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]
Word-for-word
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.
Purport
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
Gauḍīya Ācāryas
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.
Related lectures
Personal Guidance
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
Source: vedabase.io