FolioCorpusBhagavad-gītā

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 11.2.24

త ఏకదా నిమే: సత్రముపజగ్ముర్యద‍ృచ్ఛయా । వితాయమానమృషిభిరజనాభే మహాత్మన: ॥ ౨౪ ॥
ta ekadā nimeḥ satram
[ta ekadaa nimeh satram]
upajagmur yadṛcchayā
[upajagmur yadrichchayaa]
vitāyamānam ṛṣibhir
[vitaayamaanam rishibhir]
ajanābhe mahātmanaḥ
[ajanaabhe mahaatmanah]
te — they ekadā — once nimeḥ — of King Nimi satram — the soma sacrifice upajagmuḥ — they approached yadṛcchayā — as they wished vitāyamānam — being carried out ṛṣibhiḥ — by sages ajanābhe — in Ajanābha (the old name for Bhārata-varṣa) mahā-ātmanaḥ — of the great soul.
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
ta ekadā nimeḥ satram
te
they
ekadā
once
nimeḥ
of King Nimi
satram
the soma sacrifice
upajagmur yadṛcchayā
upajagmuḥ
they approached
yadṛcchayā
as they wished
vitāyamānam ṛṣibhir
vitāyamānam
being carried out
ṛṣibhiḥ
by sages
ajanābhe mahātmanaḥ
ajanābhe
in Ajanābha (the old name for Bhārata-varṣa)
mahā-ātmanaḥ
of the great soul.
Once in Ajanābha [the former name of the earth], they came upon the sacrificial performance of the great soul Mahārāja Nimi, which was being carried out under the direction of elevated sages.
Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura Gauḍīya
Translation
Once in Ajanābha (Bhārata-varṣa), they came upon the sacrificial performance of the great soul Mahārāja Nimi, which was being carried out under the direction of sages.
Great souls arrive 'by yadṛcchā' where genuine sacrifice is going on — show up to real sādhana, and the saintly will find you there.
Practical Applications
  • Pick one ongoing sacrifice in your life — japa, study, service — and keep it lit today, even when no one is watching.
  • Refuse the calculation that sādhus only appear in famous places; receive every association that comes 'unsought' today as a real visit.
  • Speak to one person engaged in honest spiritual effort today and offer concrete help to keep their sacrifice running.
Reflection Questions
  • What sacrifice in my life is genuine enough that a Nava-yogī could walk into it tomorrow without me having to rearrange anything?
  • Where am I waiting for the 'right' saint or setting before I start, instead of starting where I stand so that the right ones can arrive?
For Each Age Group
youth
  • Keep one small daily practice — a fixed round of japa, a Gītā śloka, a quiet morning — running through exam week, not just on retreat weekends.
  • Stop waiting for the 'right' satsaṅga group on campus; start a simple weekly reading with two friends and let the right people walk in.
  • When an unexpected encounter with a serious devotee comes through a hostel, a class, or social media, treat it as a real visit, not a coincidence to scroll past.
householder
  • Establish one non-negotiable family sacrifice this week — a short evening kīrtana, a shared verse at dinner — and protect it from work and errands.
  • Open your home to one practitioner this month, even briefly, so that your household becomes the kind of place where great souls could plausibly arrive.
  • When a saintly visitor or teacher comes 'by chance' through travel, family, or work, rearrange the calendar to receive them rather than treating it as an interruption.
senior
  • Use this season to keep a steady, visible sādhana in the home so that children and grandchildren see a sacrifice quietly being maintained.
  • Mentor at least one younger practitioner in the discipline of daily yajña, transmitting not theory but the habit of keeping the fire lit.
  • Loosen attachment to choosing who your associates will be in your final years; trust that yadṛcchayā will bring the right souls if your sādhana is real.
Common Pitfalls
  • Treating 'yadṛcchayā' as random luck and so making no effort to maintain a steady sacrifice in the first place.
  • Romanticizing the visit of great souls while neglecting the unglamorous daily yajña that makes such a visit possible.
  • Assuming great souls only come to the famous and the qualified, and so dismissing the humble sādhana already in front of you.
Discussion Prompts
  • Share a time something spiritually significant came to you 'unsought' — and honestly examine what sacrifice you were already performing that made it possible.
  • Mahārāja Nimi's satra was led by elevated sages even before the Nava-yogīs arrived — discuss the difference between seeking association and building a sacrifice worth visiting.
  • Where in our community is the 'satra' that a wandering sādhu would actually want to step into, and where is it merely a performance?
Role Play

One student plays a sincere practitioner running a small, unglamorous weekly kīrtana in their home; another plays a visitor who arrived only because a friend's car broke down nearby. Enact the first ten minutes after the visitor steps in — how does the host receive an 'unsought' guest as a real arrival, and how does the visitor recognize the sacrifice they've stumbled into?

Objections & Responses
  • This verse is just narrative scene-setting — a king's sacrifice, some sages dropping by. What guidance is actually here?
    The Gauḍīya reading does not split 'narrative' from 'instruction.' That great souls came yadṛcchayā precisely where a sacrifice was being maintained by elevated sages is the teaching: keep the yajña burning, and the meeting Kṛṣṇa wants for you will arrange itself.
  • If everything happens yadṛcchayā, why bother with the discipline of a daily sādhana at all?
    Yadṛcchayā describes the arrival of the sādhus, not the existence of the sacrifice. Nimi and the ṛṣis had already organized and were sustaining the satra; the 'unsought' grace landed on a fire that was already lit by their effort.
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