SB 10.60.42 · Srimad-Bhagavatam

Devanagari

कान्यं श्रयेत तव पादसरोजगन्ध- माघ्राय सन्मुखरितं जनतापवर्गम् । लक्ष्म्यालयं त्वविगणय्य गुणालयस्य मर्त्या सदोरुभयमर्थविविक्तद‍ृष्टि: ॥ ४२ ॥

Verse text

kānyaṁ śrayeta tava pāda-saroja-gandham āghrāya san-mukharitaṁ janatāpavargam lakṣmy-ālayaṁ tv avigaṇayya guṇālayasya martyā sadoru-bhayam artha-viviita-dṛṣṭiḥ

Synonyms

ka — what woman ; anyam — another man ; śrayeta — would take shelter of ; tava — Your ; pāda — of the feet ; saroja — of the lotus ; gandham — the aroma ; āghrāya — having smelled ; sat — by great saints ; mukharitam — described ; janatā — for all people ; apavargam — bestowing liberation ; lakṣmī — of the goddess of fortune ; ālayam — the place of residence ; tu — but ; avigaṇayya — not taking seriously ; guṇa — of all transcendental qualities ; ālayasya — of the abode ; martyā — mortal ; sadā — always ; uru — great ; bhayam — one who has fear ; artha — her best interest ; vivikta — ascertaining ; dṛṣṭiḥ — whose insight .

Translation

The aroma of Your lotus feet, which is glorified by great saints, awards people liberation and is the abode of Goddess Lakṣmī. What woman would take shelter of any other man after savoring that aroma? Since You are the abode of transcendental qualities, what mortal woman with the insight to distinguish her own true interest would disregard that fragrance and depend instead on someone who is always subject to terrible fear?

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

The aroma of Your lotus feet, which is glorified by great saints, awards people liberation and is the abode of Goddess Lakṣmī. What woman would take shelter of any other man after savoring that aroma? Since You are the abode of transcendental qualities, what mortal woman with the insight to distinguish her own true interest would disregard that fragrance and depend instead on someone who is always subject to terrible fear? KB 10.60.42 “My dear Lord, You have advised me that I can still select another from the princely order and divorce myself from Your companionship. But, my dear Lord, it is perfectly well known to me that You are the reservoir of all good qualities. Great saintly persons like Nārada Muni are always engaged simply in glorifying Your transcendental characteristics. Someone who simply takes shelter of such a saintly person immediately becomes freed from all material contamination. And when he comes in direct contact with Your service, the goddess of fortune agrees to bestow all her blessings. Under the circumstances, what woman who has once heard of Your glories from authoritative sources and has somehow or other relished the nectarean fragrance of Your lotus feet would be foolish enough to agree to marry someone of this material world, who is always afraid of death, disease, old age and rebirth? I have therefore accepted Your lotus feet not without consideration but after mature and deliberate decision.

Purport

In text 16 Lord Kṛṣṇa claimed that He was guṇair hīnāḥ, “bereft of all good qualities.” To refute this claim, the devoted Rukmiṇī here states that the Lord is guṇālaya, “the abode of all good qualities.” In a single moment the so-called powerful men of this world can be reduced to utter helplessness and confusion. Indeed, destruction is the inevitable fate of all powerful masculine bodies. The Lord, however, has an eternal, spiritual body that is omnipotent and infinitely beautiful, and thus, as Queen Rukmiṇī argues here, how could any sane, enlightened woman take shelter of anyone but the Supreme Lord, Kṛṣṇa?

Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

"You should choose a more suitable husband." She replies to Krsna’s statement in two verses. "Let other princesses who have not heard of your glories take shelter of other husbands. But which mortal woman, who has once smelled the fragrance of your lotus feet (heard your glories ), praised by sages who are like bees (san mukaritam), and which give liberation to any human being by being heard, can give up those feet (a daughter of a raksasa or preta perhaps could) and take shelter of someone else, always afflicted with great fear? Let those who are blind, without discrimination, take shelter of others. You are the abode of all good qualities." By this statement she refutes his statement that he is devoid of good qualities (verse 16).

Purport (Jiva Goswami)

Others take shelter of others. What woman would take shelter of someone else after smelling the fragrance of your lotus feet and disregarding that? Such a person does not exist. The meaning of the phrase however is actually “Who would take shelter of anyone else after hearing about all of your qualities with devotion?” That fragrance is described by ātmārāmas. It is without austerities that people perform (jana-tāpa-vargam) since it is endowed with all wealth (lakṣmy-ālayaṁ). It is served by those desiring liberation. And it belongs to you, an ocean of qualities (guṇālayasya). The fault of others is described. The mortal is completely (ā) filled with fear at all times (sadā). This statement represents other types of people as well. He is the opposite of the persons described above. “But we see many others taking shelter of others.” They focus on material wealth. They are fools.

Purport (Sanatana Goswami)

Smelling the fragrance of even one foot-- attaining even by hearing from far off even a slight relationship with you, what to speak of directly attaining you—who would take shelter of anything else? Even the fragrance is endowed with all your qualities (guṇālayasya). The fragrance awards liberation and is the abode of Lakṣmī. Therefore it is praised by Nārada and other sages. Who would disrespect the fragrance of you, the abode of qualities, and take shelter of something else? Everyone should take shelter of you, because those who are subject to death (martyāḥ) like Mārkaṇḍeya are delivered. They see the highest goal. Others cannot protect one or give the highest benefit. Why take shelter of one who is always in great fear (anyam sadoru-bhayam)? Or that fragrance is glorified even by those who are silent (sat). Or that fragrance causes the devotees (jana) to reject (varga) impersonal realization typified by or generated by austerities (tāpa). That fragrance is the abode of all wealth (lakṣmyālayam). The order of the list is with increasing excellence.