Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.90.17
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
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mukunda
—
giver of liberation
mukti (liberation) + da (giver). A name carrying both aiśvarya (He grants mokṣa) and mādhurya (the gopīs and queens call Him by this). Gauḍīyas note: Mukunda gives a liberation greater than mokṣa — entrance into His own service.
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ātma-lāñchanaḥ
—
your insignias
ātma (own) + lāñchana (emblem, mark). The ocean's marks — its treasures, its tides, its moon. Bhagavān takes the insignia of every devotee; what remains is restlessness for His return.
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niṣṭanase
—
you roar
Second singular of niḥ + √stan. Loud, prolonged sound; the ocean's wave-cry. Sanskrit poetics: only the agitated heart sounds. The queen hears her own state in the surf.
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prajāgaraḥ
—
wakefulness
pra + √jāgṛ — to be fully awake. The classical viraha-symptom: cannot sleep. Rūpa Gosvāmī lists jāgaraṇa among separation's bodily marks. Mukunda's absence keeps every nerve open.
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udanvan
—
O ocean
Vedic name for the ocean — 'water-bearer.' The queen addresses cosmic powers as personal interlocutors. Gauḍīyas note: this is not pathetic fallacy but right vision — every element belongs to Bhagavān; the lover knows every element is also longing.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Svāmī states that Lord Kṛṣṇa’s queens here confuse the sea surrounding Dvārakā with the celestial Ocean of Milk, from which Lakṣmī and the Kaustubha gem arose long ago. These were taken ( apahṛta ) by Lord Viṣṇu, and they now reside on His chest. The queens presume that the ocean is anxious to see once again the mark of Lakṣmī’s residence and the Kaustubha jewel on the Lord’s chest, and they express their sympathy by saying that they also want to see these marks. But the queens desire even more to see the kuṅkuma marks on the Lord’s chest, which He “took” from their breasts when they last embraced Him.
O ocean, giving up your gravity, you are making sounds like an unsteady person. Being without sleep, you are loudly crying. Please tell the reason. Well, even if you do not tell us the reason, we know the reason. Just as he stole our pearl necklaces smeared with kumkuma on the pretext of giving us conjugal enjoyment, he has stolen Laksmi, the kaustubha jewel and other things, which arose from you."
They then speak to the ocean roaring with an even louder sound. The ocean is respected because being a vibhūti of the Lord. They thus call out with respect, “Bho, bho!” They repeat the word out of great lamentation. Because of being unable to sleep, you are conspicuously (adhigataḥ) staying awake in a remarkable way (pra). In sighing like this, do you experience our suffering? Otherwise why do you do this? Considering for a moment they then speak again. Perhaps he whose nature is to take away all suffering (mukundasya) has taken away your famous characteristics like depth and steadiness. You are like us and have reached a condition that cannot be overcome. What misfortune (hā).
They then speak to the ocean roaring with an even louder sound. The ocean is respected because it is a vibhūti of the Lord. They thus call out with respect, “Bho, bho!” They repeat the word out of great lamentation. Because of being unable to sleep, you are conspicuously (adhigataḥ) staying awake in a remarkable way (pra) and roaring. Have you also (ca) come to the unfortunate condition, impossible to overcome. Have your good qualities stolen by the Lord, even though he is the bestower of all bliss? Or have your natural good qualities like steadiness and profundity been stolen by the Lord whose beautiful face reveals teeth white like kunda flowers when he smiles? Because you always roar, you also have attained the state that we have attained.
- What in the natural world have I dismissed as having no inner life?
- Where could empathy with creation deepen my relationship with God?
The ocean roars sleeplessly through the night and the queen recognizes her own ache: 'Has Mukunda taken your insignias too?' What was once the ocean's gem-treasury Bhagavān churned out (Kṣīrodaśāyī's act); now the queen reads the ocean's restlessness as longing for what He took.
In SB 8.5-9, the demigods and demons churn the Kṣīrodaka ocean and Bhagavān as Kūrma supports it. From its waters emerge Lakṣmī, the moon, Uccaiḥśravas, the kaustubha gem, and finally amṛta. The ocean lost its treasures to Bhagavān — first willingly, then to His emerging incarnations.
The queen's lament in 90.17 quietly invokes this: the ocean's insignia, taken by Mukunda. Gauḍīyas note the precision — only one in love with Kṛṣṇa would read the ocean's nightly roar as viraha. The lover sees Kṛṣṇa-relation in every cosmic motion.
My note
Source: vedabase.io