10.86 · Arjuna Kidnaps Subhadrā, and Kṛṣṇa Blesses His Devotees

• svasāram — the sister
  Acc. sg. of svasṛ. Subhadrā is svasā of Rāma-Kṛṣṇa — not merely a relative but a divine śakti who plays the role of younger sister in the Yādava līlā. Gauḍīyas identify her with Yogamāyā in some readings; here she is Kṛṣṇa's beloved sister whose marriage Kṛṣṇa Himself orchestrates.
• rāma-kṛṣṇayoḥ — of Balarāma and Kṛṣṇa
  Genitive dual compound: the two brothers as one unit. The Gauḍīya doctrine of Rāma-Kṛṣṇa-tattva treats Balarāma as svayam-prakāśa of Kṛṣṇa — the same Bhagavān in mood of elder brother. Subhadrā stands between Them as the third sibling-rasa.
• vijayaḥ — Arjuna
  Vijaya is one of Arjuna's ten names, meaning 'the conqueror.' Parīkṣit uses it pointedly: by Kṛṣṇa's sanction, Arjuna 'conquered' Subhadrā — not by martial valor alone but by being marked from beginningless time as Kṛṣṇa's eternal sakhā.
• pitāmahī — the grandmother
  Subhadrā is Parīkṣit's paternal grandmother (Abhimanyu's mother). The verse anchors śravaṇa in personal lineage — Parīkṣit hears his own ancestry inside Kṛṣṇa's līlā, the very pattern Gauḍīyas commend: locate yourself inside the Lord's family of devotees.
• veditum — to know
  Infinitive of √vid (to know). The desire-to-know (jñātum-icchā) directed at Bhagavān's līlā is itself bhakti-yukta-jñāna — knowledge sweetened by devotional purpose, not dry inquiry.

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Parīkṣit, with the cobra Takṣaka counted in days, hears that the līlā is winding down and reaches for one more thread — the story of his own grandmother. Like a son pulling at the corner of his mother's sari before she steps away, he holds the narrative open by asking Kṛṣṇa-kathā about Kṛṣṇa's own sister.

• prabhāsam — to Prabhāsa
  Prabhāsa-kṣetra — the holy place near Dvārakā where Kṛṣṇa would later conclude His manifest pastimes. The narrative seed of separation is laid here at the start of Arjuna's romance: a tīrtha that means 'radiant,' yet bears the weight of the līlā's end.
• yatiḥ — a sannyāsī
  From √yat (to strive). A renunciant who has restrained the senses. Arjuna's adoption of yati-veśa is upāya — a means — sanctioned by Kṛṣṇa; Gauḍīyas read it as proof that outer āśrama serves bhakti, not vice versa.
• tri-daṇḍī — carrying a triple staff
  The three-staffed renunciant. The three daṇḍas signify control of body, mind and speech. Vaiṣṇava sannyāsa is tridaṇḍī (as opposed to Śaṅkarite ekadaṇḍī) — the three remain because they are offered to Bhagavān, not dissolved into brahman.
• dvārakām — to Dvārakā
  Kṛṣṇa's island city. Etymologically 'the city of gates,' but Gauḍīyas read it as the place where many gates of līlā open — aiśvarya-rasa, the city of svakīya-prema where Kṛṣṇa is king, husband, brother. Subhadrā is born here.
• lipsuḥ — desirous of obtaining
  From √labh, in the desiderative. Names Arjuna's interior state plainly — he is in kāma, not vairāgya. Yet Kṛṣṇa later sanctions this kāma (v. 9): Gauḍīyas distinguish kāma directed at Kṛṣṇa's parikara (Subhadrā is Kṛṣṇa's sister) from kāma directed at viṣaya.

Arjuna takes up the tri-daṇḍa not from renunciation but as a lover's disguise — the saffron cloth concealing a kṣatriya's fire. Like Kṛṣṇa Himself wearing the brāhmaṇa-veśa to enter Bāṇāsura's city, the outer dress is bent toward the inner mission Bhagavān has already sanctioned.

• vārṣikān — of the rainy season
  From varṣa (rain). Cāturmāsya — the four months when sannyāsīs traditionally do not travel. The cosmic schedule provides the cover; the līlā uses dharma's own clock to bring devotees together.
• sva-artha-sādhakaḥ — trying to achieve his own purpose
  Compound: sva (own) + artha (purpose) + sādhakaḥ (one accomplishing). Bhāgavata-kavi names Arjuna's purpose 'sva-artha' without irony — because his sva-artha is woven into Kṛṣṇa's saṅkalpa, it is legitimate, even sacred.
• rāmeṇa — by Lord Balarāma
  Instrumental of Rāma — here Balarāma. Gauḍīyas mark how Balarāma honors Arjuna without recognition: the disguise works because Balarāma operates in the mood of guru-bhāva toward sādhus, not investigative scrutiny.
• ajānatā — who was unaware
  Present participle of √jñā with negative. The all-knowing Balarāma chooses not to know — this is yogamāyā, the līlā-śakti that veils omniscience so the story may unfold. Bhagavān's not-knowing is volitional, not deficient.

The monsoon keeps the wandering yogi in one place — the rains are Kṛṣṇa's own way of arranging that Arjuna stay until Subhadrā appears. Even the weather is Kṛṣṇa's confidant in this saṅkalpa.

• ātithyena — as a guest
  From atithi (one without a fixed date, a guest). Vaiṣṇava-dharma treats the guest as deva — Balarāma, who is Saṅkarṣaṇa Himself, performs gṛhastha-dharma so completely that the rule overrides the secret. Form follows bhāva.
• śraddhayā — with faith
  From √śrad-dhā (to place trust). The same word Gītā 17.3 makes the substance of every person — sattvānurūpā sarvasya śraddhā bhavati. Balarāma's faith in the sannyāsa-veśa is not naïveté; it is the trust by which dharma functions in society.
• bhaikṣyam — food (offered to a mendicant)
  Alms-food. The very category of food a sannyāsī accepts. Arjuna eats Balarāma's bhaikṣya — and within hours will carry off Balarāma's sister. The verse plants the comic tension that Kṛṣṇa will have to pacify in v. 11.

