Śrīmad Bhāgavata 1.16.21

Synonyms

urvi — O Earth goddess [he pṛthvi⁷⁶]; [kim⁷⁷] śocasi — do you grieve; striyaḥ — for women [strīḥ⁷⁸]; arakṣyamāṇāḥ — who are unprotected [by their husbands (bhartṛbhiḥ)]; [or]; bālān — for children; [who are unprotected by their parents (pitṛbhir arakṣyamāṇān)⁷⁹]; [who]; atho — on the contrary [pratyut]; ārtān — are even abused [(kliṣṭān) by them (tair eva)]; iva — as if; puruṣa-ādaiḥ — by man-eaters [by those who are devoid of compassion (nirdayaiḥ)]; śocasi⁸⁰ — are you saddened; devīm — for the goddess; vācam — [of] speech [Sarasvatī]; [who has fallen (sthitām)]; brahma-kule — into the hands of brāhmaṇas [bereft of devotion (brāhmaṇa-bhakti-hīne’pi)⁸¹]; kukarmaṇi — engaged in forbidden acts [durācāre]; [or]; śocasi — do you lament; kula-agryān — for the foremost of brāhmaṇas [brāhmaṇottamān]; [who have taken up service (sevakān)]; rāja-kule — in royal dynasties; abrahmaṇye — opposed to the brahminical principles.

Translation

O Earth goddess, do you grieve for women who are unprotected by their husbands, or for children who are unprotected by their parents, who, on the contrary, are even abused by them as if by man-eaters? Are you saddened for the goddess of speech [Sarasvatī], who has fallen into the hands of brāhmaṇas engaged in forbidden acts? Or do you lament for the foremost of brāhmaṇas who have taken up service in royal dynasties opposed to the brahminical principles?

Notes

76Unless otherwise indicated, this and the following bracketed inserts in verse 21 are Śrīdhara Svāmī’s comments.↩

77Vīrarāghava.↩

78Giridhara.↩

79It is to be noted that Śrīdhara Svāmī and Viśvanātha Cakravartī connect the word arakṣyamāṇāḥ both to striyaḥ and bālān from the first line of the verse. The change of the last letter from “ḥ” to “n” in the second application is to accord with the change of subject (bālān). This is the natural way of interpreting the verse, since the verb śocasi is related to the entire first line, forming one independent clause, and the word atho indicates an alternative to non-protection (arakṣyamāṇān), namely, abuse (ārtān). The anvaya and translation have been arranged entirely according to their commentaries.↩

80The verb śocasi, appearing only once in the verse, is to be applied to the third and fourth lines of the verse in addition to the first two. This is made explicit in the commentaries of Śukadeva and Giridhara. The anvaya is arranged accordingly. Additionally, the question kim is implied along with the verb śocasi, as pointed out by Vīrarāghava and others. For simplicity, it is inserted in the anvaya only at the first instance of the verb.↩

81Viśvanātha Cakravartī.↩

SB 1.16.21

Synonyms

Translation

Raise a Query

No questions yet