SB 10.64.19 · Srimad Bhagavatam

Devanagari

अनुनीतावुभौ विप्रौ धर्मकृच्छ्रगतेन वै । गवां लक्षं प्रकृष्टानां दास्याम्येषा प्रदीयताम् ॥ १९ ॥ भवन्तावनुगृह्णीतां किङ्करस्याविजानत: । समुद्धरतं मां कृच्छ्रात् पतन्तं निरयेऽशुचौ ॥ २० ॥

Verse text

anunītāv ubhau viprau dharma-kṛcchra-gatena vai gavāṁ lakṣaṁ prakṛṣṭānāṁ dāsyāmy eṣā pradīyatām bhavantāv anugṛhṇītāṁ kiṅkarasyāvijānataḥ samuddharataṁ māṁ kṛcchrāt patantaṁ niraye ’śucau

Synonyms

anunītau — humbly requested ; ubhau — both ; viprau — the two brāhmaṇas ; dharma — of religious duty ; kṛcchra — a difficult situation ; gatena — by (me) who was in ; vai — indeed ; gavām — of cows ; lakṣam — a lakh (one hundred thousand) ; prakṛṣṭānām — best quality ; dāsyāmi — I will give ; eṣā — this one ; pradīyatām — please give ; bhavantau — the two of you ; anugṛhṇītām — should please show mercy ; kiṅkarasya — to your servant ; avijānataḥ — who was unaware ; samuddharatam — please save ; mām — me ; kṛcchrāt — from danger ; patantam — falling ; niraye — into hell ; aśucau — unclean .

Translation

Finding myself in a terrible dilemma concerning my duty in the situation, I humbly entreated both the brāhmaṇas: “I will give one hundred thousand of the best cows in exchange for this one. Please give her back to me. Your good selves should be merciful to me, your servant. I did not know what I was doing. Please save me from this difficult situation, or I’ll surely fall into a filthy hell.”

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

Finding myself in a terrible dilemma concerning my duty in the situation, I humbly entreated both the brāhmaṇas: "I will give one hundred thousand of the best cows in exchange for this one. Please give her back to me. Your good selves should be merciful to me, your servant. I did not know what I was doing. Please save me from this difficult situation, or I'll surely fall into a filthy hell." KB 10.64.19-20 Thereafter, with great humility, the King offered each of them 100,000 cows in exchange for the one cow that was causing the fight between them. He prayed to them that he was their servant and that there had been some mistake. Thus, in order to rectify it, he prayed that they be very kind upon him and accept his offer in exchange for the cow. The King fervently appealed to the brāhmaṇas not to cause his downfall into hell because of this mistake. A brāhmaṇa’s property is called brahma-sva, and according to Manu’s law it cannot be acquired even by the government.

Purport (Jiva Goswami)

I have fallen into a painful situation concerning dharma (dharma-kṛcchreṇa). Instead of gatena vai Sometimes upāgate is seen. With inner purity, giving up all selfishness, this cow should be given to me (pra---dīyatām). You should be merciful to me, who should be delivered from difficulty (kṛcchrāt). The difficulty is described: falling into hell. Or, you should be merciful to me who have fallen into hell because of my sin (kṛcchrāt).