FolioCorpusŚrīmad-Bhāgavatam

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 3.21.28

समाहितं ते हृदयं यत्रेमान् परिवत्सरान् । सा त्वां ब्रह्मन्नृपवधू: काममाशु भजिष्यति ॥ २८ ॥
samāhitaṁ te hṛdayaṁ
[samaahitam te hridayam]
yatremān parivatsarān
[yatremaan parivatsaraan]
sā tvāṁ brahman nṛpa-vadhūḥ
[saa tvaam brahman nripa-vadhooh]
kāmam āśu bhajiṣyati
[kaamam aashu bhajishyati]
samāhitam — has been fixed te — your hṛdayam — heart yatra — on whom imān — for all these parivatsarān — years sā — she tvām — you brahman — O brāhmaṇa nṛpa-vadhūḥ — the princess kāmam — as you desire āśu — very soon bhajiṣyati — will serve.
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
samāhitaṁ te hṛdayaṁ
samāhitam
has been fixed
te
your
hṛdayam
heart
yatremān parivatsarān
yatra
on whom
imān
for all these
parivatsarān
years
sā tvāṁ brahman nṛpa-vadhūḥ
sā
she
tvām
you
brahman
O brāhmaṇa
nṛpa-vadhūḥ
the princess
kāmam āśu bhajiṣyati
kāmam
as you desire
āśu
very soon
bhajiṣyati
will serve.
That princess, O holy sage, will be just the type you have been thinking of in your heart for all these long years. She will soon be yours and will serve you to your heart’s content.

The Lord awards all benedictions according to the heart’s desire of a devotee, so the Lord informed Kardama Muni, “The girl who is coming to be married with you is a princess, the daughter of Emperor Svāyambhuva, and so just suitable for your purpose.” Only by God’s grace can one get a nice wife just as he desires. Similarly, it is only by God’s grace that a girl gets a husband suitable to her heart. Thus it is said that if we pray to the Supreme Lord in every transaction of our material existence, everything will be done very nicely and just suitable to our heart’s desire. In other words, in all circumstances we must take shelter of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and depend completely on His decision. Man proposes, God disposes. The fulfillment of desires, therefore, should be entrusted to the Supreme Personality of Godhead; that is the nicest solution. Kardama Muni desired only a wife, but because he was a devotee of the Lord, the Lord selected a wife for him who was the Emperor’s daughter, a princess. Thus Kardama Muni got a wife beyond his expectation. If we depend on the choice of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, we will receive benedictions in greater opulence than we desire.

It is also significantly noted here that Kardama Muni was a brāhmaṇa, whereas Emperor Svāyambhuva was a kṣatriya. Therefore, intercaste marriage was current even in those days. The system was that a brāhmaṇa could marry the daughter of a kṣatriya, but a kṣatriya could not marry the daughter of a brāhmaṇa. We have evidences from the history of the Vedic age that Śukrācārya offered his daughter to Mahārāja Yayāti, but the King had to refuse to marry the daughter of a brāhmaṇa; only with the special permission of the brāhmaṇa could they marry. Thus intercaste marriage was not prohibited in the olden days, many millions of years ago, but there was a regular system of social behavior.

— A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda
Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura Gauḍīya
Translation
This princess to whom you have been attached for ten thousand years in your heart will quickly fulfil your desires. The princess (nṛpa-vadhūh) to whom your heart has been attached will marry you.
Taking shelter of the Lord's lotus feet is not a poetic flourish — it names a real reorientation. The verse invites us to test which shelters we currently lean on and to notice when they fail to hold weight. Its centre of gravity is Supreme Personality of Godhead.
Reflection Questions
  • Which security in your life have you confused with the Lord's protection?
  • What would taking shelter look like in concrete behaviour, not just in prayer?
📝 My note

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