SB 10.48.13 · Srimad Bhagavatam

Devanagari

स तान्नरवरश्रेष्ठानाराद् वीक्ष्य स्वबान्धवान् । प्रत्युत्थाय प्रमुदित: परिष्वज्याभिनन्द्य च ॥ १३ ॥ ननाम कृष्णं रामं च स तैरप्यभिवादित: । पूजयामास विधिवत् कृतासनपरिग्रहान् ॥ १४ ॥

Verse text

sa tān nara-vara-śreṣṭhān ārād vīkṣya sva-bāndhavān pratyutthāya pramuditaḥ pariṣvajyābhinandya ca nanāma kṛṣṇaṁ rāmaṁ ca sa tair apy abhivāditaḥ pūjayām āsa vidhi-vat kṛtāsana-parigrahān

Synonyms

saḥ — he (Akrūra) ; tān — them (Kṛṣṇa, Balarāma and Uddhava) ; nara — vara — of illustrious personalities ; śreṣṭhān — the greatest ; ārāt — from a distance ; vīkṣya — seeing ; sva — his (Akrūra’s) ; bāndhavān — relatives ; pratyutthāya — rising up ; pramuditaḥ — joyful ; pariṣvajya — embracing ; abhinandya — greeting ; ca — and ; nanāma — bowed down ; kṛṣṇam rāmam ca — to Lord Kṛṣṇa and Lord Balarāma ; saḥ — he ; taiḥ — by Them ; api — and ; abhivāditaḥ — greeted ; pūjayām āsa — he worshiped ; vidhi — vat — according to scriptural injunctions ; kṛta — who had done ; āsana — of seats ; parigrahān — acceptance .

Translation

Akrūra stood up in great joy when he saw them, his own relatives and the greatest of exalted personalities, coming from a distance. After embracing them and greeting them, Akrūra bowed down to Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma and was greeted by Them in return. Then, when his guests had taken their seats, he worshiped them in accordance with scriptural rules.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

Akrūra stood up in great joy when he saw them, his own relatives and the greatest of exalted personalities, coming from a distance. After embracing them and greeting them, Akrūra bowed down to Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma and was greeted by Them in return. Then, when his guests had taken their seats, he worshiped them in accordance with scriptural rules. KB 10.48.13-14 When Kṛṣṇa, Balarāma and Uddhava approached the house of Akrūra, Akrūra came forward, embraced Uddhava and offered respectful obeisances to Lord Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma, bowing down before Them. Kṛṣṇa, Balarāma and Uddhava offered him obeisances in turn and were offered appropriate sitting places.

Purport

Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī points out that Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa and the others approached Akrūra in a friendly attitude. At first Akrūra reciprocated that friendly mood, and then, in the course of showing them hospitality, he adopted his natural devotional attitude toward the Lord and thus offered his obeisances to Śrī Kṛṣṇa and Śrī Balarāma.

Purport (Jiva Goswami)

Kṛṣṇa showed friendliness for Akrūra similar to his friendship with the Pāṇḍavas in going to his house. Akrūra responded in a similar manner from the beginning of the visit. Seeing from afar the best among the most excellent men (nara-vara-śreṣṭhān), by standing on his roof and gazing into the distance, he became joyful and stood up, and went to meet them. Then he embraced them and greeted them with praise. Later, treating them as guests while taking support of his bhakti, after realizing their powers when his true nature arose, he offered respects to Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma. He also treated Uddhava properly as a friend for it is said vaiṣṇave bandhu-sat-kṛtyā: one may worship me within the Vaiṣṇavas by offering loving friendship to them and honoring them in all respects. (SB 11.11.44) He was also greeted by the three (taih) in the same way. Instead of abhinanditaḥ sometimes abhivāditaḥ is seen.

Purport (Sanatana Goswami)

He saw the best (śreṣṭha) among the Yadus (nara-vara) or the most worthy of being worshipped (vara-śreṣṭha) among men. This shows they were most worthy of worship. They were relatives. This shows they were object of great affection. Because of this seeing them from afar, he was overjoyed. He welcomed them with kind words. He offered respects to Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma because they were the supreme Lords. He did not offer respects to Uddhava since he was the son of his brother. Kṛṣṇa is mentioned first because he is svayam bhagavān. As was suitable, he offered with faith the best seats, foot water and arghya.