Devanagari
सूत उवाच
इतीडितोऽर्चित: काममृषिणा भगवान् मुने ।
तथेति स स्मयन् प्रागाद् बदर्याश्रममीश्वर: ॥ ७ ॥
Verse text
sūta uvāca
itīḍito ’rcitaḥ kāmam
ṛṣiṇā bhagavān mune
tatheti sa smayan prāgād
badary-āśramam īśvaraḥ
Synonyms
sūtaḥ uvāca
—
Sūta Gosvāmī said
;
iti
—
in these words
;
īḍitaḥ
—
glorified
;
arcitaḥ
—
worshiped
;
kāmam
—
satisfactorily
;
ṛṣiṇā
—
by the sage Mārkaṇḍeya
;
bhagavān
—
the Personality of Godhead
;
mune
—
O wise Śaunaka
;
tathā iti
—
“so be it”
;
saḥ
—
He
;
smayan
—
smiling
;
prāgāt
—
departed
;
badarī
—
āśramam — for the hermitage Badarikāśrama
;
īśvaraḥ
—
the Supreme Lord .
Translation
Sūta Gosvāmī said: O wise Śaunaka, thus satisfied by Mārkaṇḍeya’s praise and worship, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, smiling, replied, “So be it,” and then departed for His hermitage at Badarikāśrama.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Sūta Gosvāmī said: O wise Śaunaka! Thus satisfied by Mārkaṇḍeya's praise and worship, the Supreme Lord, smiling, replied, "So be it," and then departed for his hermitage at Badarikāśrama.
The Lord smiled. Seeing māyā is only a cause of experiencing grief. If you want that, then I will give it, since I must give you a boon. You must realize “I do not like this experience of seeing māyā.” Otherwise your desire to experience it will not go away. Therefore by experiencing its suffering you will give it up. It is like a father who orders his son to give up some action performed by a stubborn son, even though the act will cause the son suffering. But for his devotee, in order to have him give up this desire, the Lord would also give him bliss by showing him his baby form within the experience of suffering. Thus the Lord smiled.
Purport
The words
bhagavān
and
īśvara
in this verse refer to the Supreme Lord in His incarnation as the twin sages Nara and Nārāyaṇa. According to Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura, the Supreme Lord smiled ruefully, because He prefers that His pure devotees stay away from His illusory energy. Curiosity to see the illusory energy of the Lord sometimes develops into sinful material desire. Nonetheless, to please His devotee Mārkaṇḍeya, the Lord granted his request, just as a father who cannot convince his son to give up pursuing a harmful desire may let him experience some painful reaction so that he will then voluntarily desist. Thus, understanding what would soon happen to Mārkaṇḍeya, the Lord smiled as He prepared to display the illusory potency to him.