FolioCorpusŚrīmad-Bhāgavatam

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 9.10.15

कामं प्रयाहि जहि विश्रवसोऽवमेहं त्रैलोक्यरावणमवाप्नुहि वीर पत्नीम् । बध्नीहि सेतुमिह ते यशसो वितत्यै गायन्ति दिग्विजयिनो यमुपेत्य भूपा: ॥ १५ ॥
kāmaṁ prayāhi jahi viśravaso ’vamehaṁ
[kaamam prayaahi jahi vishravaso ’vameham]
trailokya-rāvaṇam avāpnuhi vīra patnīm
[trailokya-raavanam avaapnuhi veera patneem]
badhnīhi setum iha te yaśaso vitatyai
[badhneehi setum iha te yashaso vitatyai]
gāyanti dig-vijayino yam upetya bhūpāḥ
[gaayanti dig-vijayino yam upetya bhoopaah]
Word-for-word
kāmam — as You like prayāhi — You may go over my water jahi — just conquer viśravasaḥ — of Viśravā Muni avameham — pollution, like urine trailokya — for the three worlds rāvaṇam — the person known as Rāvaṇa, the cause of weeping avāpnuhi — regain vīra — O great hero patnīm — Your wife badhnīhi — just construct setum — a bridge iha — here (on this water) te — of Your good self yaśasaḥ — fame vitatyai — to expand gāyanti — will glorify dik-vijayinaḥ — great heroes who have conquered all directions yam — which (bridge) upetya — coming near bhūpāḥ — great kings.
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
kāmaṁ prayāhi jahi viśravaso ’vamehaṁ
kāmam
as You like
prayāhi
You may go over my water
jahi
just conquer
viśravasaḥ
of Viśravā Muni
trailokya-rāvaṇam avāpnuhi vīra patnīm
avameham
pollution, like urine
trailokya
for the three worlds
rāvaṇam
the person known as Rāvaṇa, the cause of weeping
avāpnuhi
regain
badhnīhi setum iha te yaśaso vitatyai
vīra
O great hero
gāyanti dig-vijayino yam upetya bhūpāḥ
patnīm
Your wife
badhnīhi
just construct
setum
a bridge
iha
here (on this water)
te
of Your good self
yaśasaḥ
fame
vitatyai
to expand
gāyanti
will glorify
dik-vijayinaḥ
great heroes who have conquered all directions
yam
which (bridge)
upetya
coming near
bhūpāḥ
great kings.
My Lord, You may use my water as You like. Indeed, You may cross it and go to the abode of Rāvaṇa, who is the great source of disturbance and crying for the three worlds. He is the son of Viśravā, but is condemned like urine. Please go kill him and thus regain Your wife, Sītādevī. O great hero, although my water presents no impediment to Your going to Laṅkā, please construct a bridge over it to spread Your transcendental fame. Upon seeing this wonderfully uncommon deed of Your Lordship, all the great heroes and kings in the future will glorify You.
Purport

It is said that a son and urine emanate from the same source — the genitals. When a son is a devotee or a great learned person, the seminal discharge for begetting a son is successful, but if the son is unqualified and brings no glory to his family, he is no better than urine. Here Rāvaṇa is compared to urine because he was a cause of disturbances to the three worlds. Thus the ocean personified wanted him killed by Lord Rāmacandra.

One feature of the Supreme Personality of Godhead Lord Rāmacandra is omnipotence. The Lord can act without regard to material impediments or inconveniences, but to prove that He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead and was not merely advertised as Godhead or elected by popular vote, He constructed a wonderful bridge over the ocean. Nowadays it has become fashionable to create some artificial God who performs no uncommon activities; a little magic will bewilder a foolish person into selecting an artificial God because he does not understand how powerful God is. Lord Rāmacandra, however, constructed a bridge over the water with stone by making the stone float. This is proof of God’s uncommonly wonderful power. Why should someone be accepted as God without displaying extraordinary potency by doing something never to be done by any common man? We accept Lord Rāmacandra as the Supreme Personality of Godhead because He constructed this bridge, and we accept Lord Kṛṣṇa as the Supreme Personality of Godhead because He lifted Govardhana Hill when He was only seven years old. We should not accept any rascal as God or an incarnation of God, for God displays special features in His various activities. Therefore, the Lord Himself says in Bhagavad-gītā (4.9) :

janma karma ca me divyam evaṁ yo vetti tattvataḥ tyaktvā dehaṁ punar janma naiti mām eti so ’rjuna

“One who knows the transcendental nature of My appearance and activities does not, upon leaving the body, take his birth again in this material world, but attains My eternal abode, O Arjuna.” The activities of the Lord are not common; they are all transcendentally wonderful and not able to be performed by any other living being. The symptoms of the Lord’s activities are all mentioned in the śāstras, and after one understands them one can accept the Lord as He is.

— A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda
Gauḍīya Ācāryas
Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura Gauḍīya
Translation
At your will, cross the ocean. Conquer Rāvaṇa, who makes the three worlds cry, who is the urine of his father Viśravā. O hero! Regain your wife. For spreading your fame, construct a bridge here. Approaching that bridge, the great heroes and kings will glorify your fame. Rāvaṇa, who made the three worlds cry, was like the urine of Viśravā his father. Approaching that bridge, great heroes and kings will glorify your fame.
Related lectures
Personal Guidance
The ocean offers Rāma full use of his waters and even urges Him to build a bridge to glorify Himself for future generations. True devotion offers not only access but also the suggestion of how the Lord might be remembered better.
Reflection Questions
  • Whose resources or platforms might I offer to the Lord's service, suggesting how He could be glorified through them?
  • Where am I waiting to be asked when I could be volunteering ideas for His glory?
📝 My note

Source: vedabase.io

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