FolioCorpusBhagavad-gītā

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.56.44

తాం సత్యభామాం భగవానుపయేమే యథావిధి । బహుభిర్యాచితాం శీలరూపౌదార్యగుణాన్వితామ్ ॥ ౪౪ ॥
tāṁ satyabhāmāṁ bhagavān
[taam satyabhaamaam bhagavaan]
upayeme yathā-vidhi
[upayeme yathaa-vidhi]
bahubhir yācitāṁ śīla-
[bahubhir yaachitaam sheela-]
rūpaudārya-guṇānvitām
[roopaudaarya-gunaanvitaam]
tām — she satyabhāmām — Satyabhāmā bhagavān — the Lord upayeme — married yathā - vidhi — by proper rituals bahubhiḥ — by many men yācitām — asked for śīla — of fine character rūpa — beauty audārya — and magnanimity guṇa — with the qualities anvitām — endowed .
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
tāṁ satyabhāmāṁ bhagavān
tām
she
satyabhāmām
Satyabhāmā
bhagavān
the Lord
upayeme yathā-vidhi
upayeme
married
yathā - vidhi
by proper rituals
bahubhir yācitāṁ śīla-
bahubhiḥ
by many men
yācitām
asked for
śīla
of fine character
rūpaudārya-guṇānvitām
rūpa
beauty
audārya
and magnanimity
guṇa
with the qualities
anvitām
endowed .
  • satyabhāmām — Satyabhāmā
    Accusative of Satyabhāmā — 'true splendour' (satya + bhāmā). Her name carries the chapter's central irony: she is the satya that the jewel-named-truth Satrājit could not see. She is the real Satya. Naming is doctrine.
  • yathā-vidhi — by proper rituals
    Compound: yathā (as) + vidhi (rule, scripture). Even Bhagavān marries by śāstric ritual — He does not exempt Himself. Gauḍīya principle: Bhagavān honours every legitimate vidhi even when He has no need of it.
  • audārya — magnanimity
    From udāra (large, generous). Audārya — generosity of spirit. The Bhāgavatam names this as a quality of the Lord's queens. Satyabhāmā is generous in spirit even before she is generous in act.
  • bahubhiḥ yācitām — asked for by many
    Compound idea: bahu (many) + yāc (request, passive participle). Many had asked; one received. Bhāgavata pattern — the Lord wins through patience what others sought through haste.
The Lord married Satyabhāmā in proper religious fashion. Possessed of excellent behavior, along with beauty, broad-mindedness and all other good qualities, she had been sought by many men.

Śrīla Śrīdhara Svāmī explains that men such as Kṛtavarmā had sought the hand of Satyabhāmā.

— A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda
Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura Gauḍīya
Translation
The Lord married Satyabhāmā in proper religious fashion. Possessed of excellent behavior, along with beauty, broad-mindedness and all other good qualities, she had been sought by many men.
Jīva Gosvāmī Gauḍīya
Commentary

Kṛṣṇa had also brought home Jāmbavatī and married her but they arrangement did not take place in the same way, according to all the rules (yathā vidhi), since Jāmbavān’s family was not present. Because she was endowed with great character and beauty, and other accompanying qualities, she was sought by many others. It will be explained that she had been promised in marriage to Kṛtavarmā and others.

Related values
Shraddha (Faith / Reverence)Asteya (Non-stealing / Honesty)Kshama (Forgiveness / Patience)Abhaya (Fearlessness)Nyaya (Justice / Righteous Judgment)Apaishunam (Non-slander)Pratijna (Vow-keeping / Sacred Resolve)Vairagya (Detachment / Dispassion)Daya (Compassion / Mercy)Discriminative Wisdom
Related verses
Concepts
GunaJivaSatya

Satyabhāmā — śīla, rūpa, audārya — comes to Kṛṣṇa not as compensation but as treasure. The chapter that opened with a jewel ends with two queens: the Lord's wealth is people. Kṛṣṇa converts every offered object back into a relationship.

Satyabhāmā weighed against Kṛṣṇa

Later in Kṛṣṇa-līlā, Satyabhāmā tried to give Him away in a tulā-bhāra ceremony — placing Kṛṣṇa on one pan and all her gold on the other. The gold could not lift Him. Only Rukmiṇī's single tulasī leaf, placed in love, balanced the scale.

The story rhymes back to this verse: Satyabhāmā, who enters the family through a jewel-narrative, will spend her marriage learning that no jewel weighs as much as a leaf given in true bhakti. Her education is long; the Bhāgavatam tells it kindly.

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