SB 10.86.2 · Srimad-Bhagavatam

Devanagari

श्रीशुक उवाच अर्जुनस्तीर्थयात्रायां पर्यटन्नवनीं प्रभु: । गत: प्रभासमश‍ृणोन्मातुलेयीं स आत्मन: ॥ २ ॥ दुर्योधनाय रामस्तां दास्यतीति न चापरे । तल्लिप्सु: स यतिर्भूत्वा त्रिदण्डी द्वारकामगात् ॥ ३ ॥

Verse text

śrī-śuka uvāca arjunas tīrtha-yātrāyāṁ paryaṭann avanīṁ prabhuḥ gataḥ prabhāsam aśṛṇon mātuleyīṁ sa ātmanaḥ duryodhanāya rāmas tāṁ dāsyatīti na cāpare tal-lipsuḥ sa yatir bhūtvā tri-daṇḍī dvārakām agāt

Synonyms

śrī — śukaḥ uvāca — Śukadeva Gosvāmī said ; arjunaḥ — Arjuna ; tīrtha — to holy places ; yātrāyām — while on pilgrimage ; paryaṭan — wandering ; avanīm — the earth ; prabhuḥ — the great lord ; gataḥ — having gone ; prabhāsam — to Prabhāsa ; aśṛṇot — heard ; mātuleyīm — uncle’s daughter ; saḥ — he ; ātmanaḥ — his ; duryodhanāya — to Duryodhana ; rāmaḥ — Lord Balarāma ; tām — her ; dāsyati — intends to give ; iti — thus ; na — not ; ca — and ; apare — anyone else ; tat — her ; lipsuḥ — desirous of obtaining ; saḥ — he, Arjuna ; yatiḥ — a sannyāsī ; bhūtvā — becoming ; tri — daṇḍī — carrying a triple staff ; dvārakām — to Dvārakā ; agāt — went .

Translation

Śukadeva Gosvāmī said: While traveling far and wide visiting various holy places of pilgrimage, Arjuna came to Prabhāsa. There he heard that Lord Balarāma intended to give his maternal cousin Subhadrā to Duryodhana in marriage, and that no one else approved of this plan. Arjuna wanted to marry her himself, so he disguised himself as a renunciant, complete with triple staff, and went to Dvārakā.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

Śukadeva Gosvāmī said: While traveling far and wide visiting various holy places of pilgrimage, Arjuna came to Prabhāsa. There he heard that Lord Balarāma intended to give his maternal cousin Subhadrā to Duryodhana in marriage, and that no one else approved of this plan. Arjuna wanted to marry her himself, so he disguised himself as a renunciant, complete with triple staff, and went to Dvārakā. KB 10.86.2-3 Thus Śukadeva Gosvāmī began to narrate the story as follows: Once upon a time, King Parīkṣit’s grandfather Arjuna, the great hero, was visiting several holy places of pilgrimage, and while thus traveling all over he happened to come to Prabhāsa-kṣetra. In Prabhāsa-kṣetra he heard the news that Lord Balarāma was negotiating the marriage of Subhadrā, the daughter of Arjuna’s maternal uncle, Vasudeva. Although her father, Vasudeva, and her brother Kṛṣṇa were not in agreement with Him, Balarāma was in favor of marrying Subhadrā to Duryodhana. Arjuna, however, desired to gain Subhadrā’s hand himself. As he thought of Subhadrā and her beauty, Arjuna became more and more captivated with the idea of marrying her, and with a plan in mind he dressed himself like a Vaiṣṇava sannyāsī, carrying a tridaṇḍa in his hand. The Māyāvādī sannyāsīs take one daṇḍa, or one rod, whereas the Vaiṣṇava sannyāsīs take three daṇḍas, or three rods. The three rods, or tridaṇḍa, indicate that a Vaiṣṇava sannyāsī vows to render service to the Supreme Personality of Godhead with his body, mind and words. The system of tridaṇḍa-sannyāsa has been in existence for a long time, and the Vaiṣṇava sannyāsīs are called tridaṇḍīs, or sometimes tridaṇḍi-svāmīs or tridaṇḍi-gosvāmīs.

Purport

Arjuna’s plan for obtaining Subhadrā as his wife may have seemed unconventional, but he was not acting without encouragement; in fact, Lord Kṛṣṇa was his prime co-conspirator. And in Dvārakā, most of the members of the royal family, especially Vasudeva, were unhappy about giving their favorite daughter to Duryodhana.

Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

Arjuna heard that Balarama wanted to marry his cousin Subhadra to Duryodhana. However, Vasudeva and others did not what to give her to Duryodhana.

Purport (Jiva Goswami)

Balarāma wanted to give Subhadrā, his material cousin, to Duryodhana. Others did not approve of this. It was considered best if Arjuna married her, since she was a maternal cousin, and it would show respect for his friendship with Kṛṣṇa. This is the custom in the south at present and elsewhere as well. Balarāma acted in this way in order that Kṛṣṇa could have some exciting pastimes. Desiring her, he disguised himself as a sannyāsī, in order to gain entrance to the palace. He appeared most respectable since he carried a tridaṇḍa which indicated his philosophical views as a Vaiṣṇava.

Purport (Sanatana Goswami)

Arjuna is called prabhuḥ out of great respect since he was the husband of Subhadrā, and Kṛṣṇa’s friend. Or he was capable of going on pilgrimage. Arjuna (white) indicates that he performed pure activities. Since she was a maternal cousin, it was suitable for her to marry Arjuna. This was a custom at that time. Balarāma gave pleasure (rāmaḥ) to Duryodhana by teaching him how to use the club. Arjuna dressed as a sannyāsī to enter Balarāma’s house undetected, where she lived, to see her and to reveal his love to her.