FolioCorpusBhagavad-gītā

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.80.38

వయం భృశం తత్ర మహానిలామ్బుభి- ర్నిహన్యమానా మహురమ్బుసమ్ప్లవే । దిశోఽవిదన్తోఽథ పరస్పరం వనే గృహీతహస్తా: పరిబభ్రిమాతురా: ॥ ౩౮ ॥
vayaṁ bhṛśam tatra mahānilāmbubhir
[vayam bhrisham tatra mahaanilaambubhir]
nihanyamānā mahur ambu-samplave
[nihanyamaanaa mahur ambu-samplave]
diśo ’vidanto ’tha parasparaṁ vane
[disho ’vidanto ’tha parasparam vane]
gṛhīta-hastāḥ paribabhrimāturāḥ
[griheeta-hastaah paribabhrimaaturaah]
vayam — we bhṛśam — thoroughly tatra — there mahā — great anila — by the wind ambubhiḥ — and water nihanyamānāḥ — beset muhuḥ — continuously ambu - samplave — in the flooding diśaḥ — the directions avidantaḥ — unable to discern atha — then parasparam — each other’s vane — in the forest gṛhīta — holding hastāḥ — hands paribabhrima — we wandered āturāḥ — distressed .
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
vayaṁ bhṛśam tatra mahānilāmbubhir
vayam
we
bhṛśam
thoroughly
tatra
there
mahā
great
anila
by the wind
ambubhiḥ
and water
nihanyamānā mahur ambu-samplave
nihanyamānāḥ
beset
muhuḥ
continuously
ambu - samplave
in the flooding
diśo ’vidanto ’tha parasparaṁ vane
diśaḥ
the directions
avidantaḥ
unable to discern
gṛhīta-hastāḥ paribabhrimāturāḥ
atha
then
parasparam
each other’s
vane
in the forest
gṛhīta
holding
hastāḥ
hands
paribabhrima
we wandered
āturāḥ
distressed .
  • ambubhiḥ — and water
    Instrumental plural of ambu. The flood-waters that beat them. Gauḍīyas: the elements of saṁsāra batter the bhakta-pair, but the holding-of-hands is what is asked.
  • ambu - samplave — in the flooding
    Compound: ambu + samplava (flood). Pralaya-like imagery — a cosmic-scale word for a forest flood. Gauḍīyas: the Bhāgavatam's grammar reaches for cosmic vocabulary even at small-scale events, because the small scale is the cosmic event in miniature.
  • parasparam — each other's
    Same word as v.27 — recurring sakhya-marker. The chapter's central rasa-word: parasparam. Hand-to-hand, eye-to-eye, friend-to-friend.
  • gṛhīta - hastāḥ — holding hands
    Compound: gṛhīta (held) + hasta (hand). The image. Gauḍīyas treat this as iconic of the sakhya-rasa: hands clasped, not as romance but as mutual unwillingness to be parted.
  • āturāḥ — distressed
    Adjective: afflicted, suffering. Both of them — including the boy who is Bhagavān incognito. Gauḍīyas note: Kṛṣṇa, in His student līlā, fully participates in suffering. He does not exempt Himself.
Constantly besieged by the powerful wind and rain, we lost our way amidst the flooding waters. We simply held each other’s hands and, in great distress, wandered aimlessly about the forest.

Śrīla Śrīdhara Svāmī points out that the verb paribabhrima may be understood to be the prefix pari with either the verb bhṛ or bhram. In the case of bhram, it indicates that Kṛṣṇa and Sudāmā wandered all about, and in the case of bhṛ, which means “to carry,” it indicates that as the two young boys wandered about, they continued to carry the firewood they had secured for their spiritual master.

— A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda
Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura Gauḍīya
Translation
Constantly besieged by the powerful wind and rain, we lost our way amidst the flooding waters. We simply held each other's hands and, in great distress, wandered aimlessly about the forest.
Commentary

We wandered all around (pari babhrima). Or we carried our loads of wood around. The root can be either bhram to wander or bhr to carry. The form babhrima instead of babhrma however is vedic usage.

Jīva Gosvāmī Gauḍīya
Commentary

We wandered all around. Babhrima is used instead of babhramima as poetic license.

Śrīdhara Svāmī Gauḍīya
Commentary

We were constantly (ni) afflicted by showers of water. And being helpless (āturāḥ) we got lost.

Related values
Aparigraha (Non-possessiveness)Seva (Service / Selfless Action)Tyaga (Renunciation / Letting Go)Yajña (Sacrifice / Spirit of Offering)Dana (Charity / Generosity)Bhakti (Devotion)Nishkama Karma (Selfless Action)Prema (Divine Love)
Related verses
Concepts
RasaJiva

Hand in hand in the flood — the two of them, Bhagavān and bhakta, holding each other through the dark. The whole chapter's image of sakhya is condensed here: not separately surviving but jointly suffering. Mahāprabhu's parikara walks through the same forest in every age.

Nityānanda and Mahāprabhu wandering at Pānihāṭi

Caitanya-caritāmṛta and Caitanya-bhāgavata record many scenes where Mahāprabhu and Nityānanda walked together through villages, weeping, embracing, hand-clasped — the saṅkīrtana-companions in unbreakable sakhya.

Gauḍīyas read SB 10.80.38 as the seed-verse: gṛhīta-hastāḥ — the Lord and His sakhi walk hand-in-hand through every storm. The forest is dark; the hand is firm.

📝 My note

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