FolioCorpusBhagavad-gītā

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.86.1

శ్రీరాజోవాచ బ్రహ్మన్ వేదితుమిచ్ఛామ: స్వసారాం రామకృష్ణయో: । యథోపయేమే విజయో యా మమాసీత్ పితామహీ ॥ ౧ ॥
śrī-rājovāca
[shree-raajovaacha]
brahman veditum icchāmaḥ
[brahman veditum ichchaamah]
svasārāṁ rāma-kṛṣṇayoḥ
[svasaaraam raama-krishnayoh]
yathopayeme vijayo
[yathopayeme vijayo]
yā mamāsīt pitāmahī
[yaa mamaaseet pitaamahee]
śrī - rājā uvāca — the great King (Parīkṣit) said brahman — O brāhmaṇa (Śukadeva) veditum — to know icchāmaḥ — we wish svasāram — the sister rāma - kṛṣṇayoḥ — of Balarāma and Kṛṣṇa yathā — how upayeme — married vijayaḥ — Arjuna yā — she who mama — my āsīt — was pitāmahī — the grandmother .
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
śrī-rājovāca
śrī - rājā uvāca
the great King (Parīkṣit) said
brahman veditum icchāmaḥ
brahman
O brāhmaṇa (Śukadeva)
veditum
to know
icchāmaḥ
we wish
svasārāṁ rāma-kṛṣṇayoḥ
svasāram
the sister
rāma - kṛṣṇayoḥ
of Balarāma and Kṛṣṇa
yathopayeme vijayo
yathā
how
upayeme
married
vijayaḥ
Arjuna
yā mamāsīt pitāmahī
yā
she who
mama
my
āsīt
was
pitāmahī
the grandmother .
  • 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.
King Parīkṣit said: O brāhmaṇa, we would like to learn how Arjuna married Lord Balarāma’s and Lord Kṛṣṇa’s sister, who was my grandmother.

Parīkṣit Mahārāja turns now to the topic of the marriage of Lord Kṛṣṇa’s sister, Subhadrā. In the opinion of Śrīla Śrīdhara Svāmī, King Parīkṣit’s question here follows from the previous narration because Arjuna’s winning the hand of Subhadrā was just as difficult a feat as Lord Kṛṣṇa’s retrieving the sons of Devakī from the realm of the dead, since Lord Balarāma Himself opposed Subhadrā’s marriage to Arjuna.

— A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda
Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura Gauḍīya
Translation
King Parīkṣit said: O brāhmaṇa, we would like to learn how Arjuna married Lord Balarāma's and Lord Kṛṣṇa's sister, who was my grandmother.
Commentary

In the eight ysixth chapter, Arjuna, dressed as a sannyasi, steals Subhadra. Krsna goes to Mithila to see his devotees, the king and the brahmana. Seeing signs of the conclusion of the pastimes, Pariksit said, "O master, I have heard about the marriages of Baladeva down to Aniruddha, but did not hear about the marriage of Subhadra." Therefore he speaks this verse. "How did Arjuna marry her? I should ask that because she is my grandmother."

Jīva Gosvāmī Gauḍīya
Commentary

Seeing signs of the conclusion of the pastimes, Parīkṣit becomes frightened and asks a question so that the stories will continue. He asks about the marriage of his grandmother in which Kṛṣṇa was a major cause. He had long desired to ask about this. I desire to know how the marriage took place. Since she was the sister of Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma such a marriage would have been difficult to achieve. Arjuna’s name Vijaya (conquest) indicates that he was successful in attaining her. Parīkṣit was anxious to hear this story because Subhadrā was his grandmother.

Śrīdhara Svāmī Gauḍīya
Commentary

Hearing of the mercy given to the Lord’s brothers, and thinking that even more mercy must have been given to the Lord’s sister, Parīkṣit inquires with respect about that mercy. O form of the Vedas (brahman)! You know the truth, in its very essence. I want to know how Subhadrā was married. The plural is used to indicate all the listeners. Balarāma is he who gives pleasure to the yogīs. Kṛṣṇa means he who is the cause of all existence. He is svayam bhagavān. Subhadra is mentioned as the sister of Balarāma and Kṛṣṇa, to indicate that they both had affection for her. It was also difficult for both to agree on the marriage. Arjuna (vijayaḥ) defeated the Yādava army to steal Subhadrā. Or he attained excellence by that marriage. “Why are you interested to know this?” I have a special relationship with the Lord through relationship with her. She was my grandmother.

Related values
Vairagya (Detachment / Dispassion)Discriminative WisdomAbhaya (Fearlessness)Seva (Service / Selfless Action)Saurya (Heroism / Bravery)Samata (Equanimity / Even-mindedness)Ahimsa (Non-violence / Compassion)Anahankarah (Freedom from False Ego)Daksya (Resourcefulness / Skill)
Related verses

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.

Why Parīkṣit keeps asking

Parīkṣit is on the bank of the Gaṅgā with seven days to live. Every question he puts to Śukadeva is a deliberate refusal to let the topic drift from Kṛṣṇa. Jīva Gosvāmī notes in his commentary that the prince, seeing the saṁhāra of the līlā approaching, asks about Subhadrā's marriage so that the kathā may continue.

This is the Gauḍīya method: when the narrative threatens to end, ask one more question about Kṛṣṇa. The śrotā (hearer) is no passive bystander — Parīkṣit's anxious curiosity is itself a limb of bhakti, called paripraśna in Gītā 4.34.

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