Devanagari
ते वा अमुष्य वदनासितपद्मकोश-
मुद्वीक्ष्य सुन्दरतराधरकुन्दहासम् ।
लब्धाशिष: पुनरवेक्ष्य तदीयमङ्घ्रि-
द्वन्द्वं नखारुणमणिश्रयणं निदध्यु: ॥ ४४ ॥
Verse text
te vā amuṣya vadanāsita-padma-kośam
udvīkṣya sundaratarādhara-kunda-hāsam
labdhāśiṣaḥ punar avekṣya tadīyam aṅghri-
dvandvaṁ nakhāruṇa-maṇi-śrayaṇaṁ nidadhyuḥ
Synonyms
te
—
those sages
;
vai
—
certainly
;
amuṣya
—
of the Supreme Personality of Godhead
;
vadana
—
face
;
asita
—
blue
;
padma
—
lotus
;
kośam
—
inside
;
udvīkṣya
—
after looking up
;
sundara
—
tara — more beautiful
;
adhara
—
lips
;
kunda
—
jasmine flower
;
hāsam
—
smiling
;
labdha
—
achieved
;
āśiṣaḥ
—
aims of life
;
punaḥ
—
again
;
avekṣya
—
looking down
;
tadīyam
—
His
;
aṅghri
—
dvandvam — pair of lotus feet
;
nakha
—
nails
;
aruṇa
—
red
;
maṇi
—
rubies
;
śrayaṇam
—
shelter
;
nidadhyuḥ
—
meditated .
Translation
The Lord’s beautiful face appeared to them like the inside of a blue lotus, and the Lord’s smile appeared to be a blossoming jasmine flower. After seeing the face of the Lord, the sages were fully satisfied, and when they wanted to see Him further, they looked upon the nails of His lotus feet, which resembled rubies. Thus they viewed the Lord’s transcendental body again and again, and so they finally achieved meditation on the Lord’s personal feature.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Gazing upon the face of the Lord resembling a blue lotus bud, with even more beautiful lips, and a smile like a jasmine flower, the Kumāras, having attained the mercy of the devotees, then looked at his lotus feet with ruby-like toe nails, and again looked at his face.
The scent of tulasī purified their prāṇas and then the senses, since the senses are dependent on the prāṇas. First the eyes received the qualification for the sweetness of the Lord’s form. Because of the unlimited variety of sweetness within each limb of the Lord, they desired to simultaneously experience all the sweetness, and thus disturbance spread throughout their bodies. In this way, they lost control because of the friction created by the bliss. That is described in this verse. They certainly (vai) saw the Lord’s face like the inner part of a blue lotus bud, without the rough outer covering, and relished its sweetness. His lips were even more beautiful. Upon his lips was a smile, which was most beautiful. They had been previously blessed by Brahmā, their father, and their brother Nārada, for achieving bhakti. Now the fruits of that blessing were manifesting (labhāśīṣaḥ). What was the beauty of the Lord’s feet? Having experienced a little of the sweetness of the Lord’s face, and being unsatisfied, they looked again at his beautiful feet which were the shelter of ruby nails. And again looking at the under side of his feet, they again and again looked upon his face. Amara-koṣa says nirvarṇanaṁ tu nidhyānaṁ darśanālokanekṣaṇam: all these words mean “looking.” Śrīdhara Svāmī says that because they were unable to experience the beauty of all of the Lord’s limbs simultaneously, they then began to meditate on those limbs (nidadhyuḥ). Labhāśiṣaḥ and pitrānuvarṇita raha (verse 46) indicate that the Lord’s mercy follows after the mercy of the devotees and, by the mercy of the Lord, one achieves bhakti. Because statements are made generally because of predominance of one factor, one can say that bhakti arises by the mercy of the Lord, though actually the devotees first give mercy. Thus one can say that by the mercy of the Lord, the Kumāras achieved bhakti and experienced the sweetness of the Lord.