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Balarāma serves food to the disguised lover — the elder brother feeds the one who will steal his sister. Gauḍīyas savor this as Kṛṣṇa's mādhurya leaking even into Dvārakā's aiśvarya: the Lord's family is run by hospitality, not surveillance.

• vīra-manaḥ-harām — enchanting to heroes (lit. carrying away the minds of heroes)
  Compound: vīra + manaḥ + harām (from √hṛ, to seize). The word manaḥ-harā is used in poetics for the heroine who captivates the hero. Subhadrā is named here as the manohara of vīras — a Kṛṣṇa-related power, since attraction to Bhagavān's parikara is no ordinary lust.
• kanyām — the girl
  From kan (to be pleased, to desire). A maiden. Subhadrā as kanyā is at the threshold — between brother's house and husband's. Gauḍīyas note that kanyā in śāstra always implies a yogyā-pātra (suitable receiver) for one designated by elders.
• bhāva-kṣubdham — agitated with emotion
  Compound: bhāva (emotion, here laukika-rati) + kṣubdham (agitated, from √kṣubh). The same root the verse uses for Balarāma's anger in v. 11 (kṣubhitaḥ) — the chapter chains together the kṣobha of lover and brother, both pacified eventually by Kṛṣṇa.
• utphulla — blossoming
  From ut + √phull (to bloom). The eyes 'bloom' — a stock alaṅkāra for the moment of darśana. Gauḍīyas use the same verb when devotees first see Bhagavān — phulla-padma-nayana, lotus-eyes blossoming.

Arjuna's eyes open like lotuses at dawn — but the sun here is Subhadrā, Kṛṣṇa's own sister. The pārtha who once needed Kṛṣṇa to lift his bow on Kurukṣetra now needs Kṛṣṇa to sanction his own heart.

• cakame — she desired
  Perfect of √kam (to love, to long for). The same root as kāma. The Bhāgavatam allows this verb of even unmarried maidens when the object is fit by Kṛṣṇa's arrangement — Subhadrā's kāma is dharmika because Kṛṣṇa is its silent author.
• hṛdayam-gamam — the capturer of the hearts
  Compound: hṛdayam (heart) + gamam (going to). One who 'enters the heart.' A poetic name for the irresistible — the Bhāgavatam often uses it of Kṛṣṇa Himself; here transferred to Arjuna, His eternal sakhā, by reflective beauty.
• vrīḍitā — bashful
  Past participle of √vrīḍ (to be ashamed, shy). The standard bhāva of a kanyā at first darśana of her destined husband. Gauḍīya rasa-śāstra catalogs vrīḍā as one of the thirty-three vyabhicāri-bhāvas, especially prominent in mādhurya.
• apāṅgī — casting sidelong glances
  From apa (away) + aṅga (limb, here corner of eye). The sidelong glance — kaṭākṣa — is the classical instrument of feminine attraction in Sanskrit poetics. Gauḍīyas savor Kṛṣṇa-kaṭākṣa as the most prized form of His mercy.

Subhadrā's sidelong glance is the small key that fits a great lock — the entire union of Pāṇḍava and Yādava houses turns on it. As a glance from the gopī decides Kṛṣṇa's whole night in Vṛndāvana, here a glance from Kṛṣṇa's sister decides the next generation of Bhārata.

• samanudhyāyan — meditating
  Sam + anu + √dhyai. Continuous meditation. The same verb used for yogic meditation on Bhagavān is here turned toward Subhadrā — but Gauḍīyas read this with humor, not condemnation: Arjuna's dhyāna on Kṛṣṇa's sister is, structurally, dhyāna inside Kṛṣṇa's family.
• antaram — the right opportunity
  From antar (interval, gap). The gap-in-time that the kidnap will need. Bhagavān arranges antaras for His devotees — the right gap in the right festival, sanctioned by parents and by Kṛṣṇa, so even an abduction becomes lawful līlā.
• kāmena — due to lust
  Instrumental of kāma. The Bhāgavatam does not pretend Arjuna is desireless — Gauḍīyas read this honesty as proof that bhakti does not require pretending. The kāma is named, and in v. 9 Kṛṣṇa sanctions its lawful fulfillment.
• ati-balīyasā — most strong
  Comparative of balin (strong) intensified by ati. Kāma is named bala — a force. Gauḍīyas note that only one bala is greater: kṛṣṇa-prema, which is the only true conqueror of kāma (CC Madhya 19.176).

Arjuna cannot sleep — the same Arjuna who, on Kurukṣetra's edge, sat down in the chariot and asked Kṛṣṇa to drive. The hero of the Gītā is here as restless as any householder in love. Kṛṣṇa's friends are not statues; they are persons whose hearts shake.

• anumataḥ — sanctioned
  From anu + √man (to think after, to consent). 'Approved by.' The hinge-word of the chapter — the abduction is anumata by parents and by Kṛṣṇa, which converts what would have been adharma into lawful kṣatriya-vivāha. Gauḍīyas extend the principle: any act done with Bhagavān's anumati is dharma.
• kṛṣṇasya — by Kṛṣṇa
  Genitive — 'of Kṛṣṇa,' i.e., Kṛṣṇa's sanction. Note that the verse names Kṛṣṇa separately from 'her parents': Kṛṣṇa is brother, not parent, yet His consent is decisive. Bhagavān's vote outweighs the household's vote because He is the source of all dharma.
• deva-yātrāyām — during a festival for the Supreme Lord
  Compound: deva + yātrā (procession). A temple-procession of the Deity. The kidnap happens during deity-utsava — the līlā uses the worship of the Lord as its own cover. There is no setting outside of Kṛṣṇa for Kṛṣṇa's plans.
• jahāra — he seized her
  Perfect of √hṛ (to carry away). The same root as in v. 6 (manaḥ-harā): she carried away his mind, now he carries her away. Sanskrit closes the circle by repeating the root. Bhāgavata-poetics treats this not as violence but as completion of mutual harā.
• mahā-rathaḥ — the mighty chariot warrior
  Technical term: one who can fight ten thousand warriors single-handed. Arjuna's epithet from the Mahābhārata is preserved exactly here — the Bhāgavata grants him his battle-rank inside the romance, signaling continuity with Kurukṣetra-līlā where Kṛṣṇa drives his chariot.

