VedaVyasa
Praneetha
The Mad Bhagavatam
Chapter 40
Akrûra's Prayers
This chapter relates Akrūra's prayers to the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
Akrūra prayed, "Brahmā, who created this visible world, emanated from the lotus navel of the Supreme Lord. The five elements of physical nature, the five corresponding objects of perception, the ten senses, the ego, the total nature, the primeval creator and the demigods all originate from His bodily limbs. He cannot be known by sensory knowledge, and thus even Brahmā and the other demigods are ignorant of His real identity.
"Different classes of people worship the Supreme Personality of Godhead in different ways. Fruitive workers worship Him by performing Vedic sacrifices, philosophers by renouncing material work and pursuing spiritual knowledge, yogīs by meditating, Śaivites by worshiping Lord Śiva, Vaiṣṇavas by following the injunctions of such scriptures as the Pañcarātra, and other saintly persons by worshiping Him as the original form of the self, of the material substance and of the controlling demigods. Just as rivers flow from various directions into the ocean, the worship of those who dedicate themselves to these various entities finds its ultimate purpose within the Supreme Lord Viṣṇu.
"The form of the total universe, the Virāṭ-rūpa, is imagined to be the form of Lord Viṣṇu. Like aquatics moving about in water or like tiny insects burrowing in an udumbara fruit, all living beings move about within the Lord. These living beings, bewildered by His Māyā, wander along the path of material work, falsely identifying with body, home and so forth. Under the sway of illusion, a foolish person may overlook a reservoir of water covered by grass and leaves and instead run after a mirage. Similarly, living beings caught in the grip of ignorance abandon Lord Viṣṇu and become attached to their bodies, homes and so on. Such faithful servants of their senses cannot take shelter of the Supreme Lord's lotus feet. Only if, by His mercy, they get the association of saintly devotees will their material entanglement end. Only then can they develop Kṛṣṇa consciousness by serving the Lord's pure devotees."
10.40.1
(1) S'rî Akrûra said: 'I bow down to You, o Cause of All Causes, Lord Nârâyana, o Original Inexhaustible Person from whose navel generated the lotus on the whorl of which Lord Brahmâ appeared from whom came about this world.
10.40.2
mahān ajādir mana indriyāṇi
(2) Earth, water, fire, air, ether and where that is from [the false ego]; the mystifying totality of matter [see footnote 10.13: ***] and her origin [the spirit], the mind, the senses, the objects of all the senses and the demigods are all the [separate secondary] causes of the universe that have generated from Your [transcendental] body.
10.40.3
hy ajādayo 'nātmatayā gṛhītaḥ
(3) They, under the direction of the material realm, do because of its inertia not know the true identity of the Supreme Self, the Soul of You indeed; the unborn one [Brahmâ] seized by the modes of material nature is bound to follow them; he does not know Your true form superior to the modes [see also 10.13: 40-56].
God is transcendental to material nature. Unless we also transcend the limited consciousness of material existence, we cannot know Him. Even the greatest living entity in the universe, Brahmā, cannot understand the Supreme unless he comes to the platform of pure Kṛṣṇa consciousness.
10.40.4
sādhyātmaḿ sādhibhūtaḿ ca
(4) It is certainly for You, the Supreme Personality and Controller with oneself, with others, with the greater of nature and with the saints, that the yogis perform sacrifice.
10.40.5
yajante vitatair yajñair
nānā-rūpāmarākhyayā
(5) Some brahmins in respect of the three sacred [agni-traya] fires worship You by means of the mantras and the three Vedas elaborately with various rituals for demigods of different names and forms.
Akrūra has now described how those who follow the paths of Sāńkhya, yoga and the three Vedas worship the Supreme Lord in different ways. In the various places where the Vedas appear to recommend that one worship Indra, Varuṇa and other demigods, these demigods are stated to be supreme. But at the same time the Vedas state that there is one supreme controller, the Absolute Truth. That is Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the Personality of Godhead, who expands His potency through material creation into the forms of the demigods. Thus worship of the demigods goes to Him through the indirect method of karma-kāṇḍa, or fruitive religious rituals. Ultimately, however, one who wants to achieve eternal perfection should worship the Lord directly, in full Kṛṣṇa consciousness.
