FolioCorpusBhagavad-gītā

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.86.26

భగవాంస్తదభిప్రేత్య ద్వయో: ప్రియచికీర్షయా । ఉభయోరావిశద్ గేహముభాభ్యాం తదలక్షిత: ॥ ౨౬ ॥
bhagavāṁs tad abhipretya
[bhagavaams tad abhipretya]
dvayoḥ priya-cikīrṣayā
[dvayoh priya-chikeershayaa]
ubhayor āviśad geham
[ubhayor aavishad geham]
ubhābhyāṁ tad-alakṣitaḥ
[ubhaabhyaam tad-alakshitah]
bhagavān — the Supreme Lord tat — this abhipretya — accepting dvayoḥ — of the two of them priya — the pleasing cikīrṣayā — wishing to do ubhayoḥ — of both āviśat — He entered geham — the houses ubhābhyām — to both tat — in that (entering of the other’s house) alakṣitaḥ — unseen .
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
bhagavāṁs tad abhipretya
bhagavān
the Supreme Lord
tat
this
abhipretya
accepting
dvayoḥ priya-cikīrṣayā
dvayoḥ
of the two of them
priya
the pleasing
cikīrṣayā
wishing to do
ubhayor āviśad geham
ubhayoḥ
of both
āviśat
He entered
geham
the houses
ubhābhyāṁ tad-alakṣitaḥ
ubhābhyām
to both
tat
in that (entering of the other’s house)
alakṣitaḥ
unseen .
  • 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.
Wanting to please them both, the Lord accepted both their invitations. Thus He simultaneously went to both homes, and neither could see Him entering the other’s house.

According to Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī, Kṛṣṇa visited Śrutadeva and Bahulāśva at the same time by manifesting Himself in duplicate forms, along with the sages. Thus King Bahulāśva thought that Lord Kṛṣṇa had come only to his house, leaving Śrutadeva to return home disappointed, while Śrutadeva believed that just the reverse was the case. In Kṛṣṇa, Śrīla Prabhupāda remarks: “That [Lord Kṛṣṇa] and His companions were present in both houses, although both the brāhmaṇa and the King thought He was present in his house only, is another opulence of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. This opulence is described in the revealed scriptures as vaibhava-prakāśa. Similarly, when Lord Kṛṣṇa married sixteen thousand wives, He also expanded Himself into sixteen thousand forms, each one of them as powerful as He Himself. Similarly, in Vṛndāvana, when Brahmā stole away Kṛṣṇa’s cows, calves and cowherd boys, Kṛṣṇa expanded Himself into many new cows, calves and cowherd boys.”

— A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda
Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura Gauḍīya
Translation
Wanting to please them both, the Lord accepted both their invitations. Thus He simultaneously went to both homes, and neither could see Him entering the other's house.
Commentary

Understanding that both Srutadeva and Bahulasva wanted him to come to their houses, he expanded himself and the sages into two forms and entered both houses, without the other person seeing it. The king thought "Merciful Krsna has accepted my invitation and is coming to my house, and Srutadeva is going home alone." And Srutadeva thought, "Krsna is accepting my invitation and the king is going home alone." So they also had developed two forms, one joyful with Krsna and one despondent without Krsna. The neighbors of the king who was with Krsna, on going to Srutadeva’s house, saw him there alone and despondent without Krsna; and the assistants of Srutadeva who were with Krsna, going to the king’s house saw him there alone and despondent without Krsna.

Jīva Gosvāmī Gauḍīya
Commentary

The Lord entered both houses completely, with all the sages (ā—viśat). The Lord expanded into two forms. The sages also became two forms but not independent of the Lord’s will.

Related values
Discriminative WisdomTapas (Austerity / Discipline)Shraddha (Faith / Reverence)Guru Bhakti (Reverence for Teacher)Nishkama Karma (Selfless Action)Svadhyaya (Self-study & Scripture Study)
Related verses
Concepts
Jiva

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.

Kṛṣṇa with multiple gopīs in rāsa-līlā

The structural parallel is the rāsa-līlā of Canto 10 chapter 33: Kṛṣṇa multiplied Himself so that each gopī had her own Kṛṣṇa dancing beside her — and none saw any other Kṛṣṇa. The same yogamāyā-arrangement is here applied to two bhaktas, not a circle of gopīs.

Gauḍīya ācāryas (Viśvanātha Cakravartī, Jīva Gosvāmī) cite this verse to establish that Bhagavān is by nature pūrṇa in every form — He does not divide when He multiplies. This is the doctrine of acintya-bhedābheda in narrative form: Kṛṣṇa is one and many simultaneously, without contradiction.

Bhīṣma and Yudhiṣṭhira

In SB 1.9, the dying Bhīṣma and the grieving Yudhiṣṭhira both receive Kṛṣṇa's full presence — Bhīṣma in upadeśa, Yudhiṣṭhira in consolation. The pattern is older than this chapter: Bhagavān apportions Himself wholly to whomever invites Him sincerely, without subtraction from any other recipient.

This verse simply makes the doctrine vivid by physical simultaneity. The yogamāyā that veiled Kṛṣṇa's multiplicity at the rāsa now veils it from the two bhaktas of Mithilā.

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