Bhagavatapurana 10.31: athaikatriṃśo'dhyāyaḥ

10.31.1

/0 gopya ūcuḥ
jayati te 'dhikaṃ janmanā vrajaḥ śrayata indirā śaśvad atra hi /
dayita dṛśyatāṃ dikṣu tāvakās tvayi dhṛtāsavas tvāṃ vicinvate //

The cowherd women said: / Exceedingly does Vraja flourish through your birth; Indirā indeed resides here permanently! / O beloved, show yourself in these quarters! Your own women, whose breaths of life are held in you, search for you.

1. Gopis said:—By Thy birth shines most exalted this Vraja; so does surely Lakshmi constantly abide here, O beloved one; pray reveal Thyself (unto our view). In every direction, Thy creatures who live in Thee seek Thee.

10.31.2

śarad-udāśaye sādhu-jāta-sat- sarasijodara-śrī-muṣā dṛśā /
surata-nātha te 'śulka-dāsikā vara-da nighnato neha kiṃ vadhaḥ //

With an eye that robs the beauty from the interior of a lovely autumn lotus grown in clear waters, / O master of amorous delight, O granter of boons, when you slay your unpaid handmaidens, is it not slaughter in this world?

2. O Lord of delights! O giver of boons; we are Thy gratuitous servants. Is this really no killing us here to disappoint us with Thine eyes that eclipse the splendour of the inner petals of a full-blown lotus in a lake in Sarad?

10.31.3

viṣa-jalāpyayād vyāla-rākṣasād varṣa-mārutād vaidyutānalāt /
vṛṣa-mayātmajād viśvato bhayād ṛṣabha te vayaṃ rakṣitā muhuḥ //

From destruction by poisonous water, from the demon serpent, from rain and tempest, from lightning and fire, / from the bull demon, the son of Maya, and from all fears, O chief among heroes, we have been protected by you again and again.

3. From the perils of poisonous water, from the Rakshasa Agha in the guise of a serpent, from the winds and the rains (storm), from strokes of lightning and thunder, from (Arishta), from Vyomasura, and from all sources of fear, O Bull among men, we are frequently protected by Thee.

10.31.4

na khalu gopīkā-nandano bhavān akhila-dehinām antarātma-dṛk /
vikhanasārthito viśva-guptaye sakha udeyivān sātvatāṃ kule //

You are indeed not merely the son of the cowherd woman, but the seer of the inner self of all embodied beings! / Entreated by the creator Brahmā for the protection of the universe, you have arisen in the clan of the Sātvatas, O friend.

4. Indeed Thou art not the son of the Gopika (Yasoda). Thou art the witness in the heart of all creatures invested with a body; Prayed to by the four-faced Brahma, Thou hast, O friend, appeared

in the race of Satvatas for the sustenance of the Universe.

10.31.5

viracitābhayaṃ vṛṣṇi-dhūrya te caraṇam īyuṣāṃ saṃsṛter bhayāt /
kara-saroruhaṃ kānta kāma-daṃ śirasi dhehi naḥ śrī-kara-graham //

O foremost of the Vṛṣṇis, place your lotus hand—which bestows fearlessness / upon those who come to your feet out of fear of rebirth, which grants desires and took the hand of Śrī—upon our heads, O charming lover!

5. O Foremost of the Vishnis, place on our head Thy gracious and lotus-like palm that promises fearless heaven to those that seek refuge from the fearful samsara— Thy palm that has espoused the hand of Sri, O beloved, that bestows every desire.

10.31.6

vraja-janārti-han vīra yoṣitāṃ nija-jana-smaya-dhvaṃsana-smita /
bhaja sakhe bhavat-kiṅkarīḥ sma no jalaruhānanaṃ cāru darśaya //

O destroyer of the distress of the people of Vraja, O hero of women, you whose smile destroys the pride of your own people, / cherish us, your handmaids, O friend, and reveal your charming lotus face.

6. O Lord that removest the affliction of the folk of Vraja; O Heroic one, O beloved Lord whose smiles put down the pride of Thy devotees, O friend of weak women, be pleased to accept us, Thy servants, show unto us Thy charming and lotus-like face.