10.40.6
sannyasyopaśamaḿ gatāḥ
(6) Some in the pursuance of knowledge in resignation of all fruitive actions attain peace by the sacrifice of cultivating knowledge in worship of the embodiment of knowledge [the guru, the Lord; see e.g. B.G. 4: 28; 17: 11-13; 18: 70].
Modern philosophers pursue knowledge without bothering to worship the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and thus they naturally end up with meager, if not trivial, results.
10.40.7
vidhinābhihitena te
(7) And others, whose intelligence is purified through the principles [the vidhi] that You offer, worship You filled with thoughts about You as the one form that has many forms.
The word saḿskṛtātmānaḥ, "they whose intelligence is pure," is significant here. It implies that the worshipers mentioned before have not completely purified their intelligence of material contamination and thus worship the Lord indirectly. Those who are purified, however, directly worship the Lord, either as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Kṛṣṇa, or as one of His various plenary forms, such as Vāsudeva, Sańkarṣaṇa, Pradyumna or Aniruddha, as indicated here.
10.40.8
tvām evānye śivoktena
bhagavantarn upāsate
(8) Yet others worship also You, the Supreme Lord, by following the different presentations of many teachers to the form of S'iva in treading the path layed out by Lord S'iva.
The words tvām eva, "You also," indicate that the path of worshiping Lord Śiva is indirect and therefore inferior. Akrūra himself is following the superior method by directly worshiping Kṛṣṇa, or Viṣṇu, with his prayers.
10.40.9
(9) They all, even though they as devotees of other divinities have their attention elsewhere, do worship You who as the Controller comprises all the gods [see B.G. 9: 23].
The idea here is that even those who worship the demigods are indirectly worshiping the Supreme Lord Viṣṇu. The understanding of such worshipers, however, is imperfect.
10.40.10
parjanyāpūritāḥ prabho
(10) Like the rivers that filled by the rain springing from the mountains from all sides enter the ocean, o master, do similarly all these paths [of the demigods] finally lead to You [see B.G. 2: 70; 9: 23-25, 10: 24 and 11: 28].
Lord Kṛṣṇa Himself speaks on this issue of worship in the Bhagavad-gītā (9.23-25):
ye 'py anya-devatā-bhaktā
yajante śraddhayānvitāḥ
[Bg. 9.25]
"Those who are devotees of other gods and who worship them with faith actually worship only Me, O son of Kuntī, but they do so in a wrong way. I am the only enjoyer and master of all sacrifices. Therefore, those who do not recognize My true transcendental nature fall down. Those who worship the demigods will take birth among the demigods; those who worship the ancestors go to the ancestors; those who worship ghosts and spirits will take birth among such beings; and those who worship Me will live with Me."10.40.11
ā-brahma-sthāvarādayaḥ
(11) All the conditioned living beings from the immobile up to Lord Brahmâ are in this entangled in the qualities [gunas] of goodness [sattva], passion [rajas] and slowness [tamas] of Your material nature [see B.G. ch 14].
10.40.12
tubhyaḿ namas te tv aviṣakta-dṛṣṭaye
pravartate deva-nṛ-tiryag-ātmasu
(12) My obeisances to You, aloof in Your vision, who as the consciousness and Soul of everyone and as the Witness to the flow of the material modes as constituted by Your lower energy, makes Your way among those presenting themselves as gods, humans and animals.
10.40.13-14
agnir mukhaḿ te 'vanir ańghrir īkṣaṇaḿ
kukṣir marut prāṇa-balaḿ prakalpitam
nimeṣaṇaḿ rātry-ahanī prajāpatir
(13-14) One thinks of fire as Your face, earth as Your feet, the sun as Your eye, the sky as Your navel and the directions as Your sense of hearing; heaven is Your head, the ruling demigods are Your arms, the ocean is Your abdomen and the wind Your vital air and physical strength. The trees and the plants are the hairs on Your body, the clouds are the hair on Your head, the mountains are the bones and nails of the Supreme of You, day and night are the blinking of Your eye, the founding father is Your genitals and the rain is considered Your semen [see e.g. also 2.6: 1-11].
