SB 10.90.23 · Srimad Bhagavatam

Devanagari

शुष्यद्‌ध्रदा: करशिता बत सिन्धुपत्न्‍य: सम्प्रत्यपास्तकमलश्रिय इष्टभर्तु: । यद्वद् वयं मधुपते: प्रणयावलोक- मप्राप्य मुष्टहृदया: पुरुकर्शिता: स्म ॥ २३ ॥

Verse text

śuṣyad-dhradāḥ karaśitā bata sindhu-patnyaḥ sampraty apāsta-kamala-śriya iṣṭa-bhartuḥ yadvad vayaṁ madhu-pateḥ praṇayāvalokam aprāpya muṣṭa-hṛdayāḥ puru-karśitāḥ sma

Synonyms

śuṣyat — drying up ; hradāḥ — whose lakes ; karaśitāḥ — shriveled up ; bata — alas ; sindhu — of the ocean ; patnyaḥ — O wives ; samprati — now ; apāsta — lost ; kamala — of lotuses ; śrīyaḥ — whose opulence ; iṣṭa — beloved ; bhartuḥ — of the husband ; yadvat — just as ; vayam — we ; madhu — pateḥ — of Kṛṣṇa, the Lord of Madhu ; praṇaya — loving ; avalokam — the glance ; aprāpya — not obtaining ; muṣṭa — cheated ; hṛdayāḥ — whose hearts ; puru — thoroughly ; karśitāḥ — emaciated ; sma — we have become .

Translation

O rivers, wives of the ocean, your pools have now dried up. Alas, you have shriveled to nothing, and your wealth of lotuses has vanished. Are you, then, like us, who are withering away because of not receiving the affectionate glance of our dear husband, the Lord of Madhu, who has cheated our hearts?

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

O rivers, wives of the ocean, your pools have now dried up. Alas, you have shriveled to nothing, and your wealth of lotuses has vanished. Are you, then, like us, who are withering away because of not receiving the affectionate glance of our dear husband, the Lord of Madhu, who has cheated our hearts? KB 10.90.23 “Dear dry rivers, we know that because this is the summer season, all your beds are dry, and you have no water. Because all your water has now been dried up, you are no longer beautified by blooming lotus flowers. At the present moment, you appear very lean and thin, so we can understand that your position is exactly like ours. We have lost everything due to being separated from Śyāmasundara, and we no longer hear His pleasing words. Our hearts no longer work properly, and therefore we also have become very lean and thin. We think, therefore, that you are just like us. You have turned lean and thin because you are not getting any water from your husband, the ocean, through the clouds.” The example given herewith by the queens is very appropriate. The riverbeds become dry when the ocean no longer supplies water through the clouds. The ocean is supposed to be the husband of the river and therefore is supposed to support her. Unless a woman is supported by her husband with the necessities of life, she also becomes as dry as a dry river.

Purport

During the summer the rivers do not receive downpours of water provided by their husband, the ocean, via the clouds. But the real reason for the rivers’ emaciation, as the queens see it, is that they have failed to obtain the loving glance of Lord Kṛṣṇa, the reservoir of all happiness.

Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

"O wives of the ocean! O rivers! Your pools have all dried up. We will tell the cause. Similar to us who have not obtained the loving glance of the lord of the yadus, who is the giver of desired happiness even to you (istabhartuh), and who have thus become thin, with our hearts cheated, you also have been thin, with dried up pools and no beauty of lotuses."

Purport (Jiva Goswami)

Seeing the summer rivers with meager water, thinking the rivers have fainted, they speak among themselves about the rivers without even addressing the rivers, though they addressed the previous subjects. Bata expresses disappointment or lamentation. The wives of the ocean have lost their facial beauty because of no lotuses. Their hearts, the lakes, have dried up. Why? You do not receive the affectionate glance of your dear husband the ocean, because of separation in the form of summer. Ah! The rivers have become like us. Our faces have also withered. The word puru (abundant) indicates that they have become thin and have lost their facial beauty.

Purport (Sanatana Goswami)

Seeing the rivers in the distance with lack of beauty because of meager water in the summer and no lotuses at night, the queens think the rivers are in great pain. Have you withered away because of not seeing your dear husband (īṣṭa-bhartuḥ)? Kṛṣna appeared in the Yadu dysnasty with all excellent to manifwst unlimited qualities. He should protect us also. But we do not even receive his affectionate glance. Or since he is the protector of the Yadus, he does not protect us. Not attaining his glance, we have lost our hearts (muṣṭa-hrḍayāḥ) and have become thinner than you. Hrāda (lake) sounds similar to hṛdaya (heart). Thus there is the suggestion that just as the lakes dry up in summer, the queen’s hearts have dried up. And as the rivers are devoid of the beauty of the lotus, so the lotus faces of the queens are devoid of beauty since they have withered. It is suggested also that they have become thin by wailing like the ocean and shedding tears like the cloud. The rivers also have great attachment to their husband, the ocean. Because of the ocean ignores them, they become thin.