SB 10.60.40 · Srimad Bhagavatam

Devanagari

जाड्यं वचस्तव गदाग्रज यस्तु भूपान् विद्राव्य शार्ङ्गनिनदेन जहर्थ मां त्वम् । सिंहो यथा स्वबलिमीश पशून् स्वभागं तेभ्यो भयाद् यदुदधिं शरणं प्रपन्न: ॥ ४० ॥

Verse text

jāḍyaṁ vacas tava gadāgraja yas tu bhūpān vidrāvya śārṅga-ninadena jahartha māṁ tvam siṁho yathā sva-balim īśa paśūn sva-bhāgaṁ tebhyo bhayād yad udadhiṁ śaraṇaṁ prapannaḥ

Synonyms

jāḍyam — foolishness ; vacaḥ — words ; tava — Your ; gadāgraja — O Gadāgraja ; yaḥ — who ; tu — even ; bhū — pān — the kings ; vidrāvya — driving away ; śārṅga — of Śārṅga, Your bow ; ninadena — by the resounding ; jahartha — took away ; mām — me ; tvam — You ; siṁhaḥ — a lion ; yathā — as ; sva — Your own ; balim — tribute ; īśa — O Lord ; paśūn — animals ; sva — bhāgam — his own share ; tebhyaḥ — of them ; bhayāt — out of fear ; yat — that ; udadhim — of the ocean ; śaraṇaṁ — prapannaḥ — took shelter .

Translation

My Lord, as a lion drives away lesser animals to claim his proper tribute, You drove off the assembled kings with the resounding twang of Your Śārṅga bow and then claimed me, Your fair share. Thus it is sheer foolishness, my dear Gadāgraja, for You to say You took shelter in the ocean out of fear of those kings.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

My Lord, as a lion drives away lesser animals to claim his proper tribute, You drove off the assembled kings with the resounding twang of Your Śārṅga bow and then claimed me, Your fair share. Thus it is sheer foolishness, my dear Gadāgraja, for You to say You took shelter in the ocean out of fear of those kings. KB 10.60.40 “My dear all-powerful son of Vasudeva, Your statement that You have taken shelter within the water of the ocean out of fear of all the great princes is quite unsuitable, for my experience with You contradicts this. I have actually seen that You kidnapped me forcibly in the presence of all these princes. At the time of my marriage ceremony, simply by giving a jerk to the string of Your bow, You very easily drove the others away and kindly gave me shelter at Your lotus feet. I still remember vividly how You kidnapped me in the same way that a lion forcibly takes its share of hunted booty, driving away all small animals within the twinkling of an eye.

Purport

In text 12 of this chapter Lord Kṛṣṇa said, rājabhyo bibhyataḥ su-bhru samudraṁ śaranaṁ gatān: “Terrified of those kings, We went to the ocean for shelter.” According to the ācāryas, Lord Kṛṣṇa finally provoked Rukmiṇī’s anger by glorifying other men who might have been her husband, and thus in an agitated mood she here tells Him that she is not ignorant but rather that He has spoken foolishly. She states, “Like a lion You abducted me in the presence of those kings and drove them away with Your Śārṅga bow, so it is simply foolishness to say that out of fear of those same kings You went to the ocean.” According to Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī, as Queen Rukmiṇī spoke these words she frowned and cast angry sidelong glances at the Lord.

Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

Then suddenly she began to manifest the sthayi bhava of mana (anger). Having already hinted at his ignorance of her knowledge and foresight, becoming more angry because of his descriptions of the good qualities of the other kings, she clearly indicates his ignorance while showing sidelong glances and moving eyebrows. "Your words are foolish. Since you defeated the other kings and took me away as your prize, when you say that you took shelter of the ocean out of fear of them, it shows your foolishness." "But earlier you said that it was true that I took shelter of the ocean out of fear." verse 35. "True that was my foolishness to say that."

Purport (Jiva Goswami)

The suffix ya in jāḍyam denotes quality and work. Jāḍyam acts in apposition to the noun vacaḥ. Thus as a quality it indicates completely lifelessness of his words. And his words produce this effect. The word tu indicates opposition to Kṛṣṇa’s statement. You took me because I was your share (sva-bhāgam). O Gadāgraja! Even your younger brother Gada all alone was capable of driving them off. You are even more capable, since you are endowed with unlimited powers (īśa).

Purport (Sanatana Goswami)

Tu indicates that the event is contrary to perception. You stole me, because I belonged to you (sva-bhāgam). Otherwise you would lose your fame. This description is given at the end, out of embarrassment. O Gadāgraja! Even your younger brother Gada all alone was capable of driving them off. You are even more capable, since you are endowed with unlimited powers (īśa).