Devanagari
शयानं श्रिय उत्सङ्गे पदा वक्षस्यताडयत् ।
तत उत्थाय भगवान् सह लक्ष्म्या सतां गति: ॥ ८ ॥
स्वतल्पादवरुह्याथ ननाम शिरसा मुनिम् ।
आह ते स्वागतं ब्रह्मन् निषीदात्रासने क्षणम् ।
अजानतामागतान् व: क्षन्तुमर्हथ न: प्रभो ॥ ९ ॥
Verse text
śayānaṁ śriya utsaṅge
padā vakṣasy atāḍayat
tata utthāya bhagavān
saha lakṣmyā satāṁ gatiḥ
sva-talpād avaruhyātha
nanāma śirasā munim
āha te svāgataṁ brahman
niṣīdātrāsane kṣaṇam
ajānatām āgatān vaḥ
kṣantum arhatha naḥ prabho
Synonyms
śayānam
—
who was lying down
;
śriyaḥ
—
of the goddess of fortune
;
utsaṅge
—
on the lap
;
padā
—
with his foot
;
vakṣasi
—
on His chest
;
atāḍayat
—
he kicked
;
tataḥ
—
then
;
utthāya
—
standing up
;
bhagavān
—
the Personality of Godhead
;
saha lakṣmyā
—
together with Goddess Lakṣmī
;
satām
—
of pure devotees
;
gatiḥ
—
the destination
;
sva
—
His
;
talpāt
—
from the bed
;
avaruhya
—
climbing down
;
atha
—
then
;
nanāma
—
He bowed down
;
śirasā
—
with His head
;
munim
—
to the sage
;
āha
—
He said
;
te
—
to you
;
su
—
āgatam — welcome
;
brahman
—
O brāhmaṇa
;
niṣīda
—
please sit
;
atra
—
in this
;
āsane
—
seat
;
kṣaṇam
—
for a moment
;
ajānatām
—
who were unaware
;
āgatān
—
arrived
;
vaḥ
—
of you
;
kṣantum
—
forgive
;
arhatha
—
you should please
;
naḥ
—
us
;
prabho
—
O master .
Translation
There he went up to the Supreme Lord, who was lying with His head on the lap of His consort, Śrī, and kicked Him on the chest. The Lord then rose, along with Goddess Lakṣmī, as a sign of respect. Coming down from His bedstead, that supreme goal of all pure devotees bowed His head to the floor before the sage and told him, ‘Welcome, brāhmaṇa. Please sit in this chair and rest awhile. Kindly forgive us, dear master, for not noticing your arrival.’
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
There he went up to the Supreme Lord, who was lying with His head on the lap of His consort, Śrī, and kicked Him on the chest. The Lord then rose, along with Goddess Lakṣmī, as a sign of respect. Coming down from His bedstead, that supreme goal of all pure devotees bowed His head to the floor before the sage and told him, ‘Welcome, brāhmaṇa. Please sit in this chair and rest awhile. Kindly forgive us, dear master, for not noticing your arrival’.
KB 10.89.8-9
… where Lord Viṣṇu was lying on a bed of flowers in the company of His wife, the goddess of fortune, who was engaged in massaging His lotus feet. There Bhṛgu Muni purposely committed the greatest sin by offending Lord Viṣṇu by his bodily activities. The first offense committed by Bhṛgu Muni was mental, the second offense was vocal, and the third offense was corporal. These different offenses are progressively greater in degree. An offense committed within the mind is a positive offense, the same offense committed verbally is comparatively more grave, and when committed by bodily action it is superlative in offensiveness. So Bhṛgu Muni committed the greatest offense by kicking the chest of the Lord in the presence of the goddess of fortune. Of course, Lord Viṣṇu is all-merciful. He did not become angry at the activities of Bhṛgu Muni, for Bhṛgu Muni was a great brāhmaṇa. A brāhmaṇa is to be excused even if he sometimes commits an offense, and Lord Viṣṇu set the example. Yet it is said that from the time of this incident the goddess of fortune, Lakṣmī, has not been very favorably disposed toward the brāhmaṇas, and therefore, because the goddess of fortune withholds her benedictions from them, the brāhmaṇas are generally very poor. Bhṛgu Muni’s kicking the chest of Lord Viṣṇu was certainly a great offense, but Lord Viṣṇu is so great that He did not care. The so-called brāhmaṇas of the Kali-yuga are sometimes very proud that a great brāhmaṇa like Bhṛgu Muni could touch the chest of Lord Viṣṇu with his foot. But in fact when Bhṛgu Muni kicked the chest of Lord Viṣṇu it was the greatest offense, although Lord Viṣṇu, being greatly magnanimous, did not take it very seriously.
Instead of being angry or cursing Bhṛgu Muni, Lord Viṣṇu immediately got up from His bed along with His wife, the goddess of fortune, and offered respectful obeisances to the brāhmaṇa. He addressed Bhṛgu Muni as follows: “My dear brāhmaṇa, it is My greatest fortune that you have come here. Please, therefore, sit down on this cushion for a few minutes. My dear brāhmaṇa, I am very sorry that when you first entered My home I could not receive you properly. It was a great offense on My part, and I beg you to pardon Me.
