FolioCorpusBhagavad-gītā

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.65.31

కామం విహృత్య సలిలాదుత్తీర్ణాయాసీతామ్బరే । భూషణాని మహార్హాణి దదౌ కాన్తి: శుభాం స్రజమ్ ॥ ౩౧ ॥
kāmaṁ vihṛtya salilād
[kaamam vihritya salilaad]
uttīrṇāyāsītāmbare
[utteernaayaaseetaambare]
bhūṣaṇāni mahārhāṇi
[bhooshanaani mahaarhaani]
dadau kāntiḥ śubhāṁ srajam
[dadau kaantih shubhaam srajam]
kāmam — as pleased Him vihṛtya — having played salilāt — from the water uttīrṇāya — to Him who had risen asita — blue ambare — a pair of garments (upper and lower) bhūṣaṇāni — ornaments mahā — greatly arhāṇi — valuable dadau — gave kāntiḥ — Goddess Kānti śubhām — splendidly beautiful srajam — a necklace .
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
kāmaṁ vihṛtya salilād
kāmam
as pleased Him
vihṛtya
having played
salilāt
from the water
uttīrṇāyāsītāmbare
uttīrṇāya
to Him who had risen
asita
blue
ambare
a pair of garments (upper and lower)
bhūṣaṇāni mahārhāṇi
bhūṣaṇāni
ornaments
mahā
greatly
arhāṇi
valuable
dadau kāntiḥ śubhāṁ srajam
dadau
gave
kāntiḥ
Goddess Kānti
śubhām
splendidly beautiful
srajam
a necklace .
  • vihṛtya — having played
    Absolutive of vi-√hṛ (to sport). The same root that names vihāra — divine play. The verse signals the formal end of one līlā-unit. Gauḍīyas mark vihāra as a technical term: it is play and not work.
  • asita — blue
    Lit. 'not-white' — dark blue. Balarāma's signature color is blue garments, contrasted with Kṛṣṇa's yellow. Iconography: Balarāma is fair-skinned with blue clothes; Kṛṣṇa is dark-skinned with yellow. The garments mark the brothers.
  • ambare — a pair of garments
    Locative of ambara (cloth, sky — same word). Dual-implied. Gauḍīyas note the pun: His clothing is also His sky — Bhagavān is wrapped in His own atmosphere.
  • kāntiḥ — Goddess Kānti
    Personified beauty/radiance. The goddess named Kānti — one of Lakṣmī's aspects in some traditions. Gauḍīya reading: Balarāma's consort-aspect (also called Revatī, Vāruṇī) presents His ornaments; even His dressing is conjugal.
  • srajam — a necklace
    Garland, necklace. Vaijayantī from v. 24 is replaced or complemented here. The Bhāgavatam keeps Bhagavān's neck named — Gauḍīyas: the throat is rasa-loaded, since it carries both ornament and song.
The Lord played in the water to His full satisfaction, and when He came out Goddess Kānti presented Him with blue garments, precious ornaments and a brilliant necklace.

Śrīla Śrīdhara Svāmī quotes from the Viṣṇu Purāṇa to show that the goddess Kānti mentioned here is actually Lakṣmī, the goddess of fortune: varuṇa-prahitā cāsmai mālām amlāna-paṅkajām samudrābhe tathā vastre nīle lakṣmīr ayacchata “Sent by Varuna, Goddess Lakṣmī then presented Him with a garland of unfading lotuses and a pair of garments colored blue like the ocean.” The great Bhāgavatam commentator Śrīla Śrīdhara Svāmī also quotes the following statement from Śrī Hari-vaṁśa, spoken by Goddess Lakṣmī to Lord Balarāma: jātarūpa-mayaṁ caikaṁ kuṇḍalaṁ vajra-bhūṣaṇam ādi-padmaṁ ca padmākhyaṁ divyaṁ śravaṇa-bhūṣaṇam devemāṁ pratigṛhṇīṣva paurāṇīṁ bhūṣaṇa-kriyām “O Lord, please accept as divine ornaments for Your ears this single gold earring studded with diamonds and this primeval lotus called Padma. Kindly accept them, for this act of adornment is traditional.” Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī further points out that Goddess Lakṣmī is the consort of the Lord’s plenary expansion Saṅkarṣaṇa who belongs to the second vyūha.

— A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda
Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura Gauḍīya
Translation
The Lord played in the water to His full satisfaction, and when He came out Goddess Kānti presented Him with blue garments, precious ornaments and a brilliant necklace.
Commentary

Kanti is particular form of Laksmi. The Visnu Purana says, "Laksmi presented Balarama with a lotus garland which did not fade and a pair of garments blue like the ocean." The authorities say that she is the wife of Sankarsana in the second caturvyuha expansion.

Jīva Gosvāmī Gauḍīya
Commentary

Kānti is an expansion of Lakṣmī according to Viṣṇu Purāṇa. She is the wife of Saṅkarṣaṇa of the second vyūha.

Related values
Anahankarah (Freedom from False Ego)Kshama (Forgiveness / Patience)Udyama (Industriousness / Effort)Atma Nigraha (Self-control)Karuna (Kindness / Compassion)
Related verses

When the play is done, the goddess of beauty herself brings the dressing-room: blue silks, gold, a necklace. The cosmos has stage-hands not only for entry (v. 22) but for exit; Bhagavān is robed back into His royal form by personifications.

📝 My note

← Read full Chapter 65