Devanagari
अत्रोपसृष्टमिति चोत्स्मितमिन्दिराया:
स्वानां धिया विरचितं बहुसौष्ठवाढ्यम् ।
मह्यं भवस्य भवतां च भजन्तमङ्गं
नेमुर्निरीक्ष्य नवितृप्तदृशो मुदा कै: ॥ ४२ ॥
Verse text
atropasṛṣṭam iti cotsmitam indirāyāḥ
svānāṁ dhiyā viracitaṁ bahu-sauṣṭhavāḍhyam
mahyaṁ bhavasya bhavatāṁ ca bhajantam aṅgaṁ
nemur nirīkṣya na vitṛpta-dṛśo mudā kaiḥ
Synonyms
atra
—
here, in the matter of the beauty
;
upasṛṣṭam
—
curbed down
;
iti
—
thus
;
ca
—
and
;
utsmitam
—
the pride of her beauty
;
indirāyāḥ
—
of the goddess of fortune
;
svānām
—
of His own devotees
;
dhiyā
—
by intelligence
;
viracitam
—
meditated on
;
bahu
—
sauṣṭhava — āḍhyam — very beautifully decorated
;
mahyam
—
of me
;
bhavasya
—
of Lord Śiva
;
bhavatām
—
of all of you
;
ca
—
and
;
bhajantam
—
worshiped
;
aṅgam
—
the figure
;
nemuḥ
—
bowed down
;
nirīkṣya
—
after seeing
;
na
—
not
;
vitṛpta
—
satiated
;
dṛśaḥ
—
eyes
;
mudā
—
joyously
;
kaiḥ
—
by their heads .
Translation
The exquisite beauty of Nārāyaṇa, being many times magnified by the intelligence of His devotees, was so attractive that it defeated the pride of the goddess of fortune in being the most beautiful. My dear demigods, the Lord who thus manifested Himself is worshipable by me, by Lord Śiva and by all of you. The sages regarded Him with unsated eyes and joyously bowed their heads at His lotus feet.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Smiled upon by Lakṣmī who thought she had surpassed him in beauty, he increased in beauty by servants who used all their intelligence to decorate him. His resplendent limbs are worthy of worshipped by Śiva and us as well. Seeing that form, the sages, whose eyes could never be satisfied with that beauty, bowed their heads.
What more can be said? The pride of Lakṣmī in her beauty has been eclipsed by the beauty of the Lord. The Lord is a matter for conjecture in the minds (viracitam) of his own devotees. This is the meaning given by Śrīdhara Svāmī. According to Jīva Gosvāmī the first line means “Lakṣmī additionally (upa) exhibited (sṛṣtam) pride (utsmitam) on having Viṣṇu, endowed with such beauty, as her husband.” Or the meaning can be “He has been made secondary with form, qualities and sweetness worshipped by Brahmā and others, since I possess even more excellent qualities.” Because of this (iti) and her prema (ca), saying “I am so fortunate!” Lakṣmī smiles at him attractively (utsmitam). Her love is like this. Because of splendor arising from bliss, his limbs are resplendent with proper cloth and ornaments. He is not like Śiva who disfigures his beauty with ashes. The word worship (bhajantam) is often used to mean “having clean limbs.” For instance in various manuals it is said “worship your feet” instead of “clean your feet.” Next, how he is served by thousands of servants is described. By the intelligence of those who serve his body (svānām), who must judge how to arrange various eternal ornaments and clothing on his body, his beauty is created. The beauty of his limbs is described. The Lord has limbs which are worshiped by highly respected (mahyam) fragrance and flowers brought by Śiva and us, who worship him by meditation. They do not directly worship him in Vaikuṇṭha. Maha can mean worship. It is conjugated like cur and other verbs. They saw that form of the Lord. Seeing it, their eyes could not be satisfied. They bowed their heads (kaiḥ) in respect.
Purport
The beauty of the Lord was so enchanting that it could not be sufficiently described. The goddess of fortune is supposed to be the most beautiful sight within the spiritual and material creations of the Lord; she has a sense of being the most beautiful, yet her beauty was defeated when the Lord appeared. In other words, the beauty of the goddess of fortune is secondary in the presence of the Lord. In the words of Vaiṣṇava poets, it is said that the Lord’s beauty is so enchanting that it defeats hundreds of thousands of Cupids. He is therefore called Madana-mohana. It is also described that the Lord sometimes becomes mad after the beauty of Rādhārāṇī. Poets describe that under those circumstances, although Lord Kṛṣṇa is Madana-mohana, He becomes Madana-dāha, or enchanted by the beauty of Rādhārāṇī. Actually the Lord’s beauty is superexcellent, surpassing even the beauty of Lakṣmī in Vaikuṇṭha. The devotees of the Lord in the Vaikuṇṭha planets want to see the Lord as the most beautiful, but the devotees in Gokula or Kṛṣṇaloka want to see Rādhārāṇī as more beautiful than Kṛṣṇa. The adjustment is that the Lord, being
bhakta-vatsala,
or one who wants to please His devotees, assumes such features so that devotees like Lord Brahmā, Lord Śiva and other demigods may be pleased. Here also, for the devotee-sages, the Kumāras, the Lord appeared in His most beautiful feature, and they continued to see Him without satiation and wanted to continue seeing Him more and more.