SB 4.17.35 · Srimad-Bhagavatam

Devanagari

अपामुपस्थे मयि नाव्यवस्थिता: प्रजा भवानद्य रिरक्षिषु: किल । स वीरमूर्ति: समभूद्धराधरो यो मां पयस्युग्रशरो जिघांससि ॥ ३५ ॥

Verse text

apām upasthe mayi nāvy avasthitāḥ prajā bhavān adya rirakṣiṣuḥ kila sa vīra-mūrtiḥ samabhūd dharā-dharo yo māṁ payasy ugra-śaro jighāṁsasi

Synonyms

apām — of the water ; upasthe — situated on the surface ; mayi — in me ; nāvi — in a boat ; avasthitāḥ — standing ; prajāḥ — living entities ; bhavān — Yourself ; adya — now ; rirakṣiṣuḥ — desiring to protect ; kila — indeed ; saḥ — He ; vīra — mūrtiḥ — in the form of a great hero ; samabhūt — became ; dharā — dharaḥ — the protector of the planet earth ; yaḥ — one who ; mām — me ; payasi — for the sake of milk ; ugra — śaraḥ — with sharpened arrows ; jighāṁsasi — You desire to kill .

Translation

My dear Lord, in this way You once protected me by rescuing me from the water, and consequently Your name has been famous as Dharādhara — He who holds the planet earth. Yet at the present moment, in the form of a great hero, You are about to kill me with sharpened arrows. I am, however, just like a boat on the water, keeping everything afloat.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

Desiring to protect the progeny situated in me, a boat on the water, you lifted me up. You have now become Pṛthu, a figure of courage, and desire to kill me for milk with sharp arrows. The Lord, holder of the earth, the boar avatāra, desired to protect the citizens situated in me, the form of a boat, on top of (upasthe) water, you who were my husband, now desire to kill me for milk. The meaning is this. Your progeny were my children, situated in my lap, and I constantly nourish them with milk. Seeing their evil ways at this time, I, as a mother, teaching them good character, have become angry, and do not supply milk. You, the master of the house, now punish me.

Purport

The Lord is known as Dharādhara, meaning “He who keeps the planet earth on His tusks as the boar incarnation.” Thus the planet earth in the shape of a cow is accounting the contradictory acts of the Lord. Although He once saved the earth, He now wants to upset the earth, which is like a boat on water. No one can understand the activities of the Lord. Due to a poor fund of knowledge, human beings sometimes think the Lord’s activities contradictory.