Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.90.13
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
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smitaiḥ
—
by smiles
Instrumental plural of smita. The Bhāgavatam's recurring weapon-of-grace. Brahma-saṁhitā 5.30 names the smiling face as His emblem (smerāṁ bhaṅgī-traya-paricitām…). The smile binds more than any aiśvarya.
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ālāpa
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talk, conversation
From ā + √lap — to speak intimately. Distinct from formal vāc; ālāpa is the murmured exchange of lovers and friends. Gauḍīyas note this is where mādhurya lives — in the small talk, not the sermons.
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narma
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joking
Sanskrit word for playful banter. Rūpa Gosvāmī (Ujjvala-nīlamaṇi) catalogues narma as one of mādhurya-rasa's essential ingredients. Bhagavān is the supreme narmī — humor is theologically high.
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hṛtāḥ
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stolen
Past participle of √hṛ — to seize. Kṛṣṇa is hari, the thief of hearts. Here the thief steals not yogurt but the queens' dhī — their entire intellect. Total absorption is the goal of mādhurya-bhakti.
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dhiyaḥ
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intelligences, minds
Plural of dhī. Not just hearts (hṛd) — the discerning faculty itself is taken. Compare Bhagavad-gītā 2.49: yoga-buddhi (yoked intelligence). The queens' dhī has only one object.
Two verses describe an astonishing fact. In this way, sometimes in the house and sometimes in the water, because of his actions and smiles etc. as he played, the women’s intelligence was stolen away by prema which surpassed all discrimination. Kṣveli means grabbing them. The order of items is of increasing ability to bewilder them. (Embraces were the most bewildering). Kila indicates “Thus it is said” or “Please hear this astonishing fact.”
After describing water pastimes, the special results of the Lord’s unlimited pastimes are described in twelve verses. When Kṛṣṇa, who attracts all hearts, played in the palaces and in the water, the minds of the women were stolen by his gestures, talks, glances, smiles, jokes, touches and embracees. These all attracted their hearts. The sequence is in order increasing power to steal the mind. Because these women had special prema, it was suitable that their minds would be stolen (hrtā dhiyaḥ). Dhiyaḥ means their ability to discriminate and judge properly. Kila means certainly. Because of their special bhāva, certainly this happened.
- Which of God's 'small' attentions in my life have most captivated me?
- What detail in someone I love deserves the same attention I give to Kṛṣṇa's?
Gestures, talk, glances, smiles, jokes, embraces — six small things. Kṛṣṇa steals the queens' hearts with what is least, not what is most. Bhagavān's irresistibility is not in His weapons but in His smile.
My note
Source: vedabase.io