SB 5.8.23 · Srimad Bhagavatam

Devanagari

किं वा अरे आचरितं तपस्तपस्विन्यानया यदियमवनि: सविनयकृष्णसारतनयतनुतरसुभगशिवतमाखरखुरपदपङ्क्तिभिर्द्रविणविधुरातुरस्य कृपणस्य मम द्रविणपदवीं सूचयन्त्यात्मानं च सर्वत: कृतकौतुकं द्विजानां स्वर्गापवर्गकामानां देवयजनं करोति ॥ २३ ॥

Verse text

kiṁ vā are ācaritaṁ tapas tapasvinyānayā yad iyam avaniḥ savinaya-kṛṣṇa-sāra-tanaya-tanutara-subhaga-śivatamākhara-khura-pada-paṅktibhir draviṇa-vidhurāturasya kṛpaṇasya mama draviṇa-padavīṁ sūcayanty ātmānaṁ ca sarvataḥ kṛta-kautukaṁ dvijānāṁ svargāpavarga-kāmānāṁ deva-yajanaṁ karoti.

Synonyms

kim vā — what ; are — oh ; ācaritam — practiced ; tapaḥ — penance ; tapasvinyā — by the most fortunate ; anayā — this planet earth ; yat — since ; iyam — this ; avaniḥ — earth ; sa — vinaya — very mild and well-behaved ; kṛṣṇa — sāra — tanaya — of the calf of the black deer ; tanutara — small ; subhaga — beautiful ; śiva — tama — most auspicious ; akhara — soft ; khura — of the hooves ; pada — paṅktibhiḥ — by the series of the marks ; draviṇa — vidhura — āturasya — who is very aggrieved because of loss of wealth ; kṛpaṇasya — a most unhappy creature ; mama — for me ; draviṇa — padavīm — the way to achieve that wealth ; sūcayanti — indicating ; ātmānam — her own personal body ; ca — and ; sarvataḥ — on all sides ; kṛta — kautukam — ornamented ; dvijānām — of the brāhmaṇas ; svarga — apavarga — kāmānām — who are desirous of achieving heavenly planets or liberation ; deva — yajanam — a place of sacrifice to the demigods ; karoti — it makes .

Translation

After speaking like a madman in this way, Mahārāja Bharata got up and went outside. Seeing the footprints of the deer on the ground, he praised the footprints out of love, saying: O unfortunate Bharata, your austerities and penances are very insignificant compared to the penance and austerity undergone by this earth planet. Due to the earth’s severe penances, the footprints of this deer, which are small, beautiful, most auspicious and soft, are imprinted on the surface of this fortunate planet. This series of footprints show a person like me, who am bereaved due to loss of the deer, how the animal has passed through the forest and how I can regain my lost wealth. By these footprints, this land has become a proper place for brāhmaṇas who desire heavenly planets or liberation to execute sacrifices to the demigods.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

What penance the earth must have done! The earth is indicating the path to wealth for this miserly person who suffers from poverty, by the small, graceful, auspicious foot prints of the humble black deer The earth has made itself a place of sacrifice for brāhmaṇas desiring to attain Svarga or liberation by ornamenting itself with these foot prints. Talking in this way, he would then rise up and go outside. Seeing the earth marked with its footprints, he then criticizes himself while glorifying the deer out of love. O Bharata is unfortunate! He is a useless performer of penance. What penance the earth has done that you have not done! Or, O people of the fourteen worlds! Say among you, who has done penance like the earth. You have not done as the earth has done. By describing the deer, he indicates the pleasure he derived from it. The foot prints show the way to wealth. O miserable Bharata! Why do you weep? You will obtain your treasure of life, the small deer, which has entered the forest by following the trail of its foot prints. In this way the earth is merciful to me and is pacifying me. By spreading out these foot prints as its ornaments, the earth has made itself playfully into a place of sacrifice. Smṛti says yasmin deśe mṛgaḥ kṛṣṇas tasmin dharmān nibodhata: Know that there is dharma, a place of sacrifice, where the black deer resides.

Purport

It is said that when a person becomes overly involved in loving affairs, he forgets himself as well as others, and he forgets how to act and how to speak. It is said that once when a man’s son was blind since birth, the father, out of staunch affection for the child, named him Padmalocana, or “lotus-eyed.” This is the situation arising from blind love. Bharata Mahārāja gradually fell into this condition due to his material love for the deer. It is said in the smṛti-śāstra: yasmin deśe mṛgaḥ kṛṣṇas tasmin dharmānn ivodhata “That tract of land wherein the footprints of a black deer can be seen is to be understood as a suitable place to execute religious rituals.”