Śrīmad Bhāgavata 1.14.26

Synonyms

kaccit — is; [our (asmākam)⁸⁵]; māriṣaḥ — honorable [mānyaḥ⁸⁶]; mātāmahaḥ — maternal grandfather [the father of Kuntī (kuntyāḥ pitā)]; śūraḥ — Śūrasena; vā⁸⁷ — perhaps; āste — keeping; svasti — well; atha — and [moreover]; kaccit — is; [our (naḥ)]; mātulaḥ — maternal uncle; ānaka-dundubhiḥ — Vasudeva; kuśalī — faring well; sa-anujaḥ⁸⁸ — along with his younger brother.

Is our honorable maternal grandfather Śūrasena perhaps keeping well? And [moreover] is our maternal uncle Vasudeva faring well along with his younger brother?

Notes

85Unless otherwise indicated, this and the following bracketed inserts in verse 26 are Vīrarāghava’s comments.↩

86This and the next bracketed insert are Śrīdhara Svāmī’s comments.↩

87Vallabhācārya explains the significance of the words vā and atha, which serve to offset the two inquiries contained in the verse. In the question, “Is Śūrasena ‘perhaps’ (vā) keeping well?” the word vā (expressing hope or expectation) indicates that in spite of Śūrasena’s advanced age (vṛddhatvāt), Yudhiṣṭhira was not worried or anxiously anticipating that he might be unwell (tad-akauśale’pi na cinteti sūcitam). The word atha, “moreover,” expressing contrast with what was just said (pūrva-vailakṣaṇyāya), therefore indicates that in the case of Vasudeva, who was the eldest son of Śūrasena (agrimāṇām) and hence considerably younger than the latter, the expectation of his well-being was all the more certain (kuśalam apekṣata eva). Thus the words vā and atha indicate a subtle tonal shift in the mode of the questioning.↩

88Vīrarāghava comments that although the singular is used here, Vasudeva actually had nine brothers—namely, Devabhāga, Devaśravā, Ānaka, Sañjaya, Śāmaka, Kaṅka, Samika, Vatsara, and Vṛka.↩

SB 1.14.26

Synonyms

Translation

Raise a Query

No questions yet