The chariot leaves the fortress and Arjuna seizes her — but the word in this verse that ends the matter is anumataḥ kṛṣṇasya, 'with Kṛṣṇa's sanction.' What looks like theft from outside is a wedding from inside. Whenever Kṛṣṇa quietly signs, dharma rearranges itself.

• mṛga-rāṭ — the king of animals, the lion
  Compound: mṛga (forest-creature) + rāj (king). The lion-simile is the Sanskrit emblem of righteous seizure — Nṛsiṁha is mṛga-rāj-vapus. The verse silently glances at Kṛṣṇa's own siṁha-form as the model of taking-what-is-yours.
• sva-bhāgam — his rightful portion
  Compound: sva (own) + bhāgam (share, from √bhaj — the same root as bhakti). What is one's bhāga is what one is to be 'bhakta to' — Arjuna takes his sva-bhāga because Kṛṣṇa, the divider of bhāgas, has so allotted.
• krośatām — as they shouted
  Genitive plural participle of √kruś (to cry out). The kinsmen cry — but Kṛṣṇa is silent, smiling. Gauḍīyas note: when Bhagavān is silent in the middle of a din, He is the one acting.
• dhanuḥ — his bow
  The Gāṇḍīva. Arjuna's bow — given by Agni, sanctified by Śiva — is recognizable across the epics. To take it up is to declare kṣatriya-dharma in force. The romance is fought as a war, the war wins a wife.

Like a lion taking his own portion from a herd of jackals — the simile is from kṣatriya-śāstra. Arjuna is not a thief here; he is a vīra collecting what was already designated for him by the king of his heart's councils, Śrī Kṛṣṇa.

• kṣubhitaḥ — disturbed
  Past participle of √kṣubh — to be agitated. The same root used for Arjuna's heart in v. 6, 8; the family is a single body of bhāva — when one part is shaken, another rises. Bhagavān-līlā moves by such resonances.
• mahā-arṇavaḥ — the great ocean
  Compound: mahā + arṇava (ocean). Balarāma is likened to the ocean at parvan (full moon), tidal and overwhelming. Gauḍīyas read it as ananta-balarāma, the unbounded Saṅkarṣaṇa whose anger is cosmic but always controllable by Kṛṣṇa's touch.
• gṛhīta-pādaḥ — whose feet were grasped
  Compound: gṛhīta (taken) + pādaḥ (feet). Kṛṣṇa, who is touched by the gopīs' feet in Vraja, here Himself grasps His elder brother's feet — a stunning image of dāsya offered by Bhagavān to Bhagavān. The Lord teaches family-dharma by performing it.
• anusāntvitaḥ — carefully pacified
  Anu + √sāntv (to soothe). Balarāma is pacified — not by argument, but by sāntvana, the gentle word. Gauḍīyas mark this as the model for resolving conflict with seniors: not by overruling but by softening.

Balarāma rises like the full-moon ocean — high tide of anger from the elder brother. Kṛṣṇa, the smaller in years but greater in deliberation, falls at His feet. Whenever the family's mood swings, the younger Bhagavān bows; this is the rhythm by which the līlā keeps its peace.

• pāribarhāṇi — as wedding gifts
  From pari + √barh (to expand, to honor around). The technical śāstric term for marriage-gifts presented by the bride's side. The Bhāgavata uses the precise word — Balarāma performs vivāha-saṁskāra-dharma in full, retroactively legitimizing the abduction.
• mudā — with pleasure
  Instrumental of mud (joy). Balarāma sends gifts in joy, not in grudging acceptance. Gauḍīyas note: when Bhagavān is reconciled, the reconciliation is complete — no residue. The mood passes from kṣubdha (v. 11) to mudā (v. 12) in two verses.
• mahā-dhana — greatly valuable
  Compound: mahā + dhana (wealth). Wealth in Dvārakā is endless because the source is Lakṣmī's own husband. The verse anchors aiśvarya-rasa — gifts are large because Bhagavān is rich, not because the act is costly.

Balarāma's gifts arrive like the second half of a sentence — the elder brother's blessing completing what Kṛṣṇa had silently begun. Elephants, chariots, horses: dowry is not loss; it is delight in dharma's reconciliation.

• śrutadevaḥ — Śrutadeva
  Compound: śruta (heard, i.e., the Vedas) + deva (god, here Bhagavān). 'One whose deva is what is heard from the Veda' — a name that anticipates the chapter's climax (v. 52, 54): śravaṇa of the sages is darśana of the Lord.
• kṛṣṇa-eka-bhaktyā — by exclusive devotion to Kṛṣṇa
  Compound: kṛṣṇa + eka (one, sole) + bhaktyā (with devotion). The technical Gauḍīya term ananyā-bhakti is here phrased as kṛṣṇa-eka-bhakti — devotion to Kṛṣṇa alone, the criterion of the uttama-adhikārī.
• pūrṇa-arthaḥ — full in all goals of desire
  Compound: pūrṇa (full) + arthaḥ (purpose, wealth). The same word the Brahma-saṁhitā uses for Govinda's own self-sufficiency. The devotee is pūrṇa-artha by participation — he is filled with what fills Bhagavān.
• alampaṭaḥ — not desirous of sense gratification
  Lit. 'not lampaṭa' — not a libertine. The privative names the bhakta by what he is not — he does not chase sense-objects because his rasa is already located in Kṛṣṇa-kathā.
• kaviḥ — learned, a seer
  From √kav (to praise, to see). Not 'poet' in the modern sense but the seer-singer of the Vedic tradition. Gauḍīyas honor Vyāsa, Śuka, and the Six Gosvāmīs as kavis — those who see Kṛṣṇa and sing what they see.

Now the camera moves from Dvārakā to Mithilā — from royal wedding to brāhmaṇa hut. Śrutadeva enters the verse like a lamp in a quiet room. The first half of the chapter showed Kṛṣṇa's sanction working through warriors; the second will show it working through one poor brāhmaṇa.

