Devanagari
स विप्रानुमतो राजा गृहीत्वाञ्जलिनौदनम् ।
अवघ्राय मुदा युक्त: प्रादात्पत्न्या उदारधी: ॥ ३७ ॥
Verse text
sa viprānumato rājā
gṛhītvāṣjalinaudanam
avaghrāya mudā yuktaḥ
prādāt patnyā udāra-dhīḥ
Synonyms
saḥ
—
he
;
vipra
—
of the brāhmaṇas
;
anumataḥ
—
taking permission
;
rājā
—
the King
;
gṛhītvā
—
taking
;
aṣjalinā
—
in his joined palms
;
odanam
—
rice boiled in milk
;
avaghrāya
—
after smelling
;
mudā
—
with great delight
;
yuktaḥ
—
fixed
;
prādāt
—
offered
;
patnyai
—
to his wife
;
udāra
—
dhīḥ — liberal-minded .
Translation
The King was very liberal, and after taking permission from the priests, he took the preparation in his joined palms, and after smelling it he offered a portion to his wife.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
The wise King, taking the permission of the brāhmaṇas, took the rice in his hands, smelled it with delight, and offered it to his wife.
Purport
The word
udāra-dhīḥ
is significant in this connection. The wife of the King, Sunīthā, was not fit to accept this benediction, yet the King was so liberal that without hesitation he offered to his wife the boiled rice in milk
prasāda
received from the
yajṣa-puruṣa.
Of course, everything is designed by the Supreme Personality of Godhead. As will be explained in later verses, this incident was not very favorable for the King. Since the King was very liberal, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, in order to increase his detachment from this material world, willed that a cruel son be born of the Queen so that the King would have to leave home. As stated above, Lord Viṣṇu fulfills the desires of the
karmīs
as they desire, but the Lord fulfills the desire of a devotee in a different way so that the devotee may gradually come to Him. This is confirmed in the
Bhagavad-gītā
(
dadāmi buddhi-yogaṁ taṁ yena mām upayānti te
). The Lord gives the devotee the opportunity to make progress further and further so that he may come back home, back to Godhead.