Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.86.27-29
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
-
pravṛddha-bhaktyā
—
with intense devotion
Compound: pravṛddha (fully grown, intense) + bhaktyā (with bhakti). Bhakti can grow — Gauḍīyas catalog the stages śraddhā→sādhu-saṅga→bhajana-kriyā→anartha-nivṛtti→niṣṭhā→ruci→āsakti→bhāva→prema. Pravṛddha-bhakti is bhakti in its mature phases.
-
loka-pāvanīḥ
—
able to purify the whole world
Compound: loka (world) + pāvanī (purifier). The wash-water of the sages' feet is the same caraṇa-amṛta that the Bhāgavatam (and CC) repeatedly names as the holiest of holy substances — capable of purifying all worlds.
-
mūrdhnā
—
on his head
Instrumental of mūrdhan (head). The body's highest point receives the lowest part of the sādhu — his foot-water. This inversion is the Gauḍīya signature: heads bow to feet, because the saint's foot-dust is higher than the king's crown.
-
ut-dharṣa
—
overjoyed
Compound: ut (upward) + dharṣa (joy, exultation). Joy that lifts. The same word-family Bhāgavatam uses for Yaśodā's joy at seeing Kṛṣṇa eat. Royal ut-dharṣa is no different in kind from a mother's ut-dharṣa — bhāva is bhāva.
-
pūjayām cakre
—
he worshiped
Periphrastic perfect of √pūj (to worship). The verbal form emphasizes completed, formal, lavish worship. Gauḍīyas distinguish vidhi-pūjā (formal, scripture-prescribed) from rāgānuga-pūjā (spontaneous); Bahulāśva combines both because his pravṛddha-bhakti is mature.
Śrīla Prabhupāda comments: “Bahulāśva, the King of Videha, was very intelligent and was a perfect gentleman. He was astonished that so many great sages, along with the Supreme Personality of Godhead, were personally present in his home. He knew perfectly well that conditioned souls engaged in worldly affairs cannot be one-hundred-percent pure whereas the Supreme Personality of Godhead and His pure devotees are always transcendental to worldly contamination. Therefore, when he found that the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krsna, and all the great sages were at his home, he was astonished, and he began to thank Lord Krsna for His causeless mercy.” The word īśvara in this verse refers not only to the Supreme Lord but also to the exalted sages in His company; this is confirmed by Ācāryas Śrīdhara Svāmī and Viśvanātha Cakravartī.
Bahulasva’s eyes were filled with tears (asru vileksana). He worshipped Krsna and the sages who were equal to Krsna (isvaran).
First the actions of the king are described. His mind was most excellent (mahā-manāḥ) since it was fixed on Kṛṣṇa. His eyes flowed with tears and his heart was joyful. With increasing bhakti, he bowed and washed their feet. He put the water on his head. Go-vṛṣa means bulls. The items are in order of value.
To describe the Lord’s special instructions to Śrutadeva, first the actions of the king are described, taking the easier matter first. The king’s actions are described in nine verses. Born in Janaka’s dynasty he had all knowledge. His mind was profound (mahāmanāḥ). Thus he worshipped the Lord and sages with great devotion. He put the water on his head. He offered bulls (go-vṛṣaiḥ) or cows and bulls. The items offered are in correct order, except arghya is at the end because he was confused and forgot. Or after lamps, arghya can be offered before eating, for auspiciousness. Cows can be given at the beginning or end.
- When was I last eager enough to run toward God?
- What does my pace toward Him reveal about how much I want Him?
Bahulāśva washes the sages' feet with a king's hands and sprinkles the water on his own head and on his queen's head. In aiśvarya, every act is amplified; the king's bhakti is amplified by his crown, not contradicted by it.
In SB 9.4, King Ambarīṣa worshiped Bhagavān with full royal upacāra and was protected from Durvāsā's anger by the Sudarśana cakra. Bahulāśva's pūjā here is its echo — a king performing the same upacāras with the same niraham-māna disposition.
Gauḍīyas pair Ambarīṣa and Bahulāśva as the two model rāja-bhaktas of the Bhāgavatam: kingship is no obstacle to bhakti when the king is internally niraham-māna and externally lavish in service.
My note
Source: vedabase.io