• videheṣu — in the kingdom of Videha
  Locative plural — 'among the Videhans.' Vi + deha = 'one without a (false-identified) body,' the epithet of Janaka and his line. The land is named for liberation; the brāhmaṇa who lives there is, fittingly, freed from sense-gratification.
• mithilāyām — in the city of Mithilā
  The capital of Videha, place of Sītā's appearance. Gauḍīyas reverence Mithilā as a Rāma-līlā tīrtha; the Bhāgavata places its model brāhmaṇa here to signal continuity of bhakti from Rāma-līlā to Kṛṣṇa-līlā.
• gṛha-āśramī — a member of the regulated order of family life
  Compound: gṛha (home) + āśramin (one in an āśrama). Gṛhastha-āśrama is one of the four classical orders. Gauḍīyas insist that none of the four are obstacles to bhakti — Śrutadeva is the proof in this very verse.
• anīhayā — without endeavor
  From an (not) + īhā (effort, striving). The Gītā-key term — niṣkāma — phrased differently. The brāhmaṇa does not strive for maintenance; provisions arrive by Bhagavān's arrangement. This is the lakṣaṇa of complete dependence.

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Mithilā — Janaka's city, where Sītā was born and the field once turned up a daughter. The Bhāgavata seeds Śrutadeva into this same earth, signaling that the brāhmaṇa is heir to a long Mithilā-paramparā of bhakti-in-gṛhastha.

• yātrā-mātram — bare maintenance
  Compound: yātrā (journey, here life-journey) + mātram (only, just). Just enough to keep the journey going. A Bhāgavata technical phrase for the niṣkiñcana lifestyle — own nothing extra; let bhakti expand instead.
• daivāt — due to his fate
  Ablative of daiva — Bhagavān's arrangement. Not blind fate; the personal will of Bhagavān as karma-phala-dātā. Gauḍīyas read this as karuṇā veiled as routine — the daily ration is the Lord's daily letter.
• tuṣṭaḥ — satisfied
  From √tuṣ (to be content). The same verb in Bhagavad-gītā 2.55 (sva-ātmany eva ātmanā tuṣṭaḥ). Contentment is not resignation; it is the disposition of one whose rasa is already secure in Kṛṣṇa.
• kriyāḥ — duties
  From √kṛ (to do). The plural — the many daily ritual and household duties of a gṛhastha brāhmaṇa. Bhakti is not their replacement but their sanctification — Śrutadeva performs them all, with bare maintenance, and is named pūrṇa-artha (v. 13).

Daily bread arrives just-enough — not less, not more. The Bhāgavata's quiet teaching: Bhagavān is the one ration-officer who knows exactly. Worry less; do dharma; let the Lord's daiva handle the rest.

• bahulāśvaḥ — Bahulāśva
  Compound: bahula (many) + aśva (horse). 'He of many horses' — a kṣatriya epithet recalling Aśvamedha lineage. Gauḍīyas note that even the name advertises aiśvarya; yet the man is niraham-māna — egoless. The contrast prepares v. 26's lesson.
• maithilaḥ — of the dynasty of King Mithila
  From Mithila — the founder-king of Videha. Janaka-vaṁśa. The dynastic name carries the memory of jñāna-rāja-ṛṣis; Bahulāśva is its bhakti-flowering.
• niraham-mānaḥ — free from false ego
  Compound: nir (without) + aham-māna (the conceit 'I am the doer'). Bhagavad-gītā's nir-ahaṅkāraḥ. Gauḍīyas treat this as the precondition for Vaiṣṇava-rāja-dharma — a king without ahaṅkāra is the only safe king.
• acyuta-priyau — dear to Lord Acyuta
  Compound dual: acyuta (the one who never falls) + priyau (dear, dual). Two devotees, equally beloved. Acyuta is the name that signals Bhagavān's unfailing affection — the devotee who is acyuta-priya is, by reciprocity, acyuta-rakṣita (eternally protected).

Two devotees in one kingdom — one wearing a crown, one wearing his only cloth. The Bhāgavata names them in the same breath, ubhau acyuta-priyau, 'both dear to Acyuta.' Outer station vanishes; inner bhāva alone counts the score.

• prasannaḥ — pleased
  From pra + √sad (to settle, to be clear, to be gracious). The same word Bhagavad-gītā 2.65 uses (prasāde sarva-duḥkhānāṁ hānir asyopajāyate). Bhagavān's prasāda toward His devotees is the immediate cause of His journey.
• dārukeṇa — by Dāruka
  Instrumental of Dāruka, Kṛṣṇa's chariot-driver in Dvārakā (paralleling Arjuna's role for Kṛṣṇa-as-warrior in Kurukṣetra). Even Kṛṣṇa, the cosmic mover, accepts a sārathi — Gauḍīyas read this as Bhagavān's love for relationships of service.
• munibhiḥ — with the sages
  Instrumental plural of muni (sage, one who meditates). Kṛṣṇa travels with sādhu-saṅga — He brings the brāhmaṇas (named in v. 18) to multiply the mercy. The chapter will reveal in v. 51 that this is the very purpose.
• prabhuḥ — the Lord
  From pra + √bhū (to come forth, to be powerful). 'Lord, master.' Kṛṣṇa is prabhu not because of position but because He is the source. The verse pairs prabhuḥ (master) with prasannaḥ (graciously pleased) — the Master who is glad to serve His servants.

Kṛṣṇa mounts His chariot — the same chariot that bore Arjuna at Kurukṣetra — and turns it toward Mithilā. Bhagavān travels not for politics but for the heart of two devotees. The cosmic Lord makes house-calls.

• nāradaḥ — Nārada
  Compound: nāra (water, or 'pertaining to man') + da (giver). 'The giver of nāra' — variously read as 'giver of knowledge' or 'giver of liberation.' Bhakti-ācārya par excellence; Gauḍīyas trace their sampradāya through Brahmā to Nārada to Vyāsa.
• kṛṣṇaḥ — Kṛṣṇa-dvaipāyana Vyāsa
  Here Kṛṣṇa = Vedavyāsa (Kṛṣṇa-dvaipāyana). The Bhāgavata's author rides with Bhagavān Kṛṣṇa in this very chariot — the author meets his own protagonist on the road. A small marvel of the verse: two Kṛṣṇas in one ride.
• rāmaḥ — Lord Paraśurāma
  Here rāmaḥ = Paraśurāma (distinct from Balarāma of v. 11). The brāhmaṇa-kṣatriya avatāra, still extant according to tradition. His presence in this chariot signals the chapter's coming theme — brāhmaṇa-mahimā (v. 53–57).
• aham — I (Śukadeva)
  First-person pronoun. Śukadeva himself was on this chariot — the speaker is a witness, not a reporter. Gauḍīyas savor this: the same Śuka who narrates this to Parīkṣit also rode with Kṛṣṇa to Mithilā. The narration is from inside the līlā.

