Devanagari
ययोरात्मसमं वित्तं जन्मैश्वर्याकृतिर्भव: ।
तयोर्विवाहो मैत्री च नोत्तमाधमयो: क्वचित् ॥ १५ ॥
Verse text
yayor ātma-samaṁ vittaṁ
janmaiśvaryākṛtir bhavaḥ
tayor vivāho maitrī ca
nottamādhamayoḥ kvacit
Synonyms
yayoḥ
—
of which two
;
ātma
—
samam — equal to oneself
;
vittam
—
property
;
janma
—
birth
;
aiśvarya
—
influence
;
ākṛtiḥ
—
and physical appearance
;
bhavaḥ
—
posterity
;
tayoḥ
—
of them
;
vivāhaḥ
—
marriage
;
maitrī
—
friendship
;
ca
—
and
;
na
—
not
;
uttama
—
of a superior
;
adhamayoḥ
—
and an inferior
;
kvacit
—
ever .
Translation
Marriage and friendship are proper between two people who are equal in terms of their wealth, birth, influence, physical appearance and capacity for good progeny, but never between a superior and an inferior.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Marriage and friendship are proper between two people who are equal in terms of their wealth, birth, influence, physical appearance and capacity for good progeny, but never between a superior and an inferior.
KB 10.60.15-16
“I think, therefore, that your selection of Me was not very intelligent. You appear very intelligent, trained by your father and brother, but ultimately you have made a great mistake in selecting your life’s companion.
“But there is no harm; the mistake can still be rectified, and it is better late than never. You are at liberty to select a suitable husband who is actually an equal to you in opulence, family tradition, wealth, beauty, education—in all respects. Whatever mistakes you may have made may be forgotten. Now you may chalk out your own lucrative path of life. Usually a person does not establish a marital relationship with a person who is either higher or lower than his position. My dear daughter of the King of Vidarbha, I think you did not consider very sagaciously before your marriage. Thus you made a wrong selection by choosing Me as your husband. You mistakenly heard about My having very exalted character, although factually I was nothing more than a beggar. Without seeing Me and My actual position, simply by hearing about Me, you selected Me as your husband. That was not very rightly done.
Purport
Persons of superior and inferior qualities may live together in a relationship of master and servant or teacher and student, but marriage and friendship are proper only between those of equal status. The word
bhava,
in the context of marriage, indicates that a couple should have a similar capacity to produce good offspring.
Lord Kṛṣṇa here presents Himself as materially unqualified. In fact, the Lord does not have any material qualities: He lives in pure spiritual existence. Thus all the Lord’s opulences are eternal and not of the flimsy mundane sort.
Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
In this verse, using niti sastra, Krsna implies that it is not proper that she be his wife.
Your father and grandfather are very wealthy, whereas my father Vasudeva has no wealth. I have only wealth that I have earned on my own. You come from a great dynasty, and I, being a Yadava, am without great heritage. You have jurisdiction over many towns such as Kundina in Vidarbha state, whereas I have only Dvaraka in Anarta state. You are fair complexioned, and I am black. Your prosperity (bhava can mean welfare, the lord or material life) is assured, whereas mine is uncertain, because I have many enemies.
Those who are equal in wealth, birth, beauty along with power, and prosperity should marry and not those who are unequal in these matters."
Purport (Jiva Goswami)
The following is proper for everyone. It is proper (not stated but understood) for a couple of equal birth, influence, and beauty to marry. Bhavaḥ means what will happen in the future, which can be known through astrology. Or it can mean offspring in the future. By being born (janma) at the same time their age is similar. Similarity is proper for marriage, for then there can be friendship for example. Or similarity is proper for marriage and even (ca) for persons wishing to be friends. To strengthen the statement, the opposite is stated. In no place or at no time is matching superior with inferior proper.
Purport (Sanatana Goswami)
I am not suitable for marriage because of great difference which is contrary to custom, and because of embarrassment. The couple should have the same form and same age (bhavaḥ). This is also true of friends (maitrī). Or not only should they marry but they also (ca) will be friends. Otherwise they cannot be friends because they are contrary to each other. This is confirmed by stating the opposite. One party has wealth. The other party is poor. They should never at any time or place get married.