Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.85.32-33
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
-
guru-dakṣiṇām
—
the teacher's payment
Compound: guru (teacher) + dakṣiṇā (offering, payment). The traditional gift to one's preceptor at the end of study. Kṛṣṇa offered the most expensive dakṣiṇā recorded — a son retrieved from death.
-
yoga-īśvara īśvarau
—
O supreme masters of all yoga masters
Dual vocative compound. Devakī uses the technical address for the resurrection-act she is about to request. Bringing the dead back is a yoga-śakti act; only the īśvarau of yoga-īśvaras can do it.
-
bhoja-rāja-hatān
—
killed by the king of Bhoja (Kaṁsa)
Compound: bhoja (the Bhoja clan) + rāja (king) + hata (slain). Kaṁsa is named by dynastic title — Devakī's wound is so old it has become a historical category. Bhoja-rāja-hatān is the heading under which her six children file.
-
draṣṭum
—
to see
Infinitive of √dṛś. The whole request collapses to this verb. Devakī does not ask for justice or even for the children to live — only that she see them once. The infinite simplicity of mātṛ-vātsalya.
You brought back the sons of Sandipani as a form of guru daksina from the abode of Yama (pitr sthanat).
Like your guru’s desire, my desire should also be fulfilled. You were requested by your guru to bring back his long dead son. Just as you brought back his son in the same form as before, as repayment to his guru, bring back my sons. Thinking of the importance of her desire, and thinking that previously the indication was unclear, she makes her intention clear: I desire to see my sons killed by Kaṁsa after they are brought back from Yama’s abode by you two.
Like your guru’s desire, my desire should also be fulfilled. You were requested by your guru to bring back his long dead son. Just as you brought back his son in the same form as before, as repayment to his guru, bring back my sons. Or similarly fulfill my desire. It is easy for you to do since you are have great powers (yogeśvareśvarau). O “O mother! How can you recognize these sons brought back, since they were killed long ago, just on being born?” You have unlimited, inconceivable powers (yogeśvareśvarau). Thinking of the importance of her desire, and thinking that previously she prayed in general, now she makes her intention clear with great sorrow: I desire to see my sons killed by Kaṁsa after they are brought back from Yama’s abode by you two. Kaṁsa, as the king was capable of killing them. I desire to see what condition they are in when they are brought back by you two.
- What 'death' in my past could God still untie?
- Where have I assumed something is too final for grace to reach?
A mother offers a precedent to her own son: 'You once brought back your teacher's lost child as guru-dakṣiṇā. Do for the mother what You did for the guru.' The teacher's payment becomes the mother's claim. Bhagavān honors both.
Earlier in this Tenth Canto (SB 10.45), Kṛṣṇa, having completed His studies under Sāndīpani Muni, asked the guru what dakṣiṇā he wanted. The guru and his wife asked for their long-drowned son. Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma went to the ocean, retrieved the boy from the abode of Yama, and returned him.
Devakī's request now consciously cites that pastime: 'You did it for Your guru — do it for me.' The Bhāgavatam is showing the symmetry: guru-dakṣiṇā becomes mātṛ-prasāda.
My note
Source: vedabase.io