• Dina Bandhu Pr SB 10-86-18-21 - 2025-11-16 ISKCON Vrindavan
  His Grace Dina Bandhu Prabhu· 2025-11-16· English

The roll-call of sages reads like a verse-by-verse who's-who of Vedānta — Nārada the bhakti-ācārya, Vyāsa the author, Paraśurāma the warrior-brāhmaṇa, Śuka the speaker himself. Kṛṣṇa rides in a chariot whose passengers are the whole future of paramparā.

• arghya — water offered as a token of respect
  From √arh (to be worthy). The first of the upacāras in pūjā — water for honored guests. Gauḍīyas note that the whole world spontaneously offers arghya when Bhagavān moves — pūjā is not invented by humans, it is the natural response to darśana.
• uditam — risen
  Past participle of ud + √i (to rise). The Sun simile — Kṛṣṇa's chariot moves like the sun arising. Gauḍīyas link this to BG 4.7 — Bhagavān arises (sambhavāmi) again and again to dispel darkness.
• grahaiḥ — by the planets
  Instrumental plural of graha (planet, grasper). The sages who accompany Kṛṣṇa are likened to planets that orbit the sun. Devotee-sages do not generate their own light; they reflect Kṛṣṇa's. A precise Gauḍīya doctrine of guru-tattva.

Wherever Kṛṣṇa's chariot passes, towns line up like planets around the rising sun — the surya-simile is from the Veda, but here the sun is Kṛṣṇa Himself and the planets are the sages. Devatās of the day-sky bow to the master of the eternal sky.

• papuḥ — they drank
  Perfect plural of √pā (to drink). The same verb Bhāgavatam uses for the gopīs drinking Kṛṣṇa's beauty in Vraja (e.g., 10.21.7 — gāyantyā uccaiḥ amum). Beauty is drunk, not seen — Gauḍīyas mark drinking-by-eye as the highest form of dṛṣṭi-saṅga.
• mukha-sarojam — lotus face
  Compound: mukha (face) + saroja (lotus, lit. 'born in a pond'). The single most-used image of Kṛṣṇa's beauty in the Bhāgavatam. Saroja signals fragrance, gentleness, sun-tracking — qualities the rasika finds in Kṛṣṇa's face.
• snigdha-īkṣaṇam — affectionate glances
  Compound: snigdha (oily, smooth, affectionate) + īkṣaṇam (glance). Snigdha is the technical word for the 'oiled' or melted-with-prema quality of Kṛṣṇa's look. The same word names the gopīs' bhāva for Him in CC.
• udāra-hāsa — generous smiles
  Compound: udāra (generous, magnanimous) + hāsa (smile). Kṛṣṇa's smile is named generous because it gives — every smile is prasāda. Gauḍīyas savor Kṛṣṇa-hāsya as the entry-point to mādhurya-rasa.

Twelve kingdoms drink the nectar of Kṛṣṇa's smile — the same drink the gopīs once drank in Vraja, here distributed publicly along the highway. The chapter is widening: from one Subhadrā to one chariot to twelve nations to one bhakta in a hut.

• tri-loka-guruḥ — spiritual master of the three worlds
  Compound: tri (three) + loka (world) + guru (heavy, dispeller of darkness). Kṛṣṇa is jagad-guru — not by appointment but by ontology. Gauḍīyas locate Him as the ādi-guru behind every paramparā.
• artha-dṛśam — spiritual vision
  Compound: artha (real meaning, ultimate purpose) + dṛś (sight). Vision that perceives the actual artha behind appearances. Bhagavān bestows this dṛś — śraddhā becomes darśana when His grace touches the eye.
• tamisra — darkness
  From tamas (darkness) — Sanskrit's primary metaphor for ignorance. Sāṅkhya names tamisra as one of the five vipāryayas (errors). Kṛṣṇa-vīkṣaṇa is its medicine.
• aśubha-ghnam — which eradicates inauspiciousness
  Compound: aśubha (inauspicious) + ghnam (slaying, from √han). Kṛṣṇa's glories slay all aśubha. The very verb of demon-slaying is here applied to the act of singing His name — Gauḍīyas read this as Bhagavān's confirmation that nāma-saṅkīrtana is rākṣasa-slaying.

• Padaseva Pr SB 10-86-21 Oriya
  His Grace Padaseva Prabhu· Oriya

Kṛṣṇa's glance burns away tamisra — the very darkness that is the etymological root of materialism. As the rising sun does not lecture the dark, simply being-there ends it, so Bhagavān's gocara to the eye is the end of saṁsāric vision.

• acyutam — Lord Kṛṣṇa
  From a (not) + cyuta (fallen). 'He who never falls.' Among Kṛṣṇa's thousand names, Acyuta is the one that reassures the devotee: He does not slip from His promise. Gauḍīyas savor this name in moments of bhakta-saṅga, as in this verse.
• muditāḥ — joyful
  From √mud (to be glad). The same root as mudā in v. 12. Joy is the keynote when Bhagavān and His devotees meet — no other emotion is the default reception of Bhagavān.
• arhaṇa-pāṇayaḥ — in their hands, offerings to present to Him
  Compound: arhaṇa (offering, from √arh — to be worthy) + pāṇi (hand). Hands-full-of-arhaṇa: the body of the citizen is already a pūjā-vessel. Gauḍīyas read this as the natural posture of every limb when Kṛṣṇa arrives.

• Dayananda Sw SB 10-86-22 - 2025-11-18 ISKCON Vrindavan
  His Holiness Dayananda Swami· 2025-11-18· English

Mithilā's residents come out as one body — joyful, with offerings in hand. There is no need for an organizing committee when Bhagavān arrives; spontaneous order is the signature of His presence.

