SB 10.86.42 — FolioCorpus

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.86.42

स तर्कयामास कुतो ममान्वभूत् गृहान्धकूपे पतितस्य सङ्गम: । य: सर्वतीर्थास्पदपादरेणुभि: कृष्णेन चास्यात्मनिकेतभूसुरै: ॥ ४२ ॥

sa tarkayām āsa kuto mamānv abhūt

[sa tarkayaam aasa kuto mamaanv abhoot]

gṛhāndha-kūpe patitasya saṅgamaḥ

[grihaandha-koope patitasya sangamah]

yaḥ sarva-tīrthāspada-pāda-reṇubhiḥ

[yah sarva-teerthaaspada-paada-renubhih]

kṛṣṇena cāsyātma-niketa-bhūsuraiḥ

[krishnena chaasyaatma-niketa-bhoosuraih]

Word-for-word

saḥ — he tarkayām āsa — tried to understand kutaḥ — for what reason mama — for me anu — indeed abhūt — has happened gṛha — of home andha — blind kūpe — in the well patitasya — fallen saṅgamaḥ — association yaḥ — which sarva — of all tīrtha — holy places āspada — which is the shelter pāda — of whose feet reṇubhiḥ — the dust kṛṣṇena — with Lord Kṛṣṇa ca — also asya — this ātma — of Himself niketa — who are the place of residence bhū - suraiḥ — with the brāhmaṇas. .

Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)

sa tarkayām āsa kuto mamānv abhūt

saḥ

tarkayām āsa

tried to understand

kutaḥ

for what reason

mama

for me

anu

indeed

abhūt

has happened

gṛhāndha-kūpe patitasya saṅgamaḥ

gṛha

of home

andha

blind

kūpe

in the well

patitasya

fallen

saṅgamaḥ

association

yaḥ sarva-tīrthāspada-pāda-reṇubhiḥ

yaḥ

which

sarva

of all

tīrtha

holy places

āspada

which is the shelter

pāda

of whose feet

reṇubhiḥ

the dust

kṛṣṇena cāsyātma-niketa-bhūsuraiḥ

kṛṣṇena

with Lord Kṛṣṇa

also

asya

this

ātma

of Himself

niketa

who are the place of residence

bhū - suraiḥ

with the brāhmaṇas. .

Important Words

gṛha-andha-kūpe — in the blind well of family life
Compound: gṛha (home) + andha (blind) + kūpa (well). 'A well overgrown with grass, hidden from sight, into which the unwary fall.' Bhāgavata's standard metaphor for saṁsāra. Śrutadeva names his own setting honestly.
tīrtha-āspada — the shelter of all holy places
Compound: tīrtha (sacred bathing-place) + āspada (residence, support). The brāhmaṇas' foot-dust is the home of all tīrthas. Gauḍīyas treat Vaiṣṇava-aṅghri-reṇu as the supreme tīrtha — higher than any river, because the sādhu carries every river in his sole.
ātma-niketa — the place of residence of Himself
Compound: ātma (self, here Bhagavān) + niketa (abode). The brāhmaṇas are Kṛṣṇa's residence. Gauḍīyas read this with SB 9.4.68 — Bhagavān says the sādhu's heart is His home. The verse identifies sādhu-saṅga with bhagavat-saṅga.
patitasya — of one fallen
Past participle of √pat. 'Fallen.' Śrutadeva calls himself patita — the same word Caitanya Mahāprabhu uses for the conditioned soul in patita-pāvana. Bhagavān is patita-pāvana precisely because Śrutadevas exist.

He wondered: How is it that I, fallen into the blind well of family life, have been able to meet Lord Kṛṣṇa? And how have I also been allowed to meet these great brāhmaṇas, who always carry the Lord within their hearts? Indeed, the dust of their feet is the shelter of all holy places.

Gauḍīya Ācāryas

Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura Gauḍīya

Translation

Jīva Gosvāmī Gauḍīya

Commentary

I should not become proud that the Lord has come to my house with his devotees. With that realization as a cause, he speaks with a lowly attitude on realizing the mercy of the Lord upon him. How have I met Kṛṣṇa and these brāhmaṇas within whose minds the form of Kṛṣṇa (asya ātma) always appears?

Śrīdhara Svāmī Gauḍīya

Commentary

He did not become proud, but rather his humility increased, with great devotion. He began to think, out of humility, not thinking from the beginning that this had happened because he was a devotee. I am in the blind well of household life. The dust of the sages’ feet is the shelter of all tīrthas. How have I met Kṛṣṇa and these brāhmaṇas within whose minds the form of Kṛṣṇa (asya ātma) always appears? Or the sages live in the Lord’s place, Dvāraka (ātma-niketa). They are closely related with the Lord. They are most worthy of worship on this earth (bhūsuraiḥ).

Related values & verses

Related values

Sthitaprajna (Steady Wisdom)Vairagya (Detachment / Dispassion)Discriminative WisdomAbhaya (Fearlessness)Seva (Service / Selfless Action)Saurya (Heroism / Bravery)Samata (Equanimity / Even-mindedness)Ishvara Pranidhana (Surrender to God)

Personal Guidance

He wonders: how could I, fallen in family life, have met Kṛṣṇa? Right gratitude includes amazement at one's unworthiness; the gift makes no sense by merit.

Reflection Questions

What blessing in my life makes no sense by my own merit?
Where could amazed gratitude replace assumed entitlement?

Analogy

Śrutadeva calls his own household life a 'blind well' — gṛha-andha-kūpa. The bhakta does not flatter his station. Yet the blind well now has Kṛṣṇa at its bottom; even the well becomes a tīrtha.

Stories

Andha-kūpa in śāstra

The image of the household as a blind well is recurrent in the Bhāgavatam — most pointedly in SB 5.13–14, where Jaḍa Bharata describes the saṁsāric forest to Rahūgaṇa, and a man falls into an andha-kūpa overgrown with grass. The image is older than Śrutadeva.

What is new here is the resolution: the blind well receives Kṛṣṇa as visitor. Gauḍīyas teach that gṛhastha-bhakti, when sincere, draws Bhagavān into the very well that traps others. Niṣkiñcana-disposition matters more than ascetic geography.

📝 My note

Source: vedabase.io