FolioCorpusŚrīmad-Bhāgavatam

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.86.14

स उवास विदेहेषु मिथिलायां गृहाश्रमी । अनीहयागताहार्यनिर्वर्तितनिजक्रिय: ॥ १४ ॥
sa uvāsa videheṣu
[sa uvaasa videheshu]
mithilāyāṁ gṛhāśramī
[mithilaayaam grihaashramee]
anīhayāgatāhārya-
[aneehayaagataahaarya-]
nirvartita-nija-kriyaḥ
[nirvartita-nija-kriyah]
saḥ — he uvāsa — dwelled videheṣu — in the kingdom of Videha mithilāyām — in the city of Mithilā gṛha - āśramī — as a member of the regulated order of family life anīhayā — without endeavor āgata — came to him āhārya — by food and other means of sustenance nirvartita — carried out nija — his kriyaḥ — obligations .
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
sa uvāsa videheṣu
saḥ
he
uvāsa
dwelled
videheṣu
in the kingdom of Videha
mithilāyāṁ gṛhāśramī
mithilāyām
in the city of Mithilā
gṛha - āśramī
as a member of the regulated order of family life
anīhayāgatāhārya-
anīhayā
without endeavor
āgata
came to him
āhārya
by food and other means of sustenance
nirvartita-nija-kriyaḥ
nirvartita
carried out
nija
his
kriyaḥ
obligations .
  • videheṣu — in the kingdom of Videha
    Locative plural — 'among the Videhans.' Vi + deha = 'one without a (false-identified) body,' the epithet of Janaka and his line. The land is named for liberation; the brāhmaṇa who lives there is, fittingly, freed from sense-gratification.
  • mithilāyām — in the city of Mithilā
    The capital of Videha, place of Sītā's appearance. Gauḍīyas reverence Mithilā as a Rāma-līlā tīrtha; the Bhāgavata places its model brāhmaṇa here to signal continuity of bhakti from Rāma-līlā to Kṛṣṇa-līlā.
  • gṛha-āśramī — a member of the regulated order of family life
    Compound: gṛha (home) + āśramin (one in an āśrama). Gṛhastha-āśrama is one of the four classical orders. Gauḍīyas insist that none of the four are obstacles to bhakti — Śrutadeva is the proof in this very verse.
  • anīhayā — without endeavor
    From an (not) + īhā (effort, striving). The Gītā-key term — niṣkāma — phrased differently. The brāhmaṇa does not strive for maintenance; provisions arrive by Bhagavān's arrangement. This is the lakṣaṇa of complete dependence.
Living as a religious householder in the city of Mithilā, within the kingdom of Videha, he managed to fulfill his obligations while maintaining himself with whatever sustenance easily came his way.
Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura Gauḍīya
Translation
Living as a religious householder in the city of Mithilā, within the kingdom of Videha, he managed to fulfill his obligations while maintaining himself with whatever sustenance easily came his way.
Commentary

He lived in Mithila in the province of Videha, and maintained himself by accepting whatever food came of its own accord, while absorbed in his service to the lord (nija kriyah).

Jīva Gosvāmī Gauḍīya
Commentary

As a householder he lived in Mithilā city of Videha province. What he obtained without begging, that he accepted. But he accepted for himself only what he needed to survive. He did not accept that in the name of the Lord. And he did not accept more than he needed.

Śrīdhara Svāmī Gauḍīya
Commentary

As a householder he lived in Mithilā city of Videha province. He lived by doing deity worship.

Related values
Nyaya (Justice / Righteous Judgment)Brahmacharya (Self-discipline / Restraint)Nishkama Karma (Selfless Action)Vairagya (Detachment / Dispassion)Kartavya (Duty / Responsibility)Tapas (Austerity / Discipline)
Related verses
Concepts
Jiva
Śrutadeva fulfills his religious duties as a householder in Mithilā. Devotional excellence lives in the daily, the boring, the local — not just the exceptional.
Reflection Questions
  • What daily duty have I been waiting to outgrow rather than fulfill excellently?
  • Where could 'fulfilling' my given role itself become the high spiritual achievement?

Mithilā — Janaka's city, where Sītā was born and the field once turned up a daughter. The Bhāgavata seeds Śrutadeva into this same earth, signaling that the brāhmaṇa is heir to a long Mithilā-paramparā of bhakti-in-gṛhastha.

Janaka in his palace

Mithilā's first king, Janaka, was famous as the rāja-ṛṣi who ran a kingdom while remaining liberated. The Mahābhārata's Śānti-parva preserves his conversations with Sulabhā and with Aṣṭāvakra: outer activity, inner detachment.

Śrutadeva inherits this Mithilā-paddhati but Gauḍīya-style: he is not a jñānī-rāja but a kṛṣṇa-eka-bhakta. The city's name is the same; the rasa has matured from śānta to dāsya-bhakti.

📝 My note

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