10.40.15
tvayy avyayātman puruṣe prakalpitā
(15) Within You, their Inexhaustible One Personality comprising all mind and senses, originated together with their rulers the worlds including the many souls that crowd them just like the aquatics that move about in the water or the small insects in an udumbara fig.
10.40.16
(16) For the sake of Your pastimes in this world You manifest various forms by whom the people, cleansed with them of their unhappiness, full of joy sing Your glories.
10.40.17-18
hayaśīrṣṇe namas tubhyaḿ
(17-18) My respects to You the Original Cause who in the form of Matsya [the fish, see 8.24] moved about in the ocean of dissolution and to Hayagrîva [the horsehead, see 5.18: 6]; my obeisances to You, the slayer of Madhu and Kaithaba; to the huge master tortoise [Kûrma, see 8.7 & 8] who held the mountain Mandara; my reverence and all hail to You in the form of the boar [Varâha, see 3.13] whose pleasure it was to lift up the earth from the ocean.
The Viśva-kośa dictionary states that the word akūpārāya indicates the king of tortoises.
10.40.19
(19) Obeisances to You the amazing lion [Nrisimha, see 7.8 & 9], o Remover of the fear of the saintly wherever they are and to You who as the dwarf [Vâmana, see 8.18-21] stepped over the three worlds.
10.40.20
(20) All honor to You, the Lord of the descendants of Bhrigu [Paras'urâma, see 9.15 & 16] who cut down the forest of conceited nobles and my obesicances to You the best of the Raghu-dynasty [Lord Râma, see 9.10 & 11] who has put an end to Râvana.
10.40.21
namas te vāsudevāya
pradyumnāyaniruddhāya
(21) My obeisances to You Lord Vâsudeva, my obeisances to the Lord of the Sâtvatas and to Lord Sankarshana [His in ego], Pradyumna [His in intelligence] and Aniruddha [His in mind, see further 4.24: 35 & 36].
10.40.22
(22) My obeisances to Lord Buddha [He as the awakened], the Pure One, the bewilderer of the demoniac descendants of Diti and Dânu and my respects for You in the form of Lord Kalki [the Lord to come 'for the foul'] the annihilator of the offensive meat-eaters [mlecchas] posing for kings [see also 2.7].
10.40.23
ahaḿ mamety asad-grāho
(23) O Supreme Lord, the individual souls in this world are bewildered by Your deluding material energy [mâyâ] and are to the false conceptions of 'I' and 'mine' [asmitâ] made to wander along the paths of fruitive activities [karma].
10.40.24
ahaḿ cātmātmajāgāra-
dārārtha-svajanādiṣu
(24) Also I am, concerning my body, children, home, wife, wealth, followers and so on, deluded in foolishly thinking that they, being more like a dream, would be true, o Mighty One.
10.40.25
anityānātma-duḥkheṣu
dvandvārāmas tamo-viṣṭo
(25) Taking pleasure in the temporal that is not the real self and in [things that are factually] sources of misery have I with a mind of thinking to the contrary lusted in duality and have I, absorbed in ignorance, failed to recognize You as the One most dear to me.
10.40.26
(26) Like a fool overlooking water covered by the plants growing in it and like someone running after a mirage, have I the same way turned away from You.
10.40.27
roddhuḿ pramāthibhiś cākṣair
hriyamāṇam itas tataḥ
(27) I, with a of desires and profitminded labor pitiable intelligence, couldn't find the strength to check my disturbed mind that by the so very powerful, willfull senses was dragged from here to there [see B.G. B.G. 13: 1-4, picture & 5.11: 10].
10.40.28
puḿso bhaved yarhi saḿsaraṇāpavargas
(28) Being so am I approaching Your feet that - as also is the case with Your mercy - are impossible to attain for the ones impure, o Lord. And to that I keep in mind that, when it of a person happens that his wandering in the material world comes to a stop, the [stable] consciousness will develop by worship of the true [the devotees, association, teachers, scriptures and natural time] of You, whose navel is like a lotus.
10.40.29
puruṣeśa-pradhānāya
(29) My obeisances to the Embodiment of Wisdom, the Source of All Forms of Knowledge, to Him, the Absolute Truth of unlimited potencies, who predominates over the forces that control the person.