• uttamaḥ-ślokam — Kṛṣṇa, who is praised in sublime poetry
  Compound: uttamaḥ (highest) + ślokam (verse, praise). 'He whose praises are the highest verses.' A signature Bhāgavata name — anyone who composes a verse in His glorification participates in the uttamaḥ category.
• añjalibhiḥ — with joined palms
  Instrumental plural of añjali (the gesture of joined palms). The bodily form of namaskāra. Gauḍīyas teach that the hands-joined gesture itself is dāsya-bhāva — even before words, the body speaks 'I am Yours.'
• śruta-pūrvān — heard of before
  Compound: śruta (heard) + pūrva (previously). The villagers had heard of the sages in story; now they see them. Gauḍīyas read this as the precise transition śravaṇa → darśana that bhakti-sādhana effects.
• nemuḥ — they bowed down
  Perfect plural of √nam (to bow). The same verb the Bhagavad-gītā uses (11.14, BG 11.35). Bowing is the body's confession of dependence — the first and last gesture of the bhakta.

Faces and hearts bloom together — the verse pairs them with the same verb utphulla. Where Bhagavān is seen, even the face of the body and the face of the heart open the same lotus.

• manvānau — both thinking
  Present participle dual of √man (to think, to consider). Both bhaktas, in the same instant, hold the same conviction — that Kṛṣṇa has come for them personally. Gauḍīyas mark this as evidence that priya-bhāva is irreducibly first-person.
• jagat-gurum — the spiritual master of the universe
  Compound: jagat (world) + guru. Echoing v. 21 (tri-loka-guruḥ). The cosmic guru becomes the personal guru in the heart of each bhakta — same Kṛṣṇa, two bhāvas.
• anugrahāya — for showing mercy
  Dative of anugraha — 'for the sake of grace.' From anu + √grah (to take alongside, to favor). The defining word of Bhagavān's motion in this chapter: He moves anugraha-artham, for the purpose of grace, not power.
• petatuḥ — they both fell
  Perfect dual of √pat (to fall). Falling at the Lord's feet is daṇḍavat — body-as-staff. Gauḍīyas note that both men perform daṇḍavat at exactly the same moment in two different houses — a synchronicity arranged by Yogamāyā.

Two men, on opposite sides of the city, fall at Kṛṣṇa's feet simultaneously — and each thinks Kṛṣṇa has come for him alone. This is the secret of bhāva: Bhagavān's love is undivided even when the bhaktas are many.

• nyamantrayetām — they both invited
  Imperfect dual middle of ni + √mantr (to invite, to advise). The dual is the verse's secret: two persons act as one in inviting Bhagavān. Gauḍīyas read it as the unity of bhakti — different stations, identical bhāva.
• yugapat — simultaneously
  Adverb: 'at the same moment.' This word is the hinge for v. 26 — only yugapat invitations could give Kṛṣṇa the occasion for His yugapat presence. The bhaktas' synchronicity is the cue Bhagavān has been waiting for.
• ātithyena — to be their guest
  Instrumental of ātithya (hospitality). The host-guest relation is, in the Vedas, the model of dharma between unequals. By accepting both invitations, Kṛṣṇa formalizes equal honor to king and to poor brāhmaṇa.
• dāśārham — Kṛṣṇa, the descendant of Daśārha
  From Daśārha — an ancestor of the Yadu line. The dynastic epithet is used here precisely because the verse is about Kṛṣṇa's family-side identity entering both homes as kin. Bhagavān is invoked as 'one of us' by both bhaktas.

Two invitations rise into the air simultaneously — one from a palace, one from a hut. The Lord must answer both. Kṛṣṇa's first solution is no human's solution: He goes to both, at once, fully, in each.

• ubhayoḥ — of both
  Genitive dual — 'of the two.' The grammatical key to the verse: Kṛṣṇa is the subject, both bhaktas are equally the indirect object. Gauḍīyas note that ubhayoḥ is precisely sama-darśana in a single word.
• āviśat — He entered
  Imperfect of ā + √viś (to enter). The same verb used in Bhāgavatam for Bhagavān's entry into the universe at creation (v. 44 of this very chapter: praviṣṭaḥ). Here it is downscaled — Bhagavān enters two houses with the same ontological completeness with which He enters all worlds.
• alakṣitaḥ — unseen
  From a (not) + lakṣitaḥ (perceived, marked). The verse turns on this word: Kṛṣṇa's double-presence is not visible to either bhakta. Yogamāyā veils — this is doctrine, not deception. Each is fully served because each is fully unaware of the other's serving.
• abhipretya — accepting
  Gerund of abhi + pra + √i (to go toward, to intend). Bhagavān 'intends-toward' both invitations. Gauḍīyas distinguish abhipreta (Bhagavān's will, what He intends) from prākṛta-icchā (worldly wish) — what Kṛṣṇa abhipreta becomes reality without effort.
• priya-cikīrṣayā — wishing to do what is pleasing
  Compound: priya (dear, what pleases) + cikīrṣā (desire to do, desiderative of √kṛ). Bhagavān's motivation is reduced to one item: He wishes to please His bhaktas. Gauḍīyas treat priya-cikīrṣā as the entire psychology of Bhagavān when He moves among devotees.

Kṛṣṇa goes to both houses at once — neither bhakta sees Him enter the other's. This is sama-darśana made manifest: the king has no advantage of station, the brāhmaṇa no disadvantage of poverty. Bhagavān is multiplied into completeness for each, by His own acintya-śakti.