10.31.7

praṇata-dehināṃ pāpa-karṣaṇaṃ tṛṇa-carānugaṃ śrī-niketanam /
phaṇi-phaṇārpitaṃ te padāmbujaṃ kṛṇu kuceṣu naḥ kṛndhi hṛc-chayam //

Your lotus foot, which removes the sins of surrendered souls, follows behind the grazers of grass, is the dwelling of Śrī, / and was placed upon the hoods of the serpent—place it upon our breasts and dispel our lovesickness.

7. Thy lotus-like foot dissipates the sin of those that bow to Thee; it accompanies those that live on grass; it is the abode of Sri, it is that that trod on the hood of the serpent Kaleeya; may Thou be pleased to set it on our bosom and cure the affliction at our heart!

10.31.8

madhurayā girā valgu-vākyayā budha-manojñayā puṣkarekṣaṇa /
vidhi-karīr imā vīra muhyatīr adhara-sīdhunāpyāyayasva naḥ //

With your sweet speech, charming words pleasing to the wise, O lotus-eyed one, / revive us, your obedient servants who are fainting, O hero, with the nectar of your lips!

8. With Thy sweet accents, with Thy charming speech most delightful to the mind of the wise, O Lord of lotus eyes, and O Heroic Lord, with the elixir of Thy eyes, pray, comfort us these who are ever swooning for Thee and ever ready to do Thy bidding.

10.31.9

tava kathāmṛtaṃ tapta-jīvanaṃ kavibhir īḍitaṃ kalmaṣāpaham /
śravaṇa-maṅgalaṃ śrīmad ātataṃ bhuvi gṛṇanti ye bhūri-dā janāḥ //

The nectar of your stories is life to the scorched, praised by poets, dispeller of sins, / auspicious to hear, glorious and widespread: those who proclaim it on earth are the most generous of people.

9. The nectar of Thy stories is life to the distressed; (it is) highly praised by men of divine light; the cure for sin: most auspicious to hear of and most soothing and brightening: they give away most liberally who sing of it and celebrate it on earth.

10.31.10

prahasitaṃ priya-prema-vīkṣaṇaṃ viharaṇaṃ ca te dhyāna-maṅgalam /
rahasi saṃvido yā hṛdi spṛśaḥ kuhaka no manaḥ kṣobhayanti hi //

Your gentle laughter, your loving affectionate glance, and your strolls, which are auspicious for meditation, / and your intimate conversations in secret that touch the heart—O deceiver, these indeed agitate our minds!

10. Our beloved Krishna, Thy smile, Thy loving glance, Thy deportment most happy to contemplate on, Thy promises in private, all go deep into our heart, O Deceitful one, it is they (that confound our heart).

10.31.11

calasi yad vrajāc cārayan paśūn nalina-sundaraṃ nātha te padam /
śila-tṛṇāṅkuraiḥ sīdatīti naḥ kalilatāṃ manaḥ kānta gacchati //

When you go forth from Vraja, herding the cattle, O Lord, / our minds, O beloved, grow troubled with the thought that your foot, / lovely as a lotus, is hurt by sharp stones, grass, and sprouts.

11. O Lord, O enchanting Lord, when Thou goest out from Vraja to graze the cows, our heart is troubled (to think) that gravel and

coarse and pointed grass may give pain to Thy tender lotus-like feet.

10.31.12

dina-parikṣaye nīla-kuntalair vanaruhānanaṃ bibhrad āvṛtam /
ghana-rajasvalaṃ darśayan muhur manasi naḥ smaraṃ vīra yacchasi //

At the close of day, displaying again and again your lotus face, / veiled by dark curls and covered with dense dust, / you awaken love in our minds, O hero!

12. At the decline of the day, Thou art often seen with Thy face like unto a lotus, overhung with dark curly hair, and bedimmed with dust; and (then), O heroic Krishna, Thou usherest perforce Smara into our heart.

10.31.13

praṇata-kāma-daṃ padmajārcitaṃ dharaṇi-maṇḍanaṃ dhyeyam āpadi /
caraṇa-paṅkajaṃ śantamaṃ ca te ramaṇa naḥ staneṣv arpayādhi-han //

Granting the desires of those who bow to it, worshipped by Brahmā, / the ornament of the earth, to be meditated on in calamity, / and most conferring peace—place that lotus foot of yours upon our breasts, O lover, O dispeller of our pain!

