FolioCorpusBhagavad-gītā

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.58.20

శ్రీకాలిన్ద్యువాచ అహం దేవస్య సవితుర్దుహితా పతిమిచ్ఛతీ । విష్ణుం వరేణ్యం వరదం తప: పరమమాస్థిత: ॥ ౨౦ ॥
śrī-kālindy uvāca
[shree-kaalindy uvaacha]
ahaṁ devasya savitur
[aham devasya savitur]
duhitā patim icchatī
[duhitaa patim ichchatee]
viṣṇuṁ vareṇyaṁ vara-daṁ
[vishnum varenyam vara-dam]
tapaḥ paramam āsthitaḥ
[tapah paramam aasthitah]
śrī - kālindī uvāca — Śrī Kālindī said aham — I devasya — of the demigod savituḥ — Savitā (the sun-god) duhitā — the daughter patim — as my husband icchatī — desiring viṣṇum — Lord Viṣṇu vareṇyam — the most choice vara - dam — bestower of one’s choice tapaḥ — in austerities paramam — extreme āsthitaḥ — engaged .
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
śrī-kālindy uvāca
śrī - kālindī uvāca
Śrī Kālindī said
ahaṁ devasya savitur
aham
I
devasya
of the demigod
savituḥ
Savitā (the sun-god)
duhitā patim icchatī
duhitā
the daughter
patim
as my husband
icchatī
desiring
viṣṇuṁ vareṇyaṁ vara-daṁ
viṣṇum
Lord Viṣṇu
vareṇyam
the most choice
vara - dam
bestower of one’s choice
tapaḥ paramam āsthitaḥ
tapaḥ
in austerities
paramam
extreme
āsthitaḥ
engaged .
  • savituḥ — of Savitā (the sun-god)
    Sūrya — the visible Sun. Kālindī's father is the sun-god; her sister is Yamī (Yamunā), her brother is Yamarāja. A cosmic lineage. Gauḍīyas: every great river is daughter of light; she chooses the source of light.
  • viṣṇum — Lord Viṣṇu
    She names her desired husband as Viṣṇu — the Bhāgavatam uses the name to signal her doctrinal clarity. Gauḍīya reading: she knows the Person she wants; the tapas is method, not search.
  • vara - dam — the bestower of boons
    Compound vara (boon) + da (giver). Kṛṣṇa is not merely the goal; He is the giver of the boon by which He becomes the goal. Gauḍīya: bhakti itself is His gift; the tapas works only because He has consented to be its fruit.
  • tapaḥ — penance
    From √tap — to heat. Penance burns away every desire except the one. Kālindī's tapaḥ is the long heat that has clarified her wish to a single point. Gauḍīyas: ekāgra-tapas is the prelude to ekāgra-bhakti.
Śrī Kālindī said: I am the daughter of the sun-god. I desire to get as my husband the most excellent and munificent Lord Viṣṇu, and to that end I am performing severe penances.

As Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī points out, Śrīmatī Kālindī correctly understood that Lord Viṣṇu, being the source of all benedictions, is the supreme husband and can thus fulfill all the desires of His wife.

— A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda
Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura Gauḍīya
Translation
Śrī Kālindī said: I am the daughter of the sun-god. I desire to get as my husband the most excellent and munificent Lord Viṣṇu, and to that end I am performing severe penances.
Commentary

"Desiring beautiful Visnu, who can fulfill my desires, as my husband, I am doing penance."

Jīva Gosvāmī Gauḍīya
Commentary

She reveals her desire immediately, worrying he would suggest someone other than her desired man. Out of respect she describes her father as devasya. This indicates she is also a devatā. I desire as a husband only he who spreads himself everywhere (viṣṇum), who is the best, and who bestows all desires.

Related values
Shraddha (Faith / Reverence)Dhairya (Composure / Courage)Shaucha (Cleanliness / Purity)Tapas (Austerity / Discipline)Vairagya (Detachment / Dispassion)Seva (Service / Selfless Action)Atma Nigraha (Self-control)Karuna (Kindness / Compassion)Svadhyaya (Self-study & Scripture Study)Brahmacharya (Self-discipline / Restraint)
Related verses
Concepts
Jiva

The Sun's own daughter sets her gaze on the One who is the Sun's source — water seeking its origin, light seeking the Lamp. Kālindī's penance is the cosmos' own reflex.

Sītā's choice

Sītā, daughter of the earth, did not survey suitors at her svayaṁvara so much as wait for Rāma to lift the bow that none other could lift (Rāmāyaṇa, Bāla-kāṇḍa). Her vow was as firm as Kālindī's: this one or none.

Gauḍīyas read the pattern: Lakṣmī-tattva, in each yuga's līlā, refuses every other husband. Kālindī's tapas is one more verse in that long śloka.

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