SB 10.80.35-36 — FolioCorpus

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.80.35-36

अपि न: स्मर्यते ब्रह्मन् वृत्तं निवसतां गुरौ । गुरुदारैश्चोदितानामिन्धनानयने क्व‍‍चित् ॥ ३५ ॥ प्रविष्टानां महारण्यमपर्तौ सुमहद् द्विज । वातवर्षमभूत्तीव्रं निष्ठुरा: स्तनयित्नव: ॥ ३६ ॥

api naḥ smaryate brahman

[api nah smaryate brahman]

vṛttaṁ nivasatāṁ gurau

[vrittam nivasataam gurau]

guru-dāraiś coditānām

[guru-daaraish choditaanaam]

indhanānayane kvacit

[indhanaanayane kvachit]

praviṣṭānāṁ mahāraṇyam

[pravishtaanaam mahaaranyam]

apartau su-mahad dvija

[apartau su-mahad dvija]

vāta-varṣam abhūt tīvraṁ

[vaata-varsham abhoot teevram]

niṣṭhurāḥ stanayitnavaḥ

[nishthuraah stanayitnavah]

Word-for-word

api — whether naḥ — of us smaryate — are remembered brahman — O brāhmaṇa vṛttam — what we did nivasatām — who were living gurau — with our spiritual master guru — of our guru dāraiḥ — by the wife coditānām — who were sent indhana — firewood anayane — for fetching kvacit — once praviṣṭānām — having entered mahā - araṇyam — the large forest apa - ṛtau — unseasonal su - mahat — very great dvija — O twice-born one vāta — wind varṣam — and rain abhūt — arose tīvram — fierce niṣṭhurāḥ — harsh stanayitnavaḥ — thundering .

Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)

api naḥ smaryate brahman

api

whether

naḥ

of us

smaryate

are remembered

brahman

O brāhmaṇa

vṛttaṁ nivasatāṁ gurau

vṛttam

what we did

nivasatām

who were living

gurau

with our spiritual master

guru-dāraiś coditānām

guru

of our guru

dāraiḥ

by the wife

coditānām

who were sent

indhanānayane kvacit

indhana

firewood

anayane

for fetching

kvacit

once

praviṣṭānāṁ mahāraṇyam

praviṣṭānām

having entered

mahā - araṇyam

the large forest

apartau su-mahad dvija

apa - ṛtau

unseasonal

su - mahat

very great

dvija

O twice-born one

vāta-varṣam abhūt tīvraṁ

vāta

wind

varṣam

and rain

abhūt

arose

tīvram

fierce

niṣṭhurāḥ stanayitnavaḥ

niṣṭhurāḥ

harsh

stanayitnavaḥ

thundering .

Important Words

naḥ — of us
Genitive dual / plural pronoun. Kṛṣṇa says 'us' — He places Himself inside the suffering, not above it. Gauḍīyas note: the Lord identifies with His friend's labor, even in retrospect, as 'ours.'
gurau — with our spiritual master
Locative of guru — 'in / with the guru.' Recurs across the chapter as a refrain. Gauḍīyas mark the locative as theological: dwelling in the guru is dwelling in Bhagavān (per v.32-34).
guru - dāraiḥ — by the wife of our guru
Compound: guru + dāra (wife). Even the guru's wife's order had authority. Gauḍīyas: in śāstra, guru-patnī is the disciple's mother. Sudāmā and Kṛṣṇa obeyed her without distinction.
indhana — firewood
Mundane labor. The Lord and the brāhmaṇa are doing the same physical work — gathering wood. Gauḍīyas: there is no spiritual hierarchy in service. Both fetched logs.
mahā - araṇyam — the large forest
Compound: mahā (great) + araṇya (forest). The araṇya — wilderness — is a classical Bhāgavata setting (cf. Bharata, the gopas). Sudāmā's discipleship is forged in araṇya-conditions.
apa - ṛtau — unseasonal
Compound: apa- (off, against) + ṛtu (season). The storm came out of season — the kind of trial that cannot be planned for. Gauḍīyas: guru-sevā encounters apa-ṛtu storms; that is its nature.

O brāhmaṇa, do you remember what happened to us while we were living with our spiritual master? Once our guru’s wife sent us to fetch firewood, and after we entered the vast forest, O twice-born one, an unseasonal storm arose, with fierce wind and rain and harsh thunder.

Purport

Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī explains that this storm arose during winter and was therefore unseasonal.

— A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda

Gauḍīya Ācāryas

Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura Gauḍīya

Translation

O brāhmaṇa, do you remember what happened to us while we were living with our spiritual master? Once our guru's wife sent us to fetch firewood, and after we entered the vast forest, O twice-born one, an unseasonal storm arose, with fierce wind and rain and harsh thunder.

Commentary

Do you remember the incident that happened while we were living in the gurukula (nivasatam)? Out of season (aparttau), during the cold season after the monsoon, great wind and rain occurred with rumbling thunder.

Jīva Gosvāmī Gauḍīya

Commentary

Having glorified service to guru, Kṛṣṇa now shows how to serve him in order to teach the people. The example shows that by suffering together the two established firm friendship. The dual number was used previously. Now the plural nau is used to indicate Balarāma, Kṛṣṇa, and Sudāmā. He is indicated as being one of them, out of affection. Gurau means “in the house of the guru.” Kṛṣṇa addresses Sudāmā as brāhmaṇa frequently to destroy his shyness and fear. Calling out to him, making the friendship firm, he makes him raise his head in order to see Kṛṣṇa and thus give him joy. When we had entered the forest, an unseasonal storm, belonging to the cold season, occurred. It was painful (tīvram). O brāhmaṇa! He calls out to Sudāmā on remembering the past events, or with amusement. The thunder was piercing, making loud noises. There was also lightning.

Related values & verses

Related values

Vairagya (Detachment / Dispassion)Discriminative WisdomAbhaya (Fearlessness)Seva (Service / Selfless Action)Aparigraha (Non-possessiveness)Ahimsa (Non-violence / Compassion)Anahankarah (Freedom from False Ego)

Concepts

Guru

Personal Guidance

Kṛṣṇa recalled the unseasonal storm in the forest when their guru's wife had sent them for firewood. Memory of shared service is the substance of friendship; the body of the relationship is in the small errands.

Reflection Questions

Which shared 'errand' in a friendship is the deepest memory I have of it?
What current small service is building tomorrow's deep memory?

Analogy

Two boys sent for firewood in a forest, caught by sudden storm and night — Kṛṣṇa is reminding Sudāmā of their shared suffering for the guru. The wind, the rain, the dark are the actual texture of the discipleship the next verses will praise. Sevā is not a metaphor; it is wet wood and lost paths.

📝 My note

Source: vedabase.io