SB 10.70.15 — FolioCorpus

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.70.15

గృహీత్వా పాణినా పాణీ సారథేస్తమథారుహత్ । సాత్యక్యుద్ధవసంయుక్త: పూర్వాద్రిమివ భాస్కర: ॥ ౧౫ ॥

gṛhītvā pāṇinā pāṇī

[griheetvaa paaninaa paanee]

sārathes tam athāruhat

[saarathes tam athaaruhat]

sātyaky-uddhava-saṁyuktaḥ

[saatyaky-uddhava-samyuktah]

pūrvādrim iva bhāskaraḥ

[poorvaadrim iva bhaaskarah]

Word-for-word

gṛhītvā — taking pāṇinā — with His hand pāṇī — the hands sāratheḥ — of His chariot driver tam — it atha — then āruhat — He mounted sātyaki - uddhava — by Sātyaki and Uddhava saṁyuktaḥ — joined pūrva — of the east adrim — the mountain iva — as if bhāskaraḥ — the sun .

Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)

gṛhītvā pāṇinā pāṇī

gṛhītvā

taking

pāṇinā

with His hand

pāṇī

the hands

sārathes tam athāruhat

sāratheḥ

of His chariot driver

tam

atha

then

āruhat

He mounted

sātyaky-uddhava-saṁyuktaḥ

sātyaki - uddhava

by Sātyaki and Uddhava

saṁyuktaḥ

joined

pūrvādrim iva bhāskaraḥ

pūrva

of the east

adrim

the mountain

iva

as if

bhāskaraḥ

the sun .

Important Words

bhāskaraḥ — the sun
Kṛṣṇa is repeatedly compared to the sun in the SB (1.3.43 — sun of dharma; 10.14.36 — sun of devotee-protection). The simile here is liturgical: His daily rising is the inner truth behind the cosmic sunrise.
sātyaki-uddhava — Sātyaki and Uddhava
Two paradigmatic Vaiṣṇavas: Sātyaki the warrior-bhakta, Uddhava the contemplative-bhakta. Together they show that bhakti has both fierce-active and inward-reflective faces, both at Kṛṣṇa's side.
pūrva-adrim — the eastern mountain
Udayācala, the mythic mountain over which the sun rises each day. Kṛṣṇa's chariot is His personal udayācala — wherever He mounts becomes the eastern horizon for the world.
pāṇinā pāṇī — hand to hands
Bhagavān takes the charioteer's hands in His own as He mounts — physical touch initiated by the Lord. Such touch is what the gopīs called śrī-aṅga-saṅga, the supreme grace, given here to a servant who only drives.

Holding on to His charioteer’s hands, Lord Kṛṣṇa would mount the chariot, together with Sātyaki and Uddhava, just like the sun rising over the easternmost mountain.

Purport

The ācāryas point out that the Lord’s chariot driver would stand with joined palms and that the Lord, holding on to his joined hands with His right hand, would mount the chariot.

— A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda

Gauḍīya Ācāryas

Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura Gauḍīya

Translation

Holding on to His charioteer's hands, Lord Kṛṣṇa would mount the chariot, together with Sātyaki and Uddhava, just like the sun rising over the easternmost mountain.

Commentary

Taking the folded hands of his charioteer with his right hand he would mount the chariot.

Jīva Gosvāmī Gauḍīya

Commentary

The chariot was huge like a mountain. The Lord was shining like the sun because of his ornaments. The example indicates the magnificence of the chariot.

Śrīdhara Svāmī Gauḍīya

Commentary

Atha indicates auspiciousness. Sātyaki and Uddhava were the dearest servants, and thus stood by his side holding umbrella and cāmara. The chariot was huge like a mountain. The Lord was shining like the sun because of his ornaments. The example indicates the magnificence of the chariot.

Related values & verses

Concepts

Jiva

Personal Guidance

Analogy

Kṛṣṇa mounting His chariot with Sātyaki and Uddhava is the sun rising over the eastern mountain — except the sun has chosen His own two horizon-peaks to rise between. Bhakti makes the cosmos personal: even His mounting has named companions, not anonymous space.

Stories

Uddhava as Kṛṣṇa's other self

In SB 11.6 Kṛṣṇa tells Uddhava, 'You are non-different from Me' (tvaṁ tu sākṣād bhagavān). Uddhava is His second body, His confidant, the one to whom He will entrust the Uddhava-gītā at the end of His earth-līlā.

In this verse, decades earlier, Uddhava is already standing in the chariot beside Him. Sakhya-rasa is not built in a day — it is years of standing beside Him on every morning's ride.

📝 My note

Source: vedabase.io