Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.8.46
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
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mahā - bhāgā
—
(Yaśodā,) most fortunate
Mahā (great) + bhāgā (share). The same word applied to viṣṇu-pakṣān in 10.8.18 — but here intensified by the singular and the context. Yaśodā's mahā-bhāgyam is the highest measure of fortune in the Bhāgavatam's whole vocabulary.
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papau
—
drank
Perfect singular of √pā (to drink). The same verb used for Vāmana drinking the three worlds — here Kṛṣṇa drinks His mother's milk. Vaiṣṇava savor: the Lord who drinks the universe accepts breast milk; that breast is therefore the highest fortune in creation.
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stanam
—
the breast
Accusative of stana. The very organ of vātsalya. Parīkṣit's question fastens on the bodily fact: Yaśodā's breast nursed Bhagavān. Gauḍīya rāgānugā-meditators contemplate this verse for vātsalya-bhāva.
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hariḥ
—
the Supreme Personality of Godhead
Hari again, as in 10.8.45. The verse insists on the title Bhagavān-name precisely where vātsalya-intimacy is highest. The mother of Hari is mahā-bhāgā not because she is one mother among many but because the One she mothers is Hari.
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mahā - udayam
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(from which they achieved) the greatest perfection
Mahā (great) + udaya (rising, elevation). The Vedic word for sun-rise extended to spiritual ascent. The verse-question: what sukṛti made such an udaya possible? The Bhāgavatam's answer arrives in 10.8.48–50.
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śreyaḥ
—
auspicious activities, the supreme good
Śreyas reappears (cf. 10.8.16). Parīkṣit asks what śreyas Nanda and Yaśodā performed. Gauḍīya teaching: śreyas is not karma but bhakti's predecessor sukṛtis; the verse refuses purely karmic explanation.
As stated in Bhagavad-gītā (7.16) , catur-vidhā bhajante māṁ janāḥ sukṛtino ’rjuna. Without sukṛti, or pious activities, no one can come to the shelter of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The Lord is approached by four kinds of pious men ( ārto jijñāsur arthārthī jñānī ca ), but here we see that Nanda Mahārāja and Yaśodā surpassed all of them. Therefore Parīkṣit Mahārāja naturally inquired, “What kind of pious activities did they perform in their past lives by which they achieved such a stage of perfection?” Of course, Nanda Mahārāja and Yaśodā are accepted as the father and mother of Kṛṣṇa, yet mother Yaśodā was more fortunate than Nanda Mahārāja, Kṛṣṇa’s father, because Nanda Mahārāja was sometimes separated from Kṛṣṇa whereas Yaśodā, Kṛṣṇa’s mother, was not separated from Kṛṣṇa at any moment. From Kṛṣṇa’s babyhood to His childhood and from His childhood to His youth, mother Yaśodā was always in association with Kṛṣṇa. Even when Kṛṣṇa was grown up, He would go to Vṛndāvana and sit on the lap of mother Yaśodā. Therefore there is no comparison to the fortune of mother Yaśodā, and Parīkṣit Mahārāja naturally inquired, yaśodā ca mahā-bhāgā.
Seeing how Yasoda’s love did not waver even after hearing about and seeing the Lord’s powers, and understanding that Yasoda and Nanda’s love far surpassed that of the karmis and even the normal devotees, Pariksit in astonishment spoke. What sukrti (sreya mahdayam) Nanda must have performed to get such great results? Yasoda is called mahabhaga, because her sukrtis were even more.
Yaśodā’s great affection for the Supreme Lord has been described. Having heard of her parental affection for the Lord and astonished by her great fortune, Parīkṣit inquires about Nanda’s and Yaśodā’s good fortune. What type of pious acts which caused such complete affection (mahodayam) did Nanda perform? What did Yaśodā, even more fortunate (mahā-bhāgāḥ), do, since the Lord drank her breast milk? pītvāmṛtaṁ payas tasyāḥ pīta-śeṣaṁ gadā-bhṛtaḥ: lovingly she let her sons drink from her breast, which became wet with milk just by their touch (which Kṛṣṇa had also drunk previously). (SB 10.85.55) Thus Kṛṣṇa had drunk the milk of Devakī and other cowherd women also. However, though Devakī had fed Kṛṣṇa, her love was mixed with conceptions of Kṛṣṇa’s aiśvarya and he did so only once, not as a habit. He drank from the gopīs’ breasts, but in another form—taking the form of their cowherd sons during the Brahmā-mohana pastime. Thus they did not have the same affection for Kṛṣṇa as Yaśodā did. Thus Kṛṣṇa’ drinking from her breast is glorified more.
Yaśodā’s great affection for the Supreme Lord has been described. Having heard of her parental affection for the Lord and astonished by her great fortune, Parīkṣit inquires about Nanda’s and Yaśodā’s good fortune. O form of all the Vedas or directly the form of the supreme Brahman (brahman)! You know everything about this. What type of pious acts which caused such complete affection (mahodayam) did Nanda perform? What did Yaśodā, even more fortunate (mahā-bhāgāḥ), do, since the Lord drank her breast milk? Vā (in some versions of the text) indicates all that was said in chapters six, seven and eight. Or it refers to his pastimes of crawling. Or it refers to the covering of her knowledge on seeing the universal form and her increase of affection. Yaśodā is distinguished from Devakī though he drank from Devakī’s breast also. pītvāmṛtaṁ payas tasyāḥ pīta-śeṣaṁ gadā-bhṛtaḥ: lovingly Devakī let her sons drink from her breast, which became wet with milk just by their touch (which Kṛṣṇa had also drunk previously). (SB 10.85.55) Thus Kṛṣṇa had drunk the milk of Devakī and other cowherd women also. Kṛṣṇa who attracted the mind with special affection during his infant period (hariḥ) drank from Yaśodā’s breast.
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- Notice today which moments of your sādhana you treat as 'separation' from Kṛṣṇa, and re-frame them as service done in His presence.
- Speak to one elder in your life with the awareness that Yaśodā's mahā-bhāgyam came from quiet, daily, unseen pious acts — and ask what theirs were.
- Refuse to envy others' spiritual fortune; instead, perform one concrete sukṛti today (offer food, chant a fixed round, serve a Vaiṣṇava) trusting it accrues.
A king's astrologer, after charting the entire heaven, returns to ask the gardener what soil grew the rose the king now wears in his crown. Parīkṣit, after hearing all of Bhāgavata-cosmology, pauses on Yaśodā's bāhya-līlā and asks: what sukṛti raised such a soil?
My note
Source: vedabase.io