Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.81.35
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
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mahā-ātmā
—
the Supreme Soul
Compound: mahā (great) + ātman (soul). The verse's title for Kṛṣṇa at the moment His ledger-rewriting is being described. Gauḍīya: Bhagavān is mahā-ātmā precisely because He magnifies the small offering and minimizes His own generosity.
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kiñcit karoti uru api
—
He makes insignificant even what is great
kiñcit (a little) + uru (great) + api (even). The hyperbolic reversal: Bhagavān treats His own great gifts as nothing. Gauḍīya rasa-śāstra reads this as the lover's gesture — He hides His giving behind His friend's offering.
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phalgu api bhūri-kārī
—
makes even a trifle into something great
phalgu (trifling) + bhūri-kārī (one who makes great). The mirror of the previous clause. Same grammatical mood, opposite direction. The verse's chiasmus: He shrinks what He gives, He inflates what He receives.
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suhṛt-kṛtam
—
done by a well-wishing friend
Compound: su-hṛt (a well-wisher, literally good-hearted) + kṛta (done). Sudāmā is called suhṛt — friend-with-good-heart. The relationship-name decides the accounting; outside that name, the same act would not register.
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prīti-yutaḥ
—
with pleasure
Compound: prīti (love, pleasure) + yuta (joined with). Bhagavān eats with prīti — the affective frame is the actual food. Gauḍīya: it is prīti that travels between the bhakta and Bhagavān; the rice is only the vehicle.
Krsna thought that what he was giving to me though great (uru) was small, and that what his friend was giving though insignificant (phalgu), was great. For that reason he accepted the rice offered by me with devotion.
One should not think that one must give so much. Even if the devotee does little, he considered that great. What I offered is the main proof. He responded in this way because he is most worthy of worship (mahā) and has a nature of compassion (ātmā). Thinking of his insignificant offering he became ashamed.
One should not think that one must give so much. The Lord treasures the bhakti of the devotees. He considers the worship of the devotees (suhrt-kṛtam) to be great. He becomes indebted to the devotees. Though he should not find a handful of chipped rice suitable, the supreme brahman (mahātmā), the supreme Lord, being pleased, accepted my chipped rice. He directly ate it. Or the cause of accepting is explained. He by nature is full of great mercy (mahātmā). Thinking of his insignificant offering, he became ashamed.
- How does this asymmetry change my reluctance to offer small things?
- Where am I withholding because I think it's too small to matter?
A father, asked by his small son for one paisa, gives him a hundred rupees and pretends he didn't really give anything; later he speaks of the son's offered crumb as if it were a feast. Kṛṣṇa, mahā-ātmā, downplays His own giving and magnifies the bhakta's offering — because that is how love rewrites the ledger.
My note
Source: vedabase.io