SB 4.17.3 · Srimad Bhagavatam

Devanagari

विदुर उवाच

कस्माद्दधार गोरूपं धरित्री बहुरूपिणी । यां दुदोह पृथुस्तत्र को वत्सो दोहनं च किम् ॥ ३ ॥

Verse text

vidura uvāca

kasmād dadhāra go-rūpaṁ

dharitrī bahu-rūpiṇī

yāṁ dudoha pṛthus tatra

ko vatso dohanaṁ ca kim

Synonyms

viduraḥ uvāca — Vidura inquired ; kasmāt — why ; dadhāra — took ; go-rūpam — the shape of a cow ; dharitrī — the earth ; bahu-rūpiṇī — who has many other forms ; yām — whom ; dudoha — milked ; pṛthuḥ — King Pṛthu ; tatra — there ; kaḥ — who ; vatsaḥ — the calf ; dohanam — the milking pot ; ca — also ; kim — what.

Translation

Vidura inquired from the great sage Maitreya: My dear brāhmaṇa, since mother earth can appear in different shapes, why did she take the shape of a cow? And when King Pṛthu milked her, who became the calf, and what was the milking pot?

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

Vidura said: Why did the cow, who takes many forms, whom Pṛthu milked, take the form of the earth? Who was the calf and what was the milk pot?