• pravṛddha-bhaktyā — with intense devotion
  Compound: pravṛddha (fully grown, intense) + bhaktyā (with bhakti). Bhakti can grow — Gauḍīyas catalog the stages śraddhā→sādhu-saṅga→bhajana-kriyā→anartha-nivṛtti→niṣṭhā→ruci→āsakti→bhāva→prema. Pravṛddha-bhakti is bhakti in its mature phases.
• loka-pāvanīḥ — able to purify the whole world
  Compound: loka (world) + pāvanī (purifier). The wash-water of the sages' feet is the same caraṇa-amṛta that the Bhāgavatam (and CC) repeatedly names as the holiest of holy substances — capable of purifying all worlds.
• mūrdhnā — on his head
  Instrumental of mūrdhan (head). The body's highest point receives the lowest part of the sādhu — his foot-water. This inversion is the Gauḍīya signature: heads bow to feet, because the saint's foot-dust is higher than the king's crown.
• ut-dharṣa — overjoyed
  Compound: ut (upward) + dharṣa (joy, exultation). Joy that lifts. The same word-family Bhāgavatam uses for Yaśodā's joy at seeing Kṛṣṇa eat. Royal ut-dharṣa is no different in kind from a mother's ut-dharṣa — bhāva is bhāva.
• pūjayām cakre — he worshiped
  Periphrastic perfect of √pūj (to worship). The verbal form emphasizes completed, formal, lavish worship. Gauḍīyas distinguish vidhi-pūjā (formal, scripture-prescribed) from rāgānuga-pūjā (spontaneous); Bahulāśva combines both because his pravṛddha-bhakti is mature.

• Padaseva Pr SB 10-86-27 Oriya
  His Grace Padaseva Prabhu· Oriya
• PSarasvati Sw SB 10-86-27-29 - 2025-11-19 ISKCON Vrindavan
  His Holiness Prabodhananda Sarasvati Swami· 2025-11-19· English

Bahulāśva washes the sages' feet with a king's hands and sprinkles the water on his own head and on his queen's head. In aiśvarya, every act is amplified; the king's bhakti is amplified by his crown, not contradicted by it.

• madhurayā — gentle
  Instrumental sg. fem. of madhura (sweet). Madhurā vāc — sweet speech. Bhagavān's own quality (BG 18.65 — speech that is satya, priya, hita); the bhakta inherits it by association. Gauḍīyas honor mādhurya as the supreme rasa, and even the brāhmaṇa-rāja's vocabulary takes on its tone.
• aṅka-gatau — situated on his lap
  Compound: aṅka (lap) + gata (gone, situated). The lap is the seat of childhood — Yaśodā holds Kṛṣṇa in her aṅka in Vraja. Here Bahulāśva places Kṛṣṇa's feet on his aṅka: the king becomes a mother-figure for the Lord's feet. Rasa-mingling.
• saṁspṛśan — massaging
  Present participle of sam + √spṛś (to touch fully). Spṛśya — touch — is the lowest of the five upacāras but, when offered to Bhagavān's feet, the most intimate. Gauḍīyas note that touching Kṛṣṇa's feet is the līlā Bhīṣma asks for at his death (SB 1.9.42).

The king holds Viṣṇu's feet in his own lap and begins to speak — softly, slowly, gently. Aiśvarya-rasa here approaches the tenderness of vātsalya: a king lowered to a child's posture by love.

• ātmā — the Supreme Soul
  Nominative of ātman, applied to Kṛṣṇa as sarva-bhūtānām ātmā — the Soul of all. Echoing BG 10.20 (aham ātmā… sarva-bhūta-āśaya-sthitaḥ). Kṛṣṇa is the antar-ātmā of every jīva — but Gauḍīyas insist this antaryāmī is the same Bhagavān who plays in Vraja: ontology and līlā are one Person.
• sākṣī — the witness
  From sa + √akṣ (to see). 'One who sees with His own eye.' The Upaniṣadic kṣetra-jña, the inner witness. Gauḍīyas read sākṣī as Paramātmā-aspect of Kṛṣṇa — the same Bhagavān, viewed from inside the heart.
• sva-dṛk — self-illumined
  Compound: sva (own) + dṛk (sight). 'He whose seeing is from Himself.' Independent of any other light source. The Upaniṣadic svayaṁ-jyotis. Gauḍīyas: Bhagavān is the only being whose seeing requires no external sun.
• pada-ambhojam — lotus feet
  Compound: pada (foot) + ambhoja (lotus, 'water-born'). The standard Bhāgavata image. The bhakta is always located somewhere beneath Bhagavān's feet — that is, in śaraṇa. Pada-ambhoja-smaraṇa is the constant inner posture of bhakti.
• smaratām — who are remembering
  Genitive plural participle of √smṛ (to remember). Smṛti is the second of the nava-vidhā bhakti limbs in SB 7.5.23. Bahulāśva names himself a smaraṇa-bhakta — a constant rememberer.

• Padaseva Pr SB 10-86-31 Oriya
  His Grace Padaseva Prabhu· Oriya

Bahulāśva calls Kṛṣṇa ātmā — the Soul of all — and sākṣī — the witness within. Then he adds: 'and now You have made Yourself visible to us who meditate on Your lotus feet.' The cosmic Lord becomes the personal Lord by His own choice.

• eka-anta-bhaktāt — than the unalloyed devotee
  Compound: eka (one) + anta (end) + bhakta. The bhakta who has one end — Kṛṣṇa alone. The Gauḍīya technical term ananyā or ekānta. The chapter's main thesis (v. 33–34, 51–57) circles back to defining this devotee.
• ṛtam — true
  From the Vedic ṛta — cosmic truth, the order of being. Bahulāśva says Kṛṣṇa came to make His own words ṛta. Bhagavān's word is identical with cosmic order; when He keeps a promise, He maintains ṛta itself.
• anantaḥ — Lord Ananta
  Lit. 'unending.' Śeṣa-Nāga, Kṛṣṇa's bed, the first of His top-tier intimates. The verse declares even Ananta less dear than the eka-anta-bhakta — Gauḍīya pari-bhāṣā for the absolute supremacy of bhakti.
• śrīḥ — Goddess Śrī (Lakṣmī)
  Bhagavān's eternal consort. The Bhāgavata names her among Kṛṣṇa's dearest — yet the verse ranks the unalloyed devotee higher still. Gauḍīyas read this with awe: the bhakta outranks even Lakṣmī in Kṛṣṇa's reckoning.
• dṛk-gocaraḥ — accessible to the eye
  Compound: dṛk (eye, sight) + gocara (range, pasture). 'Within range of the eye's pasture.' The Bhāgavata image: the eye is a cow, Kṛṣṇa's form is the pasture. Gauḍīyas savor the implication — once He becomes gocara, the eye never wants other grass.