10.40.30
namas te vāsudevāya
hṛṣīkeśa namas tubhyaḿ
(30) My reverence for You the son of Vasudeva, in whom all living beings reside and my homage o Lord of the Senses to You; please protect me, o Master, in my being surrendered.'
Thus end of the Tenth Canto, Fortieth Chapter, of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, entitled "The Prayers of Akrūra."
Canto 10
Chapter 41
The Lords' Arrival in Mathurâ
(Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma Enter Mathurā)
This chapter describes how Lord Kṛṣṇa entered the city of Mathurā, killed a washerman and bestowed benedictions upon a weaver and a garland-maker named Sudāmā.
After showing His Viṣṇu form to Akrūra in the waters of the Yamunā and receiving Akrūra's prayers, Lord Kṛṣṇa withdrew that vision just as an actor winds up his performance. Akrūra emerged from the water and in great amazement approached the Lord, who asked him whether he had seen something wonderful while bathing. Akrūra replied, "Whatever wonderful things there are in the realms of water, earth or sky, all have their existence within You. Thus when one has seen You, nothing remains unseen." Akrūra then began driving the chariot again.
Kṛṣṇa, Balarāma and Akrūra reached Mathurā late in the afternoon. After meeting up with Nanda Mahārāja and the other cowherds, who had gone on ahead, Kṛṣṇa asked Akrūra to return home, promising to visit him there after He had killed Kaḿsa. Akrūra unhappily bid the Lord goodbye, went to King Kaḿsa to inform him that Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma had come, and went home.
Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma took the cowherd boys with Them to see the splendorous city. As they all entered Mathurā, the women of the city eagerly came out of their houses to see Kṛṣṇa. They had often heard about Him and had long since developed a deep attraction for Him. But now that they were actually seeing Him, they were overwhelmed with happiness, and all their distress due to His absence was eradicated.
Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma then came upon Kaḿsa's wicked washerman. Kṛṣṇa asked him for some of the first-class garments he was carrying, but he refused and even chastised the two Lords. At this Kṛṣṇa became very angry and beheaded the man with His fingertips. The washerman's assistants, seeing his untimely end, dropped their bundles of clothes on the spot and ran off in all directions. Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma then took some of the garments They especially fancied.
Next a weaver approached the two Lords and arrayed Them suitably, for which service he received from Kṛṣṇa opulence in this life and liberation in the next. Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma then went to the house of the garland-maker Sudāmā. Sudāmā offered Them his full obeisances, worshiped Them by bathing Their feet and offering Them such items as arghya and sandalwood paste, and chanted prayers in Their honor. Then he adorned Them with garlands of fragrant flowers. Pleased, the Lords offered him whatever benedictions he wished, and then They moved on.
10.41.1
naṭo nāṭyam ivātmanaḥ
(1) S'rî S'uka said: 'While he [Akrûra] was praying withdrew Krishna, the Supreme Lord, having shown His personal form in the water, Himself the way an actor winds up his performance.
Lord Kṛṣṇa withdrew from Akrūra's sight the Viṣṇu form along with the vision of the spiritual sky and its eternal inhabitants.
10.41.2
so 'pi cāntarhitaḿ vīkṣya
(2) When he saw that the image had disappeared, emerged he quickly from the water, finished he his ritual duties and went all-surprised to the chariot.
10.41.3
tam apṛcchad dhṛṣīkeśaḥ
(3) Hrisîkes'a asked him: 'Have you seen something miraculous on the earth, in the heavens or in the water? We gather you did!'
10.41.4
adbhutānīha yāvanti
(4) S'rî Akrûra said: 'Whatever wonderful things there are out here on the earth, in the sky or in the water, are all in You who comprises everything; what would I not have seen seeing You?
10.41.5
yatrādbhutāni sarvāṇi
(5) Beholding You, the One Person in whom are found all wonders of the earth, the sky and the waters, o Absolute of the Truth, what else would amaze me to see in this world?'
10.41.6
kṛṣṇaḿ caiva dinātyaye
(6) With those words drove the son of Gândinî [Akrûra] the chariot forward in order to take Râma and Krishna to Mathurâ at the end of the day.
