FolioCorpusŚrīmad-Bhāgavatam

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 4.8.16

सोत्सृज्य धैर्यं विललाप शोक दावाग्निना दावलतेव बाला । वाक्यं सपत्‍न्या: स्मरती सरोज श्रिया द‍ृशा बाष्पकलामुवाह ॥ १६ ॥
sotsṛjya dhairyaṁ vilalāpa śoka-
[sotsrijya dhairyam vilalaapa shoka-]
dāvāgninā dāva-lateva bālā
[daavaagninaa daava-lateva baalaa]
vākyaṁ sapatnyāḥ smaratī saroja-
[vaakyam sapatnyaah smaratee saroja-]
śriyā dṛśā bāṣpa-kalām uvāha
[shriyaa drishaa baashpa-kalaam uvaaha]
sā — she utsṛjya — giving up dhairyam — patience vilalāpa — lamented śoka-dāva-agninā — by the fire of grief dāva-latā iva — like burnt leaves bālā — the woman vākyam — words sa-patnyāḥ — spoken by her co-wife smaratī — remember saroja-śriyā — a face as beautiful as a lotus dṛśā — by looking bāṣpa-kalām — weeping uvāha — said.
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
sotsṛjya dhairyaṁ vilalāpa śoka-
dāvāgninā dāva-lateva bālā
vākyaṁ sapatnyāḥ smaratī saroja-
sā
she
utsṛjya
giving up
dhairyam
patience
vilalāpa
lamented
śoka-dāva-agninā
by the fire of grief
dāva-latā iva
like burnt leaves
śriyā dṛśā bāṣpa-kalām uvāha
bālā
the woman
vākyam
words
sa-patnyāḥ
spoken by her co-wife
smaratī
remember
saroja-śriyā
a face as beautiful as a lotus
dṛśā
by looking
bāṣpa-kalām
weeping
uvāha
said.
This incident was unbearable to Sunīti’s patience. She began to burn as if in a forest fire, and in her grief she became just like a burnt leaf and so lamented. As she remembered the words of her co-wife, her bright, lotuslike face filled with tears, and thus she spoke.

When a man is aggrieved, he feels exactly like a burnt leaf in a forest fire. Sunīti’s position was like that. Although her face was as beautiful as a lotus flower, it dried up because of the burning fire caused by the harsh words of her co-wife.

— A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda
Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura Gauḍīya
Translation
Like a forest creeper burned by the forest fire of lamentation, the woman, remembering the words of the co-wife and losing her self-control, began to shed tears from her lotus eyes. Dāva-latā means a forest creeper.
Sunīti burns inwardly like a forest fire, her lotus-face dried by grief. A mother's pain over her child's injury is one of the most powerful prayers ever offered; that fire often becomes the kindling for the child's later greatness.
Reflection Questions
  • Whose grief on my behalf has carried me further than I realized?
  • How do I honor those whose secret fires of love for me have shaped my destiny?
📝 My note

← Read full Chapter 8