SB 10.69.44 · Srimad-Bhagavatam

Devanagari

एवं मनुष्यपदवीमनुवर्तमानो नारायणोऽखिलभवाय गृहीतशक्ति: । रेमेऽङ्ग षोडशसहस्रवराङ्गनानां सव्रीडसौहृदनिरीक्षणहासजुष्ट: ॥ ४४ ॥

Verse text

evaṁ manuṣya-padavīm anuvartamāno nārāyaṇo ’khila-bhavāya gṛhīta-śaktiḥ reme ’ṇga ṣoḍaśa-sahasra-varāṅganānāṁ sa-vrīḍa-sauhṛda-nirīkṣaṇa-hāsa-juṣṭaḥ

Synonyms

evam — thus ; manuṣya — of human beings ; padavīm — the path ; anuvartamānaḥ — following ; nārāyaṇaḥ — the Supreme Lord, Nārāyaṇa ; akhila — of everyone ; bhavāya — for the welfare ; gṛhīta — having manifested ; śaktiḥ — His potencies ; reme — He enjoyed ; aṅga — my dear (King Parīkṣit) ; ṣoḍaśa — sixteen ; sahasra — thousand ; vara — most excellent ; aṅganānām — of women ; sa — vrīḍa — shy ; sauhṛda — and affectionate ; nirīkṣaṇa — by the glances ; hāsa — and laughter ; juṣṭaḥ — satisfied .

Translation

In this way Lord Nārāyaṇa imitated the ways of ordinary humans, manifesting His divine potencies for the benefit of all beings. Thus He enjoyed, dear King, in the company of His sixteen thousand exalted consorts, who served the Lord with their shy, affectionate glances and laughter.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

In this way Lord Nārāyaṇa imitated the ways of ordinary humans, manifesting His divine potencies for the benefit of all beings. Thus He enjoyed, dear King, in the company of His sixteen thousand exalted consorts, who served the Lord with their shy, affectionate glances and laughter. KB 10.69.44 In narrating the activities of Lord Kṛṣṇa in Dvārakā, Śukadeva Gosvāmī explained to King Parīkṣit how Lord Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, descends to this material universe by the agency of His internal potency and personally exhibits the principles which, if followed, can lead one to achieve the ultimate goal of life. All the queens in Dvārakā, more than sixteen thousand in number, engaged their feminine attractive features in the transcendental service of the Lord by smiling and serving, and the Lord was pleased to behave with them exactly like a perfect husband enjoying household life.

Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

Why should the Lord have faith in artha and kama? This verse answers. Why does Krsna follow the path of men? For welfare of all people (akhila bhavaya) . Humans easily remember human actions. By remembering of such pastimes of the Lord, he makes them free from the material world. Why should he stop their material existence? Because Krsna is endowed with krpa sakti, mercy (grhita saktih). But this is not the only purpose for permanently engaging in human actions. He does it for his own beloved women with human form, expanded from himself, who are more attractive than even Laksmi and others, in that human like form which is the source of all the Vaikuntha Visnu forms. And he does it for eternal pleasure. He enjoys (reme) eternally with them.

Purport (Jiva Goswami)

This verse describes the mutual love between the Lord and his consorts. He followed the conduct of a human being. He was the form who expands into all Nārāyaṇa forms. He was the chief Nārāyaṇa, Svayam Bhagavān Kṛṣṇa, for the benefit of all his expansions since they were all within him. Accepting his śakti, he enjoyed, attaining pleasure by the smiles and glances filled with friendship and shyness of sixteen thousand women.

Purport (Sanatana Goswami)

He manifested his powers for the benefit of all beings. For this purpose he appeared as avatāra, since he was directly bhagavān (nārāyaṇaḥ) and acting as a human being in the way described, he enjoyed. Or though performing human pastimes, he manifested powers for the benefit of all peopḷe--showing household dharma, by manifesting many forms capable of household dharma in the houses of many queens. Or he manifested powers for benefiting all the houses (akhila-bhavāya), by having one form appear separately in all houses, since he is the shelter of all jīvas (nārāyaṇaḥ). The reason for his enjoyment is given: he was served by the shy, affectionate glances and laughter of the queens whose limbs were beautiful or most pleasing like the Lord’s (aṅga). Or O king (aṅga)! Or he was served by or pleased with the shy glances and laughter in prema (sauhṛda).