Purport
According to Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī, at the time of this pastime Bhṛgu Muni had not yet become a pure Vaiṣṇava; otherwise he would not have acted so rashly toward the Supreme Lord. Not only was Lord Viṣṇu taking rest, but He was lying with His head in His wife’s lap. For Bhṛgu to strike Him in this position — and not with his hand but with his foot — was worse than any other offense Bhṛgu could have imagined.
Śrīla Prabhupāda comments: “Of course, Lord Viṣṇu is all-merciful. He did not become angry at the activities of Bhṛgu Muni, for Bhṛgu Muni was a great
brāhmaṇa.
A
brāhmaṇa
is to be excused even if he sometimes commits an offense, and Lord Viṣṇu set the example. Yet it is said that from the time of this incident the goddess of fortune, Lakṣmī, has not been very favorably disposed toward the
brāhmaṇas,
and therefore because the goddess of fortune withholds her benedictions from them, the
brāhmaṇas
are generally very poor.”
Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Not only did he commit offense to the Lord but he did it while Visnu was sleeping on a flower bed, while he was on the lap of laksmi his wife, striking him on the chest, and doing it with his foot, not his hand. This was the height of offense. Bhrgu did this in order to see if Visnu was in the mode of goodness. However, he saw Visnu display not even material goodness but suddha sattva. That is explained in four verses. Visnu did not show a trace of anger when Bhrgu entered at such a time, in such a private place, and was staring at him. That was a sign of sattva guna. Not showing anger at seeing his abuse, because he knew the nature of his devotee’s heart is a sign of suddha sattva. Visnu is the shelter of the inhabitants of vaikuntha (satam gatih). Thus they also show the same quality.
"I will not accept this seat you offer since you did not respect me by standing up to meet me."
In response to such an anticipated statement, Visnu says, "I have committed offense to you. Your mercy is my only shelter. You should forgive us for not knowing you were coming."
Purport (Jiva Goswami)
Because Viṣṇu was lying with his head on Lakṣmī’s lap and both of them were absorbed in prema, they did not see Bhṛgu arrive. Thus kicking Viṣṇu especially at this time was completely improper. Because of the Lord’s qualities manifested at this time, later Bhṛgu became a Vaiṣṇava. He was able to go to Vaikuṇṭha because the Lord desired to show his qualities, to show mercy to the people in general. After being kicked (tataḥ) Viṣṇu saw him. Immediately with Śrī he stood up from his bed. The word sva indicates that his bed was as powerful as the Lord himself. Still he rose quickly from that bed, disregarding it. He did this because he is the shelter of good qualities (satām gatiḥ), since he is endowed with all good qualities (bhagavān) or was directly the Supreme Lord. Have you come in comfort (svāgatam)? Or, your coming is most auspicious. O form of the devatās, worthy of worship (brahma)! Please sit in this seat. This was the Lord’s own bed, or a special seat for brāhmaṇas, or a seat which the Lord personally brought. “I cannot accept the seat since I have not been respected by you. You should come out to meet me.” But we did not know about your (vaḥ) coming. Plural number (vaḥ) is used to show respect. Please forgive us (naḥ). Viṣṇu uses the plural for himself to indicate Lakṣmī and others as well.
Purport (Sanatana Goswami)
Bhṛgu’s action was completely inappropriate, since Viṣṇu was lying down. Bhṛgu’s totally rude behavior is described. Kicking the Lord was an extreme test or in order to show the Lord’s special greatness. Or since the Lord’s greatness is obvious in all places, the sages desire to know the Lord’s greatness took place by the inspiration of the Lord. maharṣīṇām bhṛgur aham: among sages I am Bhṛgu. (BG 10.250) Bhṛgu was actually a famous, great devotee, father of Lakṣmī, but still he became a cause of anger and suffering (by kicking Viṣṇu).
Immediately (tataḥ) the Lord rose. Or suddenly because of the kick (tataḥ) he rose, along with Lakṣmī. He came off his bed even though it was of the highest excellence (sva). He rose from the bed because he was the shelter of the devotees (satām gatiḥ), and endowed with all qualities (bhagavān). Or though he was the supreme Lord (bhagavān), and though he was the shelter of his devotees including Bhṛgu, he rose from his bed.
Have you come in comfort (svāgatam)? Or, your coming is most auspicious. O form of the devatās, worthy of worship (brahma)! Please sit in this seat. This was the Lord’s own bed, or a special seat for brāhmaṇas, or a seat which the Lord personally brought. “I cannot accept the seat since I have not been respected by you. You should come out to meet me.” But we did not know about your (vaḥ) coming. Plural number (vaḥ) is used to show respect. Please forgive us (naḥ). Viṣṇu uses the plural for himself to indicate Lakṣmī and others as well.