Devanagari
स्वर्धुन्युदार्द्रै: स्वजटाकलापै-
रुपस्पृशन्तश्चरणोपधानम् ।
पद्मं यदर्चन्त्यहिराजकन्या:
सप्रेमनानाबलिभिर्वरार्था: ॥ ५ ॥
Verse text
svardhuny-udārdraiḥ sva-jaṭā-kalāpair
upaspṛśantaś caraṇopadhānam
padmaṁ yad arcanty ahi-rāja-kanyāḥ
sa-prema nānā-balibhir varārthāḥ
Synonyms
svardhunī
—
uda — by the water of the Ganges
;
ārdraiḥ
—
being moistened
;
sva
—
jaṭā — bunch of hairs
;
kalāpaiḥ
—
situated on the head
;
upaspṛśantaḥ
—
by so touching
;
caraṇa
—
upadhānam — the shelter of His feet
;
padmam
—
the lotus shelter
;
yat
—
that which
;
arcanti
—
worships
;
ahi
—
rāja — the serpent-king
;
kanyāḥ
—
daughters
;
sa
—
prema — with great devotion
;
nānā
—
various
;
balibhiḥ
—
paraphernalia
;
vara
—
arthāḥ — being desirous of husbands .
Translation
The sages came from the highest planets down to the lower region through the water of the Ganges, and therefore the hair on their heads was wet. They touched the lotus feet of the Lord, which are worshiped with various paraphernalia by the daughters of the serpent-king when they desire good husbands.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
The sages, hair wet with Gaṅgā water, touched the lotus pillow of the Lord’s feet which the daughters of the snake king, desiring husbands, worship with various gifts out of love.
This verse and half of the next verse describes the sages. To hear the Bhāgavatam, the sages descended from Satyaloka to Pātālaloka via the Gaṅgā. Thus their hair was wet. Upadhānam means pillow. Varārthāḥ means “desiring a husband.”
Purport
The Ganges water flows directly from the lotus feet of Viṣṇu, and its course runs from the highest planet of the universe down to the lowest. The sages came down from Satyaloka by taking advantage of the flowing water, a process of transportation made possible by the power of mystic
yoga.
If a river flows thousands and thousands of miles, a perfect
yogī
can at once transport himself from one place to another simply by dipping in its water. The Ganges is the only celestial river which flows throughout the universe, and great sages travel all over the universe via this sacred river. The statement that their hair was wet indicates that it was directly moistened by the water originating from the lotus feet of Viṣṇu (the Ganges). Whoever touches the water of the Ganges to his head surely touches the lotus feet of the Lord directly and can become free from all effects of sinful acts. If after taking a bath in the Ganges or being washed of all sins, a man guards himself against committing further sinful acts, then certainly he is delivered. But if he again takes up sinful activities, his bath in the Ganges is as good as that of the elephant, who nicely takes his bath in a river but later spoils the whole thing by covering himself with dust on the land.