10.41.7
tatra tatropasańgatāḥ
prītā dṛṣṭiḿ na cādaduḥ
(7) The people of the villages here and there on the road approaching, were pleased to see the sons of Vasudeva o King, and couldn't take their eyes of Them.
10.41.8
tāvad vrajaukasas tatra
nanda-gopādayo 'grataḥ
puropavanam āsādya
pratīkṣanto 'vatasthire
(8) Nanda, the gopas and the rest of the inhabitants of Vraja who by then had arrived at a park outside the city, were staying there to wait for Them.
Nanda and the others reached Mathurā first because the chariot carrying Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma was delayed by Akrūra's bathing.
10.41.9
praśritaḿ prahasann iva
(9) Catching up with them said the Supreme Lord, the Master of the Universe, to the humbly smiling Akrûra while taking his hand into His own:
10.41.10
vayaḿ tv ihāvamucyātha
tato drakṣyāmahe purīm
(10) 'You go ahead and first enter with the chariot the city and go home while We from our side will alight here and thereafter will see for the city.'
10.41.11
nāhaḿ bhavadbhyāḿ rahitaḥ
(11) S'rî Akrûra said: 'How can I without the two of You enter Mathurâ, o Master? don't let me down o Lord, o Caretaker of the Devotees, I'm Your devotee!
10.41.12
sa-nāthān kurv adhokṣaja
suhṛdbhiś ca suhṛttama
(12) Please come, let's go with Your elder brother, the gopas and Your friends, and make it so, o Lord of the Beyond, that our house has a master.10.41.13
yac-chaucenānutṛpyanti
(13) Please bless with the dust of Your feet the home of us so attached to household rituals and may with that purification my forefathers, the sacrificial fires and the demigods be satisfied.
10.41.14
avanijyāńghri-yugalam
(14) The great king Bali bathing the two feet became glorious [see 8.19] and achieved unequaled power and the destination indeed reserved for the unalloyed devotee.
10.41.15
āpas te 'ńghry-avanejanyas
svar yātāḥ sagarātmajāḥ
(15) The water washing from Your feet purely spiritual has purified the three worlds and the sons of king Sagara [9.8] who with Lord S'iva taking it on his head [9.9] went to heaven.
10.41.16
yadūttamottamaḥ-śloka
(16) O God of the Gods, o Master of the Universe about whom one in piety hears and chants, o Best of the Yadus, o Lord Praised in the Verses, o Nârâyana, may there be all homage to You.'
10.41.17
(17) The Supreme Lord said: 'I will come to your house accompanied by My elder brother; when I kill my enemy in the midst of the Yadus [Kamsa] will I grant My well-wishers the satisfaction.'
PURPORT
Akrūra glorified Kṛṣṇa in Text 16 as yadūttama, "the best of the Yadus." Śrī Kṛṣṇa here confirms this by saying, in effect, "Since I am the best of the Yadus, I must kill the enemy of the Yadus, Kaḿsa, and then I will come to your house."10.41.18
(18) S'rî S'uka said: 'Thus addressed by the Supreme Lord entered he, Akrûra, somewhat disheartened the city to inform Kamsa of the success of his mission and went he home.
10.41.19
athāparāhne bhagavān
kṛṣṇaḥ sańkarṣaṇānvitaḥ
mathurāḿ prāviśad gopair
(19) Later in the afternoon joined by the gopas entered Krishna together with Sankarshana [Râma] Mathurâ to take a look around.
