Devanagari
तमविक्लवमव्रीडमालक्ष्य मधुसूदन:
उवाच परमप्रीतो बिभ्रत्स्वां पौरुषीं तनुम् ॥ ३७ ॥
Verse text
tam aviklavam avrīḍam
ālakṣya madhusūdanaḥ
uvāca parama-prīto
bibhrat svāṁ pauruṣīṁ tanum
Synonyms
tam
—
him (Lord Śiva)
;
aviklavam
—
without being agitated by the incident that had taken place
;
avrīḍam
—
without being ashamed
;
ālakṣya
—
seeing
;
madhu
—
sūdanaḥ — the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is known as Madhusūdana, the killer of the demon Madhu
;
uvāca
—
said
;
parama
—
prītaḥ — being very pleased
;
bibhrat
—
assuming
;
svām
—
His own
;
pauruṣīm
—
original
;
tanum
—
form .
Translation
Seeing Lord Śiva unagitated and unashamed, Lord Viṣṇu [Madhusūdana] was very pleased. Thus He resumed His original form and spoke as follows.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Seeing Lord Śiva unagitated and unashamed, Lord Viṣṇu, in his male form, very pleased, spoke as follows.
Śiva was not agitated with guilt, thinking “What calamity! I, the lord of great yoga, have been blinded by material enjoyment.” He was without shame, since the Lord is his antaryāmī, witnessing everything. The meaning is this. I cannot be bewildered by anyone, and bewilderment caused by my Lord is not a fault, but an ornament. Without causing my bewilderment, how could one say my Lord has extraordinary power? That display of power nourishes the quality of bhakti of me, his servant.
Purport
Although Lord Śiva was aghast at the potency of Lord Viṣṇu, he did not feel ashamed. Rather, he was proud to be defeated by Lord Viṣṇu. Nothing is hidden from the Supreme Personality of Godhead, for He is in everyone’s heart. Indeed, the Lord says in
Bhagavad-gītā
(15.15)
,
sarvasya cāhaṁ hṛdi sanniviṣṭo mattaḥ smṛtir jṣānam apohanaṁ ca:
“I am seated in everyone’s heart, and from Me come remembrance, knowledge and forgetfulness.” Whatever happened had taken place under the direction of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and therefore there was no cause to be sorry or ashamed. Although Lord Śiva is never defeated by anyone, when defeated by Lord Viṣṇu he felt proud that he had such an exalted and powerful master.