SB 5.2.13 · Srimad Bhagavatam

Devanagari

का वाऽऽत्मवृत्तिरदनाद्धविरङ्ग वातिविष्णो: कलास्यनिमिषोन्मकरौ च कर्णौ उद्विग्नमीनयुगलं द्विजपङ्क्तिशोचि-रासन्नभृङ्गनिकरं सर इन्मुखं ते ॥ १३ ॥

Verse text

kā vātma-vṛttir adanād dhavir aṅga vāti viṣṇoḥ kalāsy animiṣonmakarau ca karṇau udvigna-mīna-yugalaṁ dvija-paṅkti-śocir āsanna-bhṛṅga-nikaraṁ sara in mukhaṁ te

Synonyms

kā — what ; vā — and ; ātma — vṛttiḥ — food for maintenance of the body ; adanāt — by the chewing (of betel) ; haviḥ — pure sacrificial ingredients ; aṅga — my dear friend ; vāti — emanate ; viṣṇoḥ — of Lord Viṣṇu ; kalā — expansion of the body ; asi — you are ; animiṣa — without blinking ; unmakarau — two brilliant sharks ; ca — also ; karṇau — two ears ; udvigna — restless ; mīna — yugalam — possessing two fish ; dvija — paṅkti — of lines of teeth ; śociḥ — beauty ; āsanna — nearby ; bhṛṅga — nikaram — possessing swarms of bumblebees ; saraḥ it — like a lake ; mukham — face ; te — your .

Translation

My dear friend, what do you eat to maintain your body? Because you are chewing betel, a pleasing scent is emanating from your mouth. This proves that you always eat the remnants of food offered to Viṣṇu. Indeed, you must also be an expansion of Lord Viṣṇu’s body. Your face is as beautiful as a pleasing lake. Your jeweled earrings resemble two brilliant sharks with unblinking eyes like those of Viṣṇu, and your own eyes resemble two restless fish. Simultaneously, therefore, two sharks and two restless fish are swimming in the lake of your face. Besides them, the white rows of your teeth seem like rows of very beautiful swans in the water, and your scattered hair resembles swarms of bumblebees following the beauty of your face.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

What is the means of subsistence of the people of your place? O sage! Because of your chewing, the fragrance of the sacrifice is coming here. You are a portion of Viṣṇu. You have two makara earrings which shine continuously. You have a face like a lake with two restless fishes, two rows of shining teeth like rows of swans, surrounded by locks of hair like swarms of bees. What do people eat to maintain their lives in your place? Noticing the astonishing fragrance emanating from her chewing betel nut he speaks. By chewing betel the fragrance of the sacrifice comes here. Persons of another place are said to be the performers of sacrifice. The sacrifice is inferred from the fragrance. This statement indicates that he is not familiar with either betel nut chewing or sacrifice. Another version is adanād bahir-aṅga bhāti: you maintain your life without eating, since you are a portion of Viṣṇu. Viṣṇu does not need to eat. Śruti says anaśnann anyo ’bhicākaśi: the Lord looks at the jīva without eating. (Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad) You have signs of Viṣṇu. You have two makara earrings made of jewels which shine continuously without blinking. In your face which is like a lake are two agitated fishes of your eyes, and two rows of brilliant teeth like swans with locks of hair like a swam of bees.

Purport

The devotees of Lord Viṣṇu are also His expansions. They are called vibhinnāṁśa. Lord Viṣṇu is offered all kinds of sacrificial ingredients, and because devotees always eat prasāda, the remnants of His food, the scent of sacrificial ingredients emanates not only from Viṣṇu but also from the devotees who eat the remnants of His food or the food of His devotees. Āgnīdhra considered Pūrvacitti an expansion of Lord Viṣṇu because of the pleasing scent of her body. Aside from that, because of her jeweled earrings, shaped like sharks, because of her scattered hair, resembling bumblebees mad after the scent of her body, and because of the white rows of her teeth, which resembled swans, Āgnīdhra compared Pūrvacitti’s face to a beautiful lake decorated with lotus flowers, fish, swans and bumblebees.