10.41.20-23
tāmrāra-koṣṭhāḿ parikhā-durāsadām
udyāna-ramyopavanopaśobhitām
śreṇī-sabhābhir bhavanair upaskṛtām
muktā-haridbhir valabhīṣu vediṣu
juṣṭeṣu jālāmukha-randhra-kuṭṭimeṣv
prakīrṇa-mālyāńkura-lāja-taṇḍulām
prasūna-dīpāvalibhiḥ sa-pallavaiḥ
(20-23) He saw it with its high main gates and doorways of crystal, its doors of gold and immense archways with copper and brass and with its storehouses and its inviolable moats, beautified by public gardens and attractive parks. The intersections with gold, the mansions with their pleasure gardens, the assembly halls of the guilds and the houses their columned balconies and ornate paneled rafters were bedecked with vaidûrya gems, diamonds, quartz crystals, sapphires, coral, pearls and emeralds. It vibrated of the pet doves and peacocks sitting in the openings of the lattice windows and on the gem-studded floors and on its avenues, streets and courtyards that were sprinkled with water there [for a welcome] were scattered garlands, new sprouts, parched grains and rice. The doorways of the houses were nicely decorated with pots full of yogurt smeared with sandal paste, ribbons and flower petals, rows of lamps, leaves, bunches of flowers, trunks of banana trees and betel-nut trees and flags.
The description of the elaborately decorated pots: "On either side of each doorway, above the scattered rice, is a pot. Encircling each pot are flower petals, on its neck are ribbons and in its mouth are leaves of mango and other trees. Above each pot, on a gold plate, are rows of lamps. A trunk of a banana tree stands on either side of each pot, and a betel-nut tree trunk stands in front and also behind. Flags lean against the pots."
10.41.24
draṣṭuḿ samīyus tvaritāḥ pura-striyo
harmyāṇi caivāruruhur nṛpotsukāḥ
(24) As the sons of Vasudeva entered there surrounded by their friends, hurried the women of the city to crowd at the side of the king's road and climbed they also eager for a look on top of their houses, o King.
10.41.25
vismṛtya caikaḿ yugaleṣv athāparāḥ
(25) Some had put on their clothes backwards and forgotten one of the pair of their ornaments putting on one earring or one set of ankle bells only; other ladies made up one eye but not the other one.
The ladies were very eager to see Kṛṣṇa, and in their haste and excitement they forgot themselves.
10.41.26
abhyajyamānā akṛtopamajjanāḥ
svapantya utthāya niśamya niḥsvanaḿ
(26) Some had abandoned the meals they were taking or didn't finish in their excitement their massage, their bathing or did, hearing the commotion, get up not finishing their nap or put as mothers aside the infant they were feeding milk.
10.41.27
dṛśāḿ dadac chrī-ramaṇātmanotsavam
(27) Walking like a bull elephant in rut, stole He boldly with the glances of His lotuslike eyes and game of smiles their minds affording their eyes a festival with His body, that source of pleasure to the Goddess of Fortune.
10.41.28
(28) Seeing Him whom they repeatedly had heard about melted their hearts receiving the honor of being sprinkled by the nectar of His glances and broad smiles and embraced they through their eyes within themselves with goose pimples their idol of ecstasy, giving up their endless distress [of missing Him], o subduer of the enemies.
10.41.29
prāsāda-śikharārūḍhāḥ
prīty-utphulla-mukhāmbujāḥ
(29) Having climbed the rooftops of their mansions showered the attractive women with faces blooming with affection like lotuses Balarâma and Kes'ava with flowers.
10.41.30
dadhy-akṣataiḥ soda-pātraiḥ
srag-gandhair abhyupāyanaiḥ
tāv ānarcuḥ pramuditās
(30) With yogurt, barleycorns and pots with water, fragrant substances and other items of worship were the Two joyfully at several places worshiped by the twice-born.
10.41.31
yā hy etāv anupaśyanti
(31) The women of the city said: 'Oh what great austerity have the gopîs performed indeed constantly seeing these Two, who for the human society are the greatest source of pleasure.'
10.41.32
dṛṣṭvāyācata vāsāḿsi
(32) The elder brother of Gada [Balarâma see 9.24: 46] approached a certain washerman engaged in dyeing and asked him for first class clean garments.
10.41.33
dehy āvayoḥ samucitāny
bhaviṣyati paraḿ śreyo
dātus te nātra saḿśayaḥ
(33) 'Please, best man, give the two of Us some suitable clothes; for you when you donate them to the two of us who deserve it, will there be the highest benefit, that suffers no doubt!'
10.41.34
(34) He, requested by the Supreme Lord absolute and full in every way, insolent spoke angered most falsely proud as a servant of the king.