13. O giver of delight, O Lord that removest anxieties, pray set on our bosom Thy most blissful and lotus-like foot worshipped by the Lotus-born, fit to be contemplated in times of distress, the ornament of the earth, fulfilling every desire on those that bow to it.

10.31.14

surata-vardhanaṃ śoka-nāśanaṃ svarita-veṇunā suṣṭhu cumbitam /
itara-rāga-vismāraṇaṃ nṛṇāṃ vitara vīra nas te 'dharāmṛtam //

Increasing amorous joy, destroying sorrow, / so sweetly kissed by your sounding flute, / making mortals forget all other desires— / bestow upon us, O hero, the nectar of your lips!

14. O Heroic Krishna, grant us the nectar of Thy lips, which enhances the joy of love and roots out sorrows, which the flute, full of Thy voice, enjoys in full measure, and which makes men forget every other wish.

10.31.15

aṭati yad bhavān ahni kānanaṃ truṭi yugāyate tvām apaśyatām /
kuṭila-kuntalaṃ śrī-mukhaṃ ca te jaḍa udīkṣatāṃ pakṣma-kṛd dṛśām //

When during the day you wander into the forest, / a fraction of a second seems like an age to us who do not see you; / and when we look upon your glorious face framed with curling locks, / foolish indeed seems the maker of eyelids for our eyes!

15. When Thou goest away to the woods during the day, a moment becomes an age to us that do not see Thee. And dull-witted is that Brahma who has created the lids for our eyes that yearn to see Thy bewitching face graced with ringlets of hair.

10.31.16

pati-sutānvaya-bhrātṛ-bāndhavān ativilaṅghya te 'nty acyutāgatāḥ /
gati-vidas tavodgīta-mohitāḥ kitava yoṣitaḥ kas tyajen niśi //

Transgressing our husbands, sons, families, brothers, and kin, / we have come near you, O Acyuta, knowing where our goal lies, / bewitched by your high song. / O rogue, what man would abandon women in the night?

16. Captivated by Thy strange (rapturous) music, O Achyuta, neglecting our husbands, children, other members of the house, brothers and kinsmen and knowing Thy way, we have sought Thy presence; who (other than Thyself) would, O deceitful One, abandon us in the dead of night ?

10.31.17

rahasi saṃvidaṃ hṛc-chayodayaṃ prahasitānanaṃ prema-vīkṣaṇam /
bṛhad-uraḥ śriyo vīkṣya dhāma te muhur ati-spṛhā muhyate manaḥ //

Seeing your secret conversation that awakens desire in the heart, / your laughing face, your glances of love, / and your broad chest, the abode of Śrī, / our minds, filled with intense longing, repeatedly swoon.

17. To think of Thy secret promises and Thy smiling face and loving looks that kindle passion at heart, Thy broad chest, the abode of Sri, fires us every moment with unlimited longing and it makes our heart restless.

10.31.18

vraja-vanaukasāṃ vyaktir aṅga te vṛjina-hantry alaṃ viśva-maṅgalam /
tyaja manāk ca nas tvat-spṛhātmanāṃ sva-jana-hṛd-rujāṃ yan niṣūdanam //

Your appearance, dear one, destroys the suffering / of the dwellers in the forest of Vraja and brings all-auspiciousness to the universe. / Bestow even a little of that which destroys the affliction in the hearts of your own people— / upon us whose minds long for you!

18. O beloved Krishna, Thy sight completely puts an end to the sin of those that dwell in Vraja and Brindavana and it is

auspicious to the whole Universe; grant us who cherish only Thee in our heart at least a little of that (balm) which surely kills all the pains in the heart of Thy votaries.

10.31.18.p1

yat te sujāta-caraṇāmburuhaṃ staneṣu $ bhītāḥ śanaiḥ priya dadhīmahi karkaśeṣu &

Your delicate lotus foot, which we, out of fear, / place gently upon our hard breasts, O beloved—

19. Thou walkest in the woods with those graceful tender lotus feet which we, lest we should pain them, very gently set on our hard bosoms; when we whose life is rooted in Thee think how those feet are put to the rack on the gravelly ground, our mind reels.

10.31.19

tenāṭavīm aṭasi tad vyathate na kiṃ svit % kūrpādibhir bhramati dhīr bhavad-āyuṣāṃ naḥ //

with that very foot you wander through the forest. Is it not pained / by gravel and thorns? The mind of us whose life you are is reeling!