SB 10.81.8 · Srimad-Bhagavatam

Devanagari

इत्थं विचिन्त्य वसनाच्चीरबद्धान्द्विजन्मन: । स्वयं जहार किमिदमिति पृथुकतण्डुलान् ॥ ८ ॥

Verse text

itthaṁ vicintya vasanāc cīra-baddhān dvi-janmanaḥ svayaṁ jahāra kim idam iti pṛthuka-taṇḍulān

Synonyms

ittham — in this manner ; vicintya — thinking ; vasanāt — from the garment ; cīra — in a strip of cloth ; baddhān — tied up ; dvi — janmanaḥ — of the twice-born brāhmaṇa ; svayam — Himself ; jahāra — He took hold of ; kim — what ; idam — this ; iti — so saying ; pṛthuka — taṇḍulān — the grains of flat rice .

Translation

Thinking like this, the Lord snatched from the brāhmaṇa’s garment the grains of flat rice tied up in an old piece of cloth and exclaimed, “What is this?

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

Thinking like this, the Lord snatched from the brāhmaṇa's garment the grains of flat rice tied up in an old piece of cloth and exclaimed, "What is this? KB 10.81.8 He then snatched the bundle of chipped rice which was hanging on the shoulder of the poor brāhmaṇa, packed in one corner of his wrapper, and said, “What is this?

Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

With his hand he took the rice which was tied up in a strip of old cloth in Sudama’s worn out cloth tied around his waist.

Purport (Jiva Goswami)

Thinking thoroughly in this manner, Kṛṣṇa took for himself the rice in order to perfect the brāhmaṇa’s wealth since otherwise one cannot procure what is not given (adatvam nopatiṣṭhate). Rukmiṇī will also express this in verse 11. Thinking of Sudāmā’s great bhakti, he took the rice by force, saying “What is this?” He took from the brāhmaṇa. This suggests that the rice and the cloth of Sudāmā was purifying.