Verse Text
premā, yathā –
dviṣadbhiḥ kṣodiṣṭhair jagad-avihitecchasya bhavataḥ
karād ākṛṣyaiva prasabham abhimanyāv api hate |
subhadrāyāḥ prītir danuja-damana tvad-viṣayikā
prapede kalyāṇī na hi malinimānaṁ lavam api ||169||
Translation
Prema: O killer of demons! The feeble enemies managed to take Abhimanyu from Your hands and killed him, though You desire to protect the whole world. However, Subhadrā’s auspicious affection for You did not decrease by one degree. [Note: Subhadrā is not Kṛṣṇa’s offspring, but His younger sister. Kṛṣṇa’s younger brothers and sisters are included in this rasa.]
Purport (Nectar of Devotion)
There is another example of steady and fixed love for Kṛṣṇa in the instance of Arjuna’s informing Him of the death of Arjuna’s son, Abhimanyu, who was also the nephew of Kṛṣṇa. Abhimanyu was the son of Subhadrā, Kṛṣṇa’s younger sister. He was killed at the Battle of Kurukṣetra by the combined efforts of all the commanders in King Duryodhana’s army—namely Karṇa, Aśvatthāmā, Jayadratha, Bhīṣma, Kṛpācārya and Droṇācārya. In order to assure Kṛṣṇa that there was no change of love on Subhadrā’s part, Arjuna informed Him, “Although Abhimanyu was killed almost in Your presence, Subhadrā’s love for You is not agitated at all, nor has it even slightly changed its original color.”