Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.81.40
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
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ajitam parājitam
—
the unconquerable, conquered
Past participle of √ji with a (not) and parā (away). The verse's central paradox in two words. Gauḍīyas hold this as the chapter's deepest doctrinal payoff: Kṛṣṇa is willingly conquered by His bhaktas, and that willingness is the substance of His mercy.
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sva-bhṛtyaiḥ
—
by His own servants
Compound: sva (His own) + bhṛtya (servant). The conquerors are His own bhaktas — and they conquer Him precisely by being His bhaktas, not by force. Bhakti is the only valid weapon against the Lord.
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dhyāna-vega-udgrathita-ātma-bandhanaḥ
—
whose self-bondage was untied by the momentum of his meditation
Compound: dhyāna (meditation) + vega (momentum) + udgrathita (untied) + ātma (self) + bandhana (bondage). Five-fold compound — the chapter's most technical word — naming exactly how the bhakta's meditation operates: as momentum that unties knots. Gauḍīya: smaraṇa is not passive recollection but an active vega that dissolves saṁsāra-granthi.
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tat-dhāma
—
His abode
tat (His) + dhāma (abode). Kṛṣṇa's supreme dhāma — Goloka, in Gauḍīya cosmology. Sudāmā attains it acirataḥ, in a short time. The chapter's quiet final gift, larger than the palaces.
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satām gatim
—
the destination of great saints
Compound: satām (of the saintly) + gati (destination). The same phrase used of Kṛṣṇa in verses 1–2 (satām gatiḥ) — now applied to His abode. He is the gati and so is His dhāma; bhakta arrives at both as one place.
Sudāmā’s earthly fortune has been described, and now Śukadeva Gosvāmī describes the treasure the brāhmaṇa enjoyed in the next world. Śrī Jīva Gosvāmī mentions that Sudāmā’s last trace of illusion lay in the subtle pride of being a renounced brāhmaṇa. This trace was also destroyed by his contemplating the Supreme Lord’s submission to His devotees.
This verse shows Sudama’s liberation from material wealth and his attainment of spiritual wealth. Seeing that the Lord, unconquerable by any, is conquered or controlled by his devotees, Sudama returned to his previous nature and meditated on the Lord.
The brāhmaṇa determined that the unconquerable Lord was conquered by his servants. He thought of him with devotion, as the Lord who is controlled by his devotee. By continuous thoughts (dhyāna-vega) in prema, he untied the knots of bondage on the ātmā, consisting of his consciousness of being a brāhmaṇa. He quickly attained Dvārakā. All that was not surprising for him, since he was the friend of the Lord (bhagavat-suhṛt).
In the manner stated, by the actions he performed (evam), or with that nature, he quickly attained Vaikuṇṭha or Dvārakā. He was the friend of Kṛṣṇa, full of all powers (bhagavat-suhṛt). This was the main reason for obtaining the Lord’s mercy. He saw how the unconquered Lord is controlled by his dedicated servants (sva-bhṛtyaiḥ). Giving up identity as a brāhmaṇa, he became fixed in bhakti alone. By meditation, he quickly attained the destination of the pure devotees (satām). Or seeing the unconquered Lord as the shelter for the devotees (satām gatim), since he is controlled by the devotees, he attained Vaikuṇṭha.
- Where does watching how the Lord serves His devotees teach me something I cannot learn elsewhere?
- What knot of mine might be cut by sustained meditation on this image?
The unconquerable Lord stands beaten in the contest with His own servants — and the bhakta who watches this sees the last knots in his own heart untie. Kṛṣṇa is ajitam-jīto-bhṛtyaiḥ: conquered by His servants. To meditate on that is to be set free.
In SB 10.9, mother Yaśodā binds infant Kṛṣṇa to a mortar with a rope — the ajita conquered by a mother's vātsalya. The verse Sudāmā meditates here is the doctrinal name for what Yaśodā did: sva-bhṛtyaiḥ ajitam parājitam. The Bhāgavatam is internally consistent: every līlā in which the Lord is overcome by a devotee is the same lesson under different rasas.
On the Kurukṣetra field, Kṛṣṇa took up a chariot wheel — breaking His vow — because Bhīṣma's prema demanded it. Ajita, conquered by His servant. Sudāmā's meditation is the abstract form of every such episode.
My note
Source: vedabase.io