FolioCorpusBhagavad-gītā

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.86.5

ఏకదా గృహమానీయ ఆతిథ్యేన నిమన్‍త్ర్య తమ్ । శ్రద్ధయోపహృతం భైక్ష్యం బలేన బుభుజే కిల ॥ ౫ ॥
ekadā gṛham ānīya
[ekadaa griham aaneeya]
ātithyena nimantrya tam
[aatithyena nimantrya tam]
śraddhayopahṛtaṁ bhaikṣyaṁ
[shraddhayopahritam bhaikshyam]
balena bubhuje kila
[balena bubhuje kila]
ekadā — once gṛham — to His (Balarāma’s) home ānīya — bringing ātithyena — as a guest nimantrya — inviting tam — him (Arjuna) śraddhayā — with faith upahṛtam — presented bhaikṣyam — food balena — by Lord Balarāma bubhuje — he ate kila — indeed .
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
ekadā gṛham ānīya
ekadā
once
gṛham
to His (Balarāma’s) home
ānīya
bringing
ātithyena nimantrya tam
ātithyena
as a guest
nimantrya
inviting
tam
him (Arjuna)
śraddhayopahṛtaṁ bhaikṣyaṁ
śraddhayā
with faith
upahṛtam
presented
bhaikṣyam
food
balena bubhuje kila
balena
by Lord Balarāma
bubhuje
he ate
kila
indeed .
  • 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.
One day Lord Balarāma brought him to His home as His invited dinner guest, and Arjuna ate the food the Lord respectfully offered him.

From the explanation of Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī, it is understood that Arjuna in his sannyāsī role had just finished the four-month vows of the rainy season and could now again accept general invitations from householders. Thus no one would have suspected any unusual motive in his visiting Lord Balarāma at this time.

— A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda
Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura Gauḍīya
Translation
One day Lord Balarāma brought him to His home as His invited dinner guest, and Arjuna ate the food the Lord respectfully offered him.
Commentary

Once, at the end of the caturmasya vrata, Balarama invited him to his house, and Arjuna ate the food offered by Balarama.

Jīva Gosvāmī Gauḍīya
Commentary

One day at the end of cāturmāsya, Balarāṁa invited him, fearing he would soon depart. Kila indicates that he certainly ate there.

Related values
Vairagya (Detachment / Dispassion)Discriminative WisdomAbhaya (Fearlessness)Seva (Service / Selfless Action)Ishvara Pranidhana (Surrender to God)Hrih (Modesty / Sense of Shame)Anahankarah (Freedom from False Ego)Daksya (Resourcefulness / Skill)
Related verses

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.

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