10.41.35
paridhatta kim udvṛttā
rāja-dravyāṇy abhīpsatha
(35) 'Isn't it impudent of You, who roam the mountains and the forests, to want to put on garments like these that are the king his things?
10.41.36
yātāśu bāliśā maivaḿ
(36) Get lost You fools, don't beg like this if You want to live, I swear, people as bold as You are by the king's men arrested, killed and looted!''
10.41.37
rajakasya karāgreṇa
(37) He who thus humiliated Them raised the anger of the son of Devakî who with the side of one hand hit his head down from his body.
10.41.38
tasyānujīvinaḥ sarve
(38) When all his assistants fled down the road in all directions and left behind the bundles of clothes, took Acyuta the garments.
10.41.39
kṛṣṇaḥ sańkarṣaṇas tathā
śeṣāṇy ādatta gopebhyo
(39) Throwing away on the ground several of them dressed Krishna and Balarâma Themselves with a set of clothes to Their liking and gave They the rest to the gopas.
10.41.40
vicitra-varṇaiś caileyair
ākalpair anurūpataḥ
(40) Next came a weaver who full of love for Them befittingly ornamented Their clothing with pieces of cloth of different colors.
the weaver adorned the Lords with cloth armlets and earrings that looked just like jewels. The word anurūpataḥ indicates that the colors matched nicely.
10.41.41
parvaṇīva sitetarau
(41) Krishna and Râma with each His own specific high quality outfit and nice decorations looked as resplendent as a pair of young elephants, one light and one dark, adorned for a festival.
10.41.42
balaiśvarya-smṛtīndriyam
(42) The Supreme Lord pleased with him [the weaver] granted him sârûpya [the beatitude of His likeness, see also mukti] with in this world the same supreme opulence, physical strength, influence, memory and sense-control.
10.41.43
(43) Then went the Two of Them to the house of Sudâmâ ['well-giving'], the garland-maker, who seeing Them stood up and then bowed down putting his head to the ground.
10.41.44
pādyaḿ cārghyārhaṇādibhiḥ
srak-tāmbūlānulepanaiḥ
(44) With seats for Them he brought water to wash Their feet and hands and presents and such, and performed he for the Two worship with garlands, betel-nut and sandalwood paste.
10.41.45
(45) He said: 'Our birth has been worthwhile and the family has been purified, o Master, and with me are my forefathers, the gods and the seers satisfied about Your having arrived.
10.41.46
avatīrṇāv ihāḿśena
(46) You two indeed, the Ultimate Cause of the Universe, have with Your plenary portions descended here for the protection and the happiness of the world.
10.41.47
suhṛdor jagad-ātmanoḥ
bhajantaḿ bhajator api
(47) With You there is, even though reciprocating with those who are of worship, no bias because You in Your vision, as the Soul of the Universe, are equal to all living beings as well-wishing friends.
10.41.48
puḿso 'ty-anugraho hy eṣa
(48) You Two should order me, Your servant, what I should do for You; this indeed is for anyone the greatest blessing: thus to be engaged by You.'
10.41.49
ity abhipretya rājendra
(49) S'uka said: 'With that consideration, o best of kings, presented Sudâmâ steeped in love garlands made of fresh and fragrant flowers.
10.41.50
(50) With those beautifully adorned gave the two benefactors Krishna and Râma, who together with Their companions were most satisfied, the surrendered one bowing down all that he wished for.
10.41.51
tasminn evākhilātmani
(51) And he chose for unshakable devotion to Him alone, the Supreme soul of the Complete, for friendship with all living beings and to be blessed with transcendence.
10.41.52
nirjagāma sahāgrajaḥ
(52) Thus granting him the benediction and prosperity, a thriving family, strength, a long life, renown and beauty, left He together with His elder brother.'
We can see a clear difference between Lord Kṛṣṇa's dealings with the nasty washerman and His dealings with the devoted florist Sudāmā. The Lord is as hard as a thunderbolt for those who defy Him and as soft as a rose for those who surrender to Him. Therefore we should all sincerely surrender to Lord Kṛṣṇa, since that is clearly in our self-interest.
Thus end of the Tenth Canto, Forty-first Chapter, of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, entitled "Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma Enter Mathurā."
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