FolioCorpusBhagavad-gītā

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.38.9

ద్రక్ష్యామి నూనం సుకపోలనాసికం స్మితావలోకారుణకఞ్జలోచనమ్ । ముఖం ముకున్దస్య గుడాలకావృతం ప్రదక్షిణం మే ప్రచరన్తి వై మృగా: ॥ ౯ ॥
drakṣyāmi nūnaṁ su-kapola-nāsikaṁ
[drakshyaami noonam su-kapola-naasikam]
smitāvalokāruṇa-kañja-locanam
[smitaavalokaaruna-kanja-lochanam]
mukhaṁ mukundasya guḍālakāvṛtaṁ
[mukham mukundasya gudaalakaavritam]
pradakṣiṇaṁ me pracaranti vai mṛgāḥ
[pradakshinam me pracharanti vai mrigaah]
drakṣyāmi — I am going to see nūnam — for certain su — beautiful kapola — whose cheeks nāsikam — and nose smita — smiling avaloka — with glances aruṇa — reddish kañja — lotuslike locanam — the eyes mukham — the face mukundasya — of Lord Kṛṣṇa guḍa — twisting alaka — with hair āvṛtam — framed pradakṣiṇam — clockwise circumambulation me — of me pracaranti — are performing vai — indeed mṛgāḥ — the deer .
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
drakṣyāmi nūnaṁ su-kapola-nāsikaṁ
drakṣyāmi
I am going to see
nūnam
for certain
su
beautiful
kapola
whose cheeks
nāsikam
and nose
smitāvalokāruṇa-kañja-locanam
smita
smiling
avaloka
with glances
aruṇa
reddish
kañja
lotuslike
locanam
the eyes
mukhaṁ mukundasya guḍālakāvṛtaṁ
mukham
the face
mukundasya
of Lord Kṛṣṇa
guḍa
twisting
alaka
with hair
āvṛtam
framed
pradakṣiṇaṁ me pracaranti vai mṛgāḥ
pradakṣiṇam
clockwise circumambulation
me
of me
pracaranti
are performing
vai
indeed
mṛgāḥ
the deer .
  • su - kapola — of beautiful cheeks
    Compound: su (beautiful) + kapola (cheek). Gauḍīya meditation moves limb by limb; the cheeks are a specific object of contemplation in the gopīs' poetry. Akrūra rehearses the face piece by piece before he sees it.
  • smita — smiling
    From √smi. Kṛṣṇa's smile — the manda-hāsa — is one of the central rasa-triggers in Gauḍīya literature. A smiling glance, not a stern gaze, is how Bhagavān greets His devotee in the Bhāgavata's mood.
  • aruṇa — reddish
    Dawn-red. Kṛṣṇa's eyes are red-tinged like the dawn lotus — a specific iconographic detail Gauḍīya poets return to obsessively. The reddishness signals intoxication with the rasa of His own love.
  • mukundasya — of Lord Kṛṣṇa, the giver of liberation
    Genitive of Mukunda — mukti-da, giver of mukti. Gauḍīyas note that Bhāgavata uses this name precisely when liberation is being implicitly out-classed: the giver of mukti is here being met as the giver of something higher — prema.
  • pradakṣiṇam — clockwise circumambulation
    Pra (forward) + dakṣiṇa (right, south). The auspicious right-side passage performed before a deity. That the forest's deer naturally pradakṣiṇa Akrūra signals that he himself has become a moving deity-procession en route to Kṛṣṇa.
  • mṛgāḥ — the deer
    Nominative plural of mṛga. In Vraja-līlā the deer are devotees too — they hear the flute, they pause for it. Their omen is not random nature; it is Vraja recognizing Vraja's friend approaching.
Surely I shall see the face of Lord Mukunda, since the deer are now walking past me on my right. That face, framed by His curly hair, is beautified by His attractive cheeks and nose, His smiling glances and His reddish lotus eyes.

Akrūra saw an auspicious omen — the passing of the deer on his right — and thus felt sure he would see the Supreme Lord Kṛṣṇa.

— A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda
Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura Gauḍīya
Translation
Surely I shall see the face of Lord Mukunda, since the deer are now walking past me on my right. That face, framed by His curly hair, is beautified by His attractive cheeks and nose, His smiling glances and His reddish lotus eyes.
Commentary

Akrura confirmed that his desires would be fulfilled because of his seeing auspicious omens such as the deer circumambulating him. "Therefore it is certain that I will see his face surrounded by curly locks, his lotus eyes, his glance, his beautiful cheeks and nose, and his smiling face."

Jīva Gosvāmī Gauḍīya
Commentary

Having meditated on his lotus feet with natural dāsya-rāsa, he then desires to see Kṛṣṇa’s lotus face because of greed from intense prema. Nūnam means certainly. He is called Mukunda because of his teeth, white like jasmine buds (kunda) when he slightly smiles. This name shows the special beauty of his face. The reason he is certain that he will see is face is because of the deer walking from left to right in front of him. Vai means “it is clear.” Another version has adaḥ (there). Because of the sound of the chariot, the deer were far away. Because they were not a couple but many (mṛgāḥ) it may be concluded that black antelope were also there. In the scriptures concerning omens it is said that if two gavayas go from left to right in a pleasing manner, or if golden deer, not just two, go from, left to right, if they are all beautiful and do not move to the left, and if they are mixed with black antelope, then there can be no evil.

Related values
Anahankarah (Freedom from False Ego)Kshama (Forgiveness / Patience)Atma Nigraha (Self-control)
Related verses

A traveler reading auspicious omens along the road is not superstitious — he is a man so tuned to one face that every twig of the forest is reporting on it. The deer keeping Akrūra on their right is the forest itself telling him that the meeting will come.

📝 My note

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