Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.81.36
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
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sauhṛda sakhya maitrī dāsyam
—
love, friendship, sympathy, servitude
Four relational nouns. Gauḍīya rasa-tattva: dāsya, sakhya, vātsalya, mādhurya — Sudāmā lists his preferred rasas as the relational forms he wants to keep. The brāhmaṇa knows his rasa (sakhya) and prays for it permanently.
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janmani janmani
—
life after life
Locative repetition — birth in birth. The classical Vaiṣṇava request: not mukti but punar-janma in Bhagavān's service. Gauḍīyas hold this above mokṣa; Sudāmā's prayer is the gold-standard bhakta-prayer.
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guṇa-ālayena
—
with (Him who is) the reservoir of qualities
Compound: guṇa (transcendental quality) + ālaya (abode, reservoir). Bhagavān as the storehouse of all sat-guṇas. Gauḍīyas list 64 qualities in Kṛṣṇa (Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu); Sudāmā names Him by this collective title.
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tat puruṣa-prasaṅgaḥ
—
the valuable association of His devotees
tat (His) + puruṣa (devotee) + prasaṅga (association, contact). Gauḍīyas: sat-saṅga, especially saṅga of Bhagavān's puruṣas, is the engine of bhakti. Sudāmā places it as the means by which his prayer is to be fulfilled.
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viṣajjataḥ
—
of one who becomes attached
Present participle of vi + √sañj (to attach). Positive attachment — to Bhagavān, through devotees. Gauḍīya: rāga (attachment) is not the enemy; misplaced rāga is. Re-aimed rāga is rāgānuga-bhakti.
As explained by Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī, sauhṛdam here signifies affection toward Him who is so compassionate to His devotees, sakhyam is affinity manifested in the desire to live in His company, maitrī is the attitude of intimate comradeship, and dāsyam is the urge to do service.
May I have affection (sauhrda--sneha), equality (sakhya -pranaya), friendliness (maitri), and service (dasyam), birth after birth, with that person who has such affection for his devotee (tasya eva) . Having attained special association (visajjatah) with the Lord endowed with great expressions of love (mahanubhavena),, the abode all good qualities, may I attain association with the Lord’s devotees (tat purusa prasangah).
Since he responds in this way, may he be my friend life after life. Because of his relationship with me, he chewed that tasteless rice as if it were delicious. May I be his friend and servant (suhṛda, dāsyam). May he be my companion (sakha) and intimate (maitrī). May I have prema for him and service to him. And may he assist me as a friend, giving me benefit. May he do this even if I take birth repeatedly (punaḥ). Or punaḥ can mean “but.” I may take birth somewhere, but may I be his friend. Sauhrḍa can also mean helpful concerning bodily activities. Sakhya can mean faith. Maitrī can mean affection. Dāsyam can mean humility. Or sauhrḍa can mean unconditional, mutual rendering of benefit. Sakhya can mean love with playing as companions. Maitrī can mean affection and dāsyam can mean doing service. Punaḥ can be taken as an ornament (no meaning). “The phrase tasya eva (with him only) excludes Sudāmā’s friendship with his devotees.” That is not so. Attaining contact with friendship, companionship, etc. by his great powers (mahānubhavena) and his reservoir of qualities like form, youthfulness, compassion and affection, I will have association in prema (prasaṅgaḥ) with his devotees and friends. This is because of his power and his qualities.
He prays with intense bhakti. May I attain friendship only (eva) to him. This excludes the avatāras or devatās. This should be understood later in the appropriate statements. For sauhṛd and dāsya he is the agent and Kṛṣṇa is the object of his action. For sakhya and maitrī, Kṛṣṇa is the agent and Śrīdāmā is the object of Kṛṣṇa’s action. He alone should be my benefactor and he alone should help me. The list is from strongest to weakest relationship. Let this happen life and life and in this life also. May he do this even if I take birth repeatedly (punaḥ). Or punaḥ can mean “but.” I may take birth somewhere, but may I be his friend. Liberation is also rejected. Sauhrḍa can also mean “helpful concerning bodily activities.” Sakhya can mean faith. Maitrī can mean affection. They are in order of increasing excellence. Compared to maitrī, dāsya is considered the best, being the final goal of service, with great humility. Dāsya involves direct service as the highest end, even though the Lord gives to the devotee and is full of all wealth. Punaḥ is an ornament of speech in this case. He has great power (mahānubhavena) and is the abode of qualities like beauty, mercy and affection (guṇālayena). He is Dāmodara, the abode of the ropes bound around his waist by Yaśodā. May association be attained closely with his form as a cowherd boy (vi-ṣajjataḥ). Or attaining attachment with prema, I should have devotee association. Otherwise one cannot experience the happiness of the mercy of devotees. This is because the Lord is the abode of qualities, with sweet form, pastimes and mercy. “Attachment with prema is difficult to achieve.” That is true, but by his power (mahānubhāvena), it can happen.
- What 'long arc' prayer would I make if I trusted there were lifetimes to come?
- How does an extended frame change what I ask for?
A man who has found the spring of a long river prays only that he may come back to drink there in every lifetime, in the company of those who already know its water. Sudāmā does not ask to keep the palaces; he asks for bhakta-saṅga, life after life, and for prema toward Bhagavān as the guṇa-ālaya, the storehouse of all qualities.
On the bed of arrows Bhīṣma prayed (SB 1.9) for nothing but Kṛṣṇa-smaraṇa and Kṛṣṇa's company life after life. Sudāmā's prayer here is in the same family: not for wealth's continuation but for the relationship's continuation. Gauḍīyas read both as the bhakta's pukka prayer — life after life, the same Lord, the same friends of His.
Rūpa, Sanātana and the other Gosvāmīs in Vṛndāvana, by Mahāprabhu's order, structured their entire sādhana around bhakta-saṅga and prema-cultivation in the company of devotees. The verse Sudāmā utters anticipates the Gauḍīya programme: tat puruṣa-prasaṅgaḥ — the precious association of His devotees — is the named accelerant of bhakti.
My note
Source: vedabase.io