• Bhanu Sw SB 10-86-32-36 - Krsna%27s personal reciprocation with King Bahulasva - ISKCON Chennai
  His Holiness Bhanu Swami· English

Kṛṣṇa once said that no one — not Ananta, not Lakṣmī, not Brahmā — is dearer to Him than His unalloyed devotee. Now He has shown up in person to prove it. The bhakta is more dear than Bhagavān's own wife and son and serpent-couch.

• niṣkiñcanānām — of those who have no material possessions
  Compound: niḥ (without) + kiñcana (anything). 'Owning nothing.' The Gauḍīya technical term for the renunciate bhakta — Caitanya Mahāprabhu praises niṣkiñcana-bhakti as the supreme adhikāra. Even Bahulāśva the king praises the niṣkiñcana sage as the true recipient of Kṛṣṇa.
• ātma-daḥ — giving Yourself
  Compound: ātma (self) + da (giver). Kṛṣṇa gives His very ātmā. The Gauḍīya secret: Bhagavān is not merely a giver-of-things but a giver-of-Himself. Prema is when the gift and the giver are identical.
• śāntānām — who are peaceful
  Genitive plural of śānta (peaceful, from √śam). The śānta-bhakta is one of the five categories in Gauḍīya rasa-theory. Bahulāśva places the recipient of ātma-dāna at the śānta-niṣkiñcana intersection — internal stillness combined with external poverty.
• visṛjet — would abandon
  Optative of vi + √sṛj (to release, to abandon). The verse's rhetorical center — 'who would let go?' The optative is the form of asking what is possible; Bahulāśva implies it is not possible for anyone in knowledge.

Who, knowing Kṛṣṇa's readiness to give Himself, would abandon His feet? The verse is rhetorical, but the question lingers — for most of us do walk away every day. Bahulāśva names the puzzle: the issue is not Bhagavān's reluctance, it is ours.

• avatīrya — descending
  Gerund of ava + √tṝ (to cross down). 'Having crossed down.' The technical term avatāra is built from this root — Bhagavān crosses down from His own dhāma to ours. Gauḍīyas catalog the avatāras while reserving 'svayam bhagavān' for Kṛṣṇa Himself (CC Ādi 2).
• vaṁśe — into the dynasty
  Locative of vaṁśa (bamboo, lineage). Kṛṣṇa took birth in the Yadu-vaṁśa as the family of His mādhurya pastimes. Gauḍīyas read the Yadu-vaṁśa as a dīkṣā-line — once a member, always under the Lord's protection (cf. Bhagavad-gītā 8.6's promise extended).
• saṁsaratām — who are caught up in the cycle of birth and death
  Genitive plural participle of sam + √sṛ (to flow, to cycle). The wheel-of-rebirth. The recipients of avatāra are precisely the saṁsaratām — Bhagavān descends not for the liberated but for the still-cycling.
• vṛjina-apaham — which removes the sins
  Compound: vṛjina (sin, twistedness) + apaham (removing). Kṛṣṇa's yaśas is named vṛjina-apaha. Gauḍīyas claim this for nāma-saṅkīrtana: just hearing or singing destroys vṛjina without other rituals.

Bhagavān descended into the Yadu dynasty as a man enters a house — not for His sake but for the residents'. The avatāra's purpose is named bluntly: to deliver those caught in the wheel.

• akuṇṭha-medhase — whose intelligence is unrestricted
  Compound: a (not) + kuṇṭha (blunted) + medhā (intelligence). 'Whose intelligence is never dulled.' Kṛṣṇa is by nature pūrṇa-jñāna; Gauḍīyas use this name to refute any reading of Kṛṣṇa as a finite man — His medhā has no kuṇṭhā.
• nārāyaṇāya ṛṣaye — to the sage Nara-Nārāyaṇa
  Compound: nārāyaṇa (the eternal companion) + ṛṣi. The dual avatāra of Nara-Nārāyaṇa at Badarī. Their tapas is named su-śānta — perfectly peaceful. Gauḍīyas note: even within Bhagavān-tattva, austerity has a place, but always as līlā, never as need.
• su-śāntam — perfectly peaceful
  Compound: su (good) + śānta (peaceful). The tapas of Nara-Nārāyaṇa is performed in śānti — not for purification but as bhāva-prakāśa, the display of bhakti-tapas for the world to learn from. Gauḍīyas: peace is not the goal of tapas, it is its quality.

• Padaseva Pr SB 10-86-35 Oriya
  His Grace Padaseva Prabhu· Oriya

Bahulāśva offers obeisances to two forms in one breath — Kṛṣṇa with His unconstricted intelligence and Nara-Nārāyaṇa in austere peace. Both are Bhagavān; one is in the city, the other in Badarī; together they are the warp and weft of Vaiṣṇava-tattva.

• bhūman — O omnipresent one
  Vocative of bhūman ('the Vast'). Upaniṣadic name — Chāndogya 7.23: yo vai bhūmā tat sukham. Bahulāśva addresses Kṛṣṇa as the Vast — and immediately asks Him to be small enough to fit in his house. Both true.
• pāda-rajasā — with the dust of Your feet
  Compound: pāda (foot) + rajas (dust). Kṛṣṇa's foot-dust is the substance Brahmā prays for in CC Ādi 6.36. Bahulāśva asks for it to sanctify Nimi's dynasty — the dust is the gold of dynastic continuity in Vaiṣṇava reckoning.
• punīhi — please sanctify
  Imperative of √pū (to purify). The verb of pavitra-karaṇa — the action of making holy. Gauḍīyas note that purification by Bhagavān's foot-dust requires no other ritual; presence is sufficient.
• nimeḥ — of King Nimi
  Genitive of Nimi — founder-king of Mithilā, ancestor of Janaka. Bahulāśva extends the request beyond himself — bhakti's instinct is to lift the whole vaṁśa. Gauḍīyas teach this as kula-mokṣa, the family-redemption a bhakta effects.
• kulam — the dynasty
  Nominative of kula — lineage, family. The dynasty of Nimi receives sanctification when Kṛṣṇa's foot-dust touches its head. Gauḍīyas: a bhakta in a family lifts the whole kula across generations.