Śrīmad Bhāgavata 1.15.10

Synonyms

tava — your; patnyāḥ — wife’s [Draupadī’s (draupadyāḥ)⁴³]; cāru — lovely [ramyam⁴⁴]; kabaram — braided hair [braided and ornamented hair (dhammilam)⁴⁵]; ślāghiṣṭha — [which] was accorded the highest honor [ślāghyatamam]; mahā-abhiṣeka — [by] being ceremoniously anointed with sacred oil and water; kḷpta — conducted [racita]; adhimakha — during the chief of all sacrificial functions [the Rājasūya (rājasūyam ādhikṛtya)]; spṛṣṭam — was caught [ākṛṣṭam]; vikīrya — [and then] loosened [unmucya]; kitavaiḥ — by the miscreants [headed by Duḥśāsana]; sabhāyām — in the great assembly; patita⁴⁶-aśru-mukhyāḥ — with tears gliding down her face; [she bowed in obeisance (namane)]; padayoḥ⁴⁷ — at His [Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s] feet [(śrī-kṛṣṇasya caraṇayoḥ), who is immediately obtained simply by His remembrance (yat smaraṇāt tadānīm evā prāptasya)]; [in return]; yaḥ⁴⁸ — He [śrī-kṛṣṇaḥ⁴⁹]; akṛta — made [cakāra]; tat-striyaḥ — the miscreants’ wives; hata-īśa — husbandless [lit., “those whose husbands have been slain” (hatā mṛtā īśāḥ patayoḥ yāsāṁ tāḥ)⁵⁰]; [and by their consequent widowhood (ata eva vaidhavyāt)]; vimukta-keśāḥ — [He] loosened their hair.

Translation

Your wife’s lovely braided hair, which was accorded the highest honor by being ceremoniously anointed with sacred oil and water during the chief of all sacrificial functions [the Rājasūya], was caught and then loosened by the miscreants [headed by Duḥśāsana] in the great assembly. With tears gliding down her face, she bowed in obeisance at Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s feet. In return, He made the miscreants’ wives husbandless, [and by their consequent widowhood] He loosened their hair.

Notes

43Vīrarāghava.↩

44Unless otherwise indicated, this and the remaining bracketed inserts in verse 10 are Śrīdhara Svāmī’s comments.↩

45Vīrarāghava.↩

46Śrīdhara Svāmī comments here that although it is anticipated that the word patita, “she fell,” should be connected to the word padayoḥ, “at His feet,” it is to be connected to the word aśru instead (“with falling tears”) because they form an indissoluble compound (nitya-samāsa). Viśvanātha Cakravartī repeats the same but then adds that the compound as a whole can alternatively be taken to mean that Draupadī fell at His feet with her face covered in tears. In either case, both commentators point out that the act of “bowing down in obeisance” (namane) is implicit here in regard to Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s feet. All of this is indicated in the anvaya.↩

47Vallabhācārya points out that at the time, Kṛṣṇa was present in Dvārakā. When Draupadī called out to Him with heartfelt devotion (bhakti-hṛdayena), “hā nātha dvārakā-vāsin,” He appeared before her at once on the strength of her remembrance (smaraṇa). Vallabhācārya adds that Kṛṣṇa remained unperceived by others in the assembly due to their complicity in a greatly sinful act (mahā-pātakitvāt). Seeing Kṛṣṇa before her, Draupadī bowed at His feet. In confirmation of the same point, Jīva Gosvāmī states that it was not unto the feet of the internally present Śrī Kṛṣṇa that the tearful Draupadī bowed (nāntargatasya kṛṣṇasya padayoḥ patitāśru-mukhyāḥ). Rather, she bowed to Kṛṣṇa who was externally present. Śrīdhara Svāmī’s above gloss on the word padayoḥ, that Kṛṣṇa is immediately obtained simply by remembrance (smaraṇāt), is made in consideration of the same fact that Kṛṣṇa was present in Dvārakā at the time and suddenly appeared in the assembly by virtue of Draupadī’s remembrance.↩

48Several commentators take the pronoun yaḥ, “who,” as referring to Bhīma because of its syntactical connection to the subject of the previous verse, tava anujaḥ, “your younger brother Bhīma.” It is also known that the killing of Duḥśāsana and the other miscreants at the assembly was actually carried out by Bhīma. But, as with all the verses in this section, Kṛṣṇa is understood to be the underlying cause (hetu-bhūta), and thus it is said to be done by Him.↩

49Śukadeva.↩

50Vīrarāghava.↩

SB 1.15.10

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