Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 11.6.40-41
తన్నిరీక్ష్యోద్ధవో రాజన్ శ్రుత్వా భగవతోదితమ్ ।
దృష్ట్వారిష్టాని ఘోరాణి నిత్యం కృష్ణమనువ్రత: ॥ ౪౦ ॥
వివిక్త ఉపసఙ్గమ్య జగతామీశ్వరేశ్వరమ్ ।
ప్రణమ్య శిరసా పాదౌ ప్రాఞ్జలిస్తమభాషత ॥ ౪౧ ॥
tan nirīkṣyoddhavo rājan
[tan nireekshyoddhavo raajan]
śrutvā bhagavatoditam
[shrutvaa bhagavatoditam]
dṛṣṭvāriṣṭāni ghorāṇi
[drishtvaarishtaani ghoraani]
nityaṁ kṛṣṇam anuvrataḥ
[nityam krishnam anuvratah]
vivikta upasaṅgamya
[vivikta upasangamya]
jagatām īśvareśvaram
[jagataam eeshvareshvaram]
praṇamya śirasā pādau
[pranamya shirasaa paadau]
prāṣjalis tam abhāṣata
[praashjalis tam abhaashata]
Word-for-word
tat
—
that
nirīkṣya
—
seeing
uddhavaḥ
—
Uddhava
rājan
—
O King
śrutvā
—
hearing
bhagavatā
—
by the Lord
uditam
—
what had been said
dṛṣṭvā
—
observing
ariṣṭāni
—
evil omens
ghorāṇi
—
fearful
nityam
—
always
kṛṣṇam
—
of Lord Kṛṣṇa
anuvrataḥ
—
a faithful follower
vivikte
—
in privacy
upasaṅgamya
—
approaching
jagatām
—
of all the moving creatures within the universe
īśvara
—
of the controllers
īśvaram
—
the one supreme controller
praṇamya
—
bowing down
śirasā
—
with his head
pādau
—
at His feet
prāṣjaliḥ
—
with hands folded in submission
tam
—
to Him
abhāṣata
—
spoke.
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
tan nirīkṣyoddhavo rājan
tat
that
nirīkṣya
seeing
uddhavaḥ
Uddhava
rājan
O King
śrutvā bhagavatoditam
śrutvā
hearing
bhagavatā
by the Lord
uditam
what had been said
dṛṣṭvāriṣṭāni ghorāṇi
dṛṣṭvā
observing
ariṣṭāni
evil omens
ghorāṇi
fearful
nityaṁ kṛṣṇam anuvrataḥ
nityam
always
kṛṣṇam
of Lord Kṛṣṇa
anuvrataḥ
a faithful follower
vivikta upasaṅgamya
vivikte
in privacy
upasaṅgamya
approaching
jagatām īśvareśvaram
jagatām
of all the moving creatures within the universe
īśvara
of the controllers
praṇamya śirasā pādau
prāṣjalis tam abhāṣata
īśvaram
the one supreme controller
praṇamya
bowing down
śirasā
with his head
pādau
at His feet
prāṣjaliḥ
with hands folded in submission
tam
to Him
abhāṣata
spoke.
My dear King, Uddhava was a constantly faithful follower of Lord Kṛṣṇa. Upon seeing the imminent departure of the Yādavas, hearing from them of the Lord’s instructions and taking note of the fearful omens, he approached the Personality of Godhead in a private place. He bowed down with his head at the lotus feet of the supreme controller of the universe and with folded hands addressed Him as follows.
Purport
According to Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī there cannot be any actual disturbance in the Lord’s own abode. The great disasters apparently occurring in Dvārakā were an external show created by the Lord to facilitate His pastimes. We can understand the pastimes of Kṛṣṇa only by hearing from the recognized ācāryas. Lord Kṛṣṇa is not a mundane historical figure, and His activities cannot be confined within the tiny limits of material logic. Lord Kṛṣṇa’s pastimes are an exhibition of His acintya-śakti, or inconceivable potency, which functions according to higher, spiritual laws, unknown to the blind conditioned souls and their petty material logic.
— A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda
Gauḍīya Ācāryas
Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura
Gauḍīya
Translation
O King! Uddhava, the constant follower of Lord Kṛṣṇa, upon seeing the imminent departure of the Yādavas, hearing from them of the Lord’s instructions, and taking note of the fearful omens, approached the Lord in a private place. He bowed down with his head at the lotus feet of the supreme controller of the universe and with folded hands addressed him as follows.
Related lectures
Personal Guidance
When the signs of dissolution gather, the faithful devotee withdraws to a private place, bows at Kṛṣṇa's feet, and speaks to Him directly.
