FolioCorpusŚrīmad-Bhāgavatam

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.86.49

स त्वं शाधि स्वभृत्यान् न: किं देव करवाम हे । एतदन्तो नृणां क्लेशो यद् भवानक्षिगोचर: ॥ ४९ ॥
sa tvaṁ śādhi sva-bhṛtyān naḥ
[sa tvam shaadhi sva-bhrityaan nah]
kiṁ deva karavāma he
[kim deva karavaama he]
etad-anto nṛṇāṁ kleśo
[etad-anto nrinaam klesho]
yad bhavān akṣi-gocaraḥ
[yad bhavaan akshi-gocharah]
Word-for-word
saḥ — He tvam — You śādhi — please order sva — Your bhṛtyān — servants naḥ — us kim — what deva — O Lord karavāma — we should do he — oh etat — having this antaḥ — as its end nṛṇām — of humans kleśaḥ — the troubles yat — that bhavān — Your good self akṣi — to the eyes go - caraḥ — visible .
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
sa tvaṁ śādhi sva-bhṛtyān naḥ
saḥ
He
tvam
You
śādhi
please order
sva
Your
bhṛtyān
servants
naḥ
us
kiṁ deva karavāma he
kim
what
deva
O Lord
karavāma
we should do
he
oh
etad-anto nṛṇāṁ kleśo
etat
having this
antaḥ
as its end
nṛṇām
of humans
kleśaḥ
the troubles
yad bhavān akṣi-gocaraḥ
yat
that
bhavān
Your good self
akṣi
to the eyes
go - caraḥ
visible .
Important Words
  • bhṛtyān — servants
    From √bhṛ (to bear, to maintain). 'Those who are maintained.' Servants whose maintenance comes from the master. Gauḍīyas favor this word: dāsa is generic, bhṛtya is intimate — the one whose every meal is from the master's table.
  • śādhi — please order
    Imperative of √śās (to instruct, to rule). 'Order us.' The classical word for the master's command. Cf. BG 2.7 — śiṣyas te 'haṁ śādhi māṁ tvāṁ prapannam — Arjuna's surrender to Kṛṣṇa as guru. Same word, same disposition.
  • kleśaḥ — the troubles
    From √kliś (to torment). Suffering. Yoga-sūtra catalogs five kleśas (avidyā, asmitā, rāga, dveṣa, abhiniveśa). Bhagavān's darśana ends all of them — Gauḍīyas: prema is the simultaneous unraveling of every kleśa.
  • akṣi-go-caraḥ — visible to the eyes (lit. 'within the pasture of the eyes')
    Compound: akṣi (eye) + go-cara (pasture-range). The same image as v. 32's dṛk-gocara. Once Bhagavān is gocara, the eye stops grazing on other forms. The metaphor identifies the eye as a cow and Kṛṣṇa as the only fitting pasture.
O Lord, You are that Supreme Soul, and we are Your servants. How shall we serve You? My Lord, simply seeing You puts an end to all the troubles of human life.
Gauḍīya Ācāryas
Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura Gauḍīya
Translation
O Lord, You are that Supreme Soul, and we are Your servants. How shall we serve You? My Lord, simply seeing You puts an end to all the troubles of human life.
Commentary

"Please instruct me (sadhi)."

Jīva Gosvāmī Gauḍīya
Commentary

Instruct me since I am your servant. Not only that, I also want to please you. What can I do to please you (te)? The reason is given: you are my object of worship (deva)! It is necessary for the servants to please the deity they worship. “How can people suffering in this world follow my orders?” My suffering disappeared on seeing you. Now I follow your orders. That is my only goal.

Śrīdhara Svāmī Gauḍīya
Commentary

Instruct me since I am your servant. Not only that, I also want to please you. What can I do to please you (te)? The reason is given: you are my object of worship (deva)! It is necessary for the servants to please the deity they worship. “What is the purpose of this worship?” Seeing you puts an end to the suffering of not attaining you, the suffering of separation from you.

Instead of sa tvam, the words can be taken as satvam, meaning sādhutvam, bhakti to you. Please teach bhakti. “But you already have bhakti.” We are servants of our relatives (sva-bhṛtyān). We are not your devotees. Or we are busy with our dependents (sva-bhrtyān). Since bhakti’s purpose is to see the Lord, seeing him is glorified. Seeing you destroys unlimited suffering in saṁsāra. Or now that our suffering is destroyed, teach bhakti to attain the bliss of prema. He does not directly request the Lord to stay in house as the king did, since that should be accomplished by understanding the meaning of his words. Or out of humility he considers himself unworthy.

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)
Related verses
BG 2.60 BG 5.7 BG 12.5 BG 5.4 BG 16.2 BG 6.1 BG 9.26 BG 10.4 BG 3.27 BG 3.11 BG 18.1 BG 6.13
Related lectures
Personal Guidance
We are Your servants. How shall we serve You? Seeing You has fulfilled our every desire. The mature devotee asks not 'what for me' but 'what may I do for You.'
Reflection Questions
  • When did I last ask God 'how may I serve You' instead of 'what will You do for me'?
  • Where would shifting the question shift my whole prayer life?
Analogy

'You are the Supreme Soul, we are Your servants. Tell us what to do.' Bhakti's most concise prayer. The bhakta does not ask Bhagavān for things; he asks for orders.

Stories
Hanumān's defining question

In the Rāmāyaṇa, every time Hanumān finishes a task he asks Rāma the same question: 'kim karavāṇi?' — 'What shall I do (next)?' This question — what Śrutadeva asks here in slightly different words (kim karavāma deva) — is the formula of dāsya-bhakti.

Gauḍīyas teach that the highest prayer is not for boons but for orders. CC has Caitanya Mahāprabhu's famous line — 'mat-prāṇa-nātha sei, anya nā māniyā' — accepting only Kṛṣṇa as master. Hanumān to Rāma, Śrutadeva to Kṛṣṇa, Mahāprabhu to His own ātmā: the prayer is the same.

📝 My note

Source: vedabase.io

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