SB 10.83.19 · Srimad-Bhagavatam

Devanagari

यथा स्वयंवरे राज्ञि मत्स्य: पार्थेप्सया कृत: । अयं तु बहिराच्छन्नो द‍ृश्यते स जले परम् ॥ १९ ॥

Verse text

yathā svayaṁ-vare rājṣi matsyaḥ pārthepsayā kṛtaḥ ayaṁ tu bahir ācchanno dṛśyate sa jale param

Synonyms

yathā — just as ; svayam — vare — in (your) svayaṁvara ceremony ; rājṣi — O Queen ; matsyaḥ — a fish ; pārtha — Arjuna ; īpsayā — with the desire of obtaining ; kṛtaḥ — made (into a target) ; ayam — this (fish) ; tu — however ; bahiḥ — outwardly ; ācchannaḥ — covered ; dṛśyate — was seen ; saḥ — it ; jale — in water ; param — only .

Translation

Just as a fish was used as a target in your svayaṁvara ceremony, O Queen, to assure that you would obtain Arjuna as your husband, so a fish was also used in my ceremony. In my case, however, it was concealed on all sides, and only its reflection could be seen in a pot of water below.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

Just as a fish was used as a target in your svayaṁ-vara ceremony, O Queen, to assure that you would obtain Arjuna as your husband, so a fish was also used in my ceremony. In my case, however, it was concealed on all sides, and only its reflection could be seen in a pot of water below. KB 10.83.19 “… like that devised by your father: during the svayaṁvara, the prospective bridegrooms had to pierce the eyes of a fish with their arrows. The difference between the competition in your svayaṁvara and mine was that in yours the fish was hanging openly on the ceiling, in clear view, but in mine the fish was covered and could be seen only by its reflection in a pot of water. That was the special feature of my svayaṁvara.

Purport

Arjuna is famous as the most expert bowman. Why, then, could he not hit the fish target at Śrīmatī Lakṣmaṇā’s svayaṁvara ceremony just as he had done once before to win Draupadī? Śrīla Śrīdhara Svāmī explains: The target at Draupadī’s svayaṁvara had been covered only partially, so that a marksman could see it if he looked straight up the pillar on which it was placed. To shoot Lakṣmaṇā’s target, however, it was necessary to aim by looking up and down at the same time, an impossible feat for any mortal. Therefore only Kṛṣṇa could strike the target.

Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

They, with hopes of attaining me (mad dhiyah), took up the bow with the arrow in that assembly (parsadi).

Purport (Jiva Goswami)

She describes the method. As (yathā) your father arranged for the test, so my father arranged in a similar way. As the fish was pierced Arjuna’s arrow (pārtheṣuṇā instead of pārthepṣayā), so the fish was pierced by Kṛṣṇa’s arrow. Though the fish could be seen by glancing upwards from the base of the pillar, though it could be seen, from far away one had to pierce a covering in order to pierce the fish. It was made more difficult to locate the fish because it rotated. But it was made more difficult to pierce by my father. The target could not be directly seen but only by a reflection in the water. The pillar was in the middle of water and one had to approach the column by going through water. One could not determine the whereabouts of the target before looking into the water.

Purport (Sanatana Goswami)

She describes the method. As (yathā) your father arranged for the test, so my father arranged in a similar way. But there was a great difference. The fish (ayam) was placed along with the bow and arrow so that it was very difficult to pierce. Or what was arranged by your father (ayam) was difficult to detect, visible on top of a pillar above the water. This was arranged by my father. The fish could be seen in the water and not outside.