SB 10.38.17 · Srimad-Bhagavatam

Devanagari

समर्हणं यत्र निधाय कौशिक- स्तथा बलिश्चाप जगत्‍त्रयेन्द्रताम् । यद्वा विहारे व्रजयोषितां श्रमं स्पर्शेन सौगन्धिकगन्ध्यपानुदत् ॥ १७ ॥

Verse text

samarhaṇaṁ yatra nidhāya kauśikas tathā baliś cāpa jagat-trayendratām yad vā vihāre vraja-yoṣitāṁ śramaṁ sparśena saugandhika-gandhy apānudat

Synonyms

samarhaṇam — the respectful offering ; yatra — into which ; nidhāya — by placing ; kauśikaḥ — Purandara ; tathā — as well as ; baliḥ — Bali Mahārāja ; ca — also ; āpa — attained ; jagat — of the worlds ; traya — three ; indratām — rulership (as Indra, the King of heaven) ; yat — which (lotus hand of the Lord) ; vā — and ; vihāre — during the pastimes (of the rāsa dance) ; vraja — yoṣitām — of the ladies of Vraja ; śramam — the fatigue ; sparśena — by their contact ; saugandhika — like an aromatic flower ; gandhi — fragrant ; apānudat — wiped away .

Translation

By offering charity to that lotus hand, Purandara and Bali earned the status of Indra, King of heaven, and during the pleasure pastimes of the rāsa dance, when the Lord wiped away the gopīs’ perspiration and removed their fatigue, the touch of their faces made that hand as fragrant as a sweet flower.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

By offering charity to that lotus hand, Purandara and Bali earned the status of Indra, King of heaven, and during the pleasure pastimes of the rāsa dance, when the Lord wiped away the gopīs' perspiration and removed their fatigue, the touch of their faces made that hand as fragrant as a sweet flower. KB 10.38.17 “When that hand touched the presentations of King Indra and King Bali, these two became qualified to be lords of the universe, and when that hand touched the gopīs as they danced with Kṛṣṇa in the rāsa-līlā, it relieved all their fatigue.” In this way Akrūra expected blessings from the hand of Kṛṣṇa. He knew that Indra, who is the King of heaven and the master of the three worlds—the upper, middle and lower planetary systems—was blessed by the Lord simply for his offering a little water which Kṛṣṇa accepted. Similarly, Bali Mahārāja gave only three paces of land in charity to Vāmanadeva, and he also offered a little water which Lord Vāmanadeva accepted, and thereby Bali Mahārāja attained the position of Indra. When the gopīs were dancing with Kṛṣṇa in the rāsa dance, they became fatigued, and Kṛṣṇa wiped His hand, which is as fragrant as a lotus flower growing in Mānasa-sarovara Lake, over the pearllike drops of perspiration on the faces of the gopīs, and immediately the gopīs became refreshed. Thus Akrūra was expecting benediction from that supreme hand of Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa’s hand is capable of bestowing benediction upon all kinds of men if they take to Kṛṣṇa consciousness. If one wants material happiness like that of the King of heaven, he can derive that benediction from the hand of Kṛṣṇa; if one wants liberation from the pangs of material existence, he can also get that benediction from the hand of Kṛṣṇa; and if one in pure transcendental love for Kṛṣṇa wants personal association and the touch of His transcendental body, he can also gain that benediction from His hand.

Purport

The Purāṇas call the lotus found in the Mānasa-sarovara Lake a saugandhika. Lord Kṛṣṇa’s lotus hand acquired the fragrance of this flower by coming in contact with the beautiful faces of the gopīs. This specific incident, which occurred during the rāsa-līlā, is described in the Thirty-third Chapter of the Tenth Canto.

Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

By worshipping (offering sankalpa water) to that hand, Purandara (kausika) and Bali attained the position of Indra. Purandara gave water to Sarvabhauma avatara and Bali gave water to Vamana. Purandara achieved the post, and Bali will attain that post in the future. That same hand, after the rasa dance, at the time of intimate contact, wiped the drops of perspiration arising from fatigue with the dancing from the gopis limbs. (sb 10.33.20) Just as the lotus feet though worshipped by the devatas were holding the kumkum from the gopis’ breasts, so the lotus hands though worshiped by Purandara and Bali, were serving the gopis by wiping away their perspiration. Thus this statement exalts the position of the gopis. What type of hands were those? Those hands had the most wonderful aroma of lotuses because of touching the lotus faces of the gopis. The word saugandhika refers to the lotus of Manasa Sarovara in the Puranas. Though Akrura was a dasya bhakti, because this is a secondary remark, it is not rasabhasa.

Purport (Jiva Goswami)

He gives details of the lotus hand and thus makes his desire stronger. Into that hand Indra offered water used in the saṅkalpa (that which accomplishes all worship, sam—arhaṇam). By offering water to that hand Indra was able to perform a hundred horse sacrifices. The position of Indra is under the shelter of his hand. Bali attained the position of Indra of the three worlds since the result appeared in an amazing way from the beginning. Viṣṇu Purāṇa describes this. yatrāṁbu vinyasya balir manojñān avāpa bhogān vasudhā-tala-sthaḥ / tathāmaratvaṁ tridaśādhipatvaṁ manvantaraṁ pūrṇam apeta-śatrum // When Bali gave water to Kṛṣṇa’s hand he attained all attractive enjoyment on earth. He became free of enemies, lived for a manvantara and attained the post of Indra. He later lost all desire when the Lord placed his foot on his head. However by the desire of the Lord he accepted the enjoyment like Prahlāda. In the first part of the verse, the Lord’s generous nature is shown. The Lord gives all wealth to devotees with material desires. Because he is the form of the highest bliss by his nature, he also removes all suffering from his pure devotees. That is expressed in the second half of the verse. The word vā indicates conjecture. I think I have heard this from someone. That hand had a fragrance of which heavenly lotuses have but a trace. That hand removed the fatigue of millions of gopīs in the rāsa dance in which they continually fainted by touching him. Or it removed the fatigue during the Horikā pastime where they fainted because of the violence of Śaṅkhacūḍa. Just by the touch of that hand all of their fatigue was removed at once. Here Akrūra thinks of what is suitable for his own dāsya-rasa by the choice of words. This is similar to Śrīdhara Svāmī’s manner of explaining SB10.33.35.

Purport (Sanatana Goswami)

By offering items of worship to his hand, Bali attained the status of Indra. This refers to the statement balir indro bhaviṣyati: Bali will become Indra. (SB 8.13.12) yatrāṁbu vinyasya balir manojñān avāpa bhogān vasudhā-tala-sthaḥ tathāmaratvaṁ tridaśādhipatvaṁ manvantaraṁ pūrṇam apeta-śatrum When Bali gave water to Kṛṣṇa’s hand he attained all attractive enjoyment on earth. He became free of enemies, lived for a manvantara and attained the post of Indra. Viṣṇu Purāṇa Or by doing the viśvajit sacrifice previously, he attained a post like Indra. By offering the sacrifice to the Lord, offering water and other items is included. The word vā indicates that what was described previously cannot compare to the excellence of his hand touching the gopīs. They were qualified with special prema (vraja-yoṣitām). Vihāra indicates his proclivity for play. He gives special prema to these gopīs. Wiping away their perspiration indicates his skill in love. By his touch he removed all suffering. The fragrance of his hand indicates his supreme attractiveness. The fragrance of his hand is mentioned last to indicate that the gopīs alone directly experienced his fragrance. This is explained in Bhāgavatāmṛta. Or Indra by offering a hundred sacrifices to the Lord attained is lordship over the three worlds. Without offering them, he could not get the result. Bali attained the Lord as his gatekeeper. This shows he controlled the Lord. Or Viśvamitra (kauśikaḥ) by offering food and a weapon mantra to Rāma in his āśrama attained a glorious position of realizing ātmā with some bhakti. Bali offered water on the pretext of giving three steps of land and attained rulership of the three worlds. Two personalities are indicated by the word ca.