Practical Applications
- Notice the ominous signs in your own life today — a failing body, a fracturing relationship, a collapsing plan — and take them as Kṛṣṇa's summons to approach Him personally.
- Carve out one vivikta — a private, undistracted place — and offer praṇāma with head bowed before speaking your real question to Him.
- Refuse to philosophize about Kṛṣṇa's pastimes through material logic; hear them only from the recognized ācāryas as inconceivable acintya-śakti.
Reflection Questions
- What fearful omen in my life have I been explaining away rather than letting it drive me, like Uddhava, to a private audience with Kṛṣṇa?
- Where am I still trying to confine Kṛṣṇa's activities within the tiny limits of my own logic instead of receiving them through the ācāryas?
For Each Age Group
youth
- When an exam result, a breakup, or a friend group falling apart feels like an 'ariṣṭa,' don't first post about it — go to a vivikta corner of your room, bow your head, and tell Kṛṣṇa what just happened.
- Pick one decision you keep crowdsourcing to peers or social media and instead bring it, like Uddhava, to a private audience with Kṛṣṇa before you ask anyone else.
- Refuse to debate Kṛṣṇa's pastimes with classmates on the strength of YouTube videos or memes; commit to hearing them only from a recognized ācārya in the paramparā.
householder
- When household omens gather — a job loss looming, a child in trouble, a parent declining — schedule a literal private time with Kṛṣṇa before you call the family meeting.
- In a major money or career decision this week, physically bow your head at His feet first and speak the real question aloud, the way Uddhava did, before consulting spouse and advisors.
- Stop explaining family setbacks to your children as bad luck or others' fault; speak of them, where appropriate, as Kṛṣṇa's arrangement working by laws higher than our planning.
senior
- Treat the body's clear omens of departure — slowing, illness, losses among peers — as Uddhava treated the signs in Dvārakā: not as tragedy but as a summons to approach Kṛṣṇa more privately and more directly.
- Establish a daily vivikta — a fixed private place and time — where you bow your head, fold your hands, and speak to Kṛṣṇa as a Person, not as memory or concept.
- When mentoring juniors about your own losses and disappointments, refuse the mundane-historical reading; teach them that the apparent disturbances in a devotee's life are arranged by the īśvareśvara and graspable only through the ācāryas.
Common Pitfalls
- Treating the disturbances in Dvārakā as literal material breakdown rather than an external show staged by the Lord for His pastimes.
- Approaching Kṛṣṇa casually and in public posture, skipping the vivikta, the bowed head, and the folded hands that Uddhava modeled.
- Reading Kṛṣṇa as a mundane historical figure whose pastimes can be psychoanalyzed, instead of as the īśvareśvara whose acts function by higher spiritual laws.
Discussion Prompts
- Share an 'ariṣṭa' — a fearful omen — you have personally seen recently: did it pull you closer to Kṛṣṇa or push you into denial, and why?
- Uddhava goes to a private place before he speaks; debate honestly whether your own bhakti is more private and personal or more public and performative, and where each breaks down.
- Jīva Gosvāmī says there is no actual disturbance in the Lord's abode; argue both sides — when has 'it's all His pastime' been a liberating truth for you, and when has it become an excuse to spiritually bypass real pain?
Role Play
One student plays Uddhava, who has just witnessed the omens and heard Kṛṣṇa's instructions about the Yādavas' departure; the other plays a modern friend who insists the omens are coincidence and that withdrawing 'to a private place to bow down' is escapist. Uddhava must explain, in his own words, why he is going to Kṛṣṇa privately rather than processing this with friends or therapy first.
Objections & Responses
- If Kṛṣṇa is the supreme controller, why does His own city need fearful omens and an imminent departure of His associates? This looks like ordinary historical decline, not divine pastime.
Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī addresses this directly — there cannot be any actual disturbance in the Lord's own abode. What appears as decline is an external show created by Kṛṣṇa Himself to facilitate His pastimes, functioning by His acintya-śakti. Material logic cannot map this; only hearing from the recognized ācāryas can. - Uddhava's bowing, folded hands, and private audience feel like outdated ritual; can't I just talk to Kṛṣṇa internally while going about my day?
The verse is precise — vivikta, śirasā praṇāma, prāñjali. The body's posture trains the heart; Uddhava, nityaṁ kṛṣṇam anuvrataḥ, still bows his head and folds his hands. Internal talk without external surrender slowly turns Kṛṣṇa into an idea. The personalist line keeps Him a Person you actually approach.
My note
Source: vedabase.io