, Sāndīpani Muni. The brāhmaṇa Sudāmā, a personal friend of Lord Kṛṣṇa's, was completely free of material desires. He maintained himself and his wife with whatever came of its own accord, and thus they were poverty-stricken. One day Sudāmā's wife, unable to find any food to prepare for her husband, went to him and asked that he visit his friend Kṛṣṇa in Dvārakā and beg some charity. Sudāmā was reluctant, but when she persisted he agreed to go, reflecting that an opportunity to see the Lord was extremely auspicious. His wife begged a few handfuls of flattened rice as a gift for Śrī Kṛṣṇa, and Sudāmā set off for Dvārakā. As Sudāmā approached the palace of Lord Kṛṣṇa's principal wife, Rukmiṇī-devī, the Lord saw him from a distance. Kṛṣṇa immediately rose from His seat on Rukmiṇī's bed and embraced His friend with great joy. Then He sat Sudāmā down on the bed, washed his feet with His own hands and sprinkled the wash water on His head. After this He presented him with various gifts and worshiped him with incense, lamps and so on. Meanwhile, Rukmiṇī fanned the shabbily dressed brāhmaṇa with a yaktail whisk. All of this astonished the residents of the palace. Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa then took the hand of His friend, and the two of them reminisced about the things they had done together long ago, while living in the school of their spiritual master. Sudāmā pointed out that Kṛṣṇa engages in the pastime of acquiring an education only to set an example for human society.
- Could I add a short dawn-and-dusk remembrance of Balarāma's pastimes to my day?
- What single passage could anchor that practice this week?
The chapter ends with a śravaṇa-promise: whoever remembers these Balarāma-pastimes at dawn and dusk — sandhyā, the joints of the day — becomes dear to Lord Viṣṇu. The bead-string of tīrthas Balarāma walked becomes a bead-string the devotee can tell, twice a day; geography turns into japa. The Lord's līlā is not finished when the chapter ends; it begins to operate inside the reciter.
Bhakti-tradition prescribes smaraṇa at dawn and dusk — sandhyā-vandana repurposed as Vaiṣṇava-smṛti. Mahāprabhu's daily pattern, recorded in Caitanya-caritāmṛta, included precisely this rhythm: morning kīrtana before the world wakes, evening recollection before it sleeps.
The verse promises that such remembrance of Balarāma's deeds yields dayitaḥ bhavet — 'one becomes dear to Viṣṇu.' Gauḍīyas read this as proof that Saṅkarṣaṇa-smaraṇa is itself a path to Kṛṣṇa-prema: the elder brother carries the younger into the heart that holds Him.
My note
Source: vedabase.io