SB 10.42.1

Devanāgarī

श्रीशुक उवाच अथ व्रजन् राजपथेन माधव: स्त्रियं गृहीताङ्गविलेपभाजनाम् । विलोक्य कुब्जां युवतीं वराननां पप्रच्छ यान्तीं प्रहसन् रसप्रद: ॥ १ ॥

Text

śrī-śuka uvāca atha vrajan rāja-pathena mādhavaḥ striyaṁ gṛhītāṅga-vilepa-bhājanām vilokya kubjāṁ yuvatīṁ varānanāṁ papraccha yāntīṁ prahasan rasa-pradaḥ

Synonyms

śrī-śukaḥuvāca—Śukadeva Gosvāmī said;atha—then;vrajan—walking;rāja-pathena—along the King’s road;mādhavaḥ—Kṛṣṇa;striyam—a woman;gṛhīta—holding;aṅga—for the body;vilepa—with ointments;bhājanām—a tray;vilokya—seeing;kubjām—hunchbacked;yuvatīm—young;vara-ānanām—with an attractive face;papraccha—He inquired;yāntīm—going;prahasan—smiling;rasa—of the pleasure of love;pradaḥ—the bestower.

Translation

Śukadeva Gosvāmī said: As He walked down the King’s road, Lord Mādhava then saw a young hunchback woman with an attractive face, who carried a tray of fragrant ointments as she walked along. The bestower of the ecstasy of love smiled and inquired from her as follows.

Purport

According to Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura, the young hunchbacked girl was actually a partial expansion of the Lord’s wife Satyabhāmā. Satyabhāmā is the Lord’s internal energy known as Bhū-śakti, and this expansion of hers, known as Pṛthivī, represents the earth, which was bent down by the great burden of countless wicked rulers. Lord Kṛṣṇa descended to remove these wicked rulers, and thus His pastime of straightening out the hunchback Trivakrā, as explained in these verses, represents His rectifying the burdened condition of the earth. At the same time, the Lord awarded Trivakrā a conjugal relationship with Himself.

In addition to the given meaning, the word rasa-pradaḥ indicates that the Lord amused His cowherd boyfriends by His dealings with the young hunchback.

Chapter 42 SB 10.42.2 →