Devanagari
हंस स्वागतमास्यतां पिब पयो ब्रूह्यङ्ग शौरे: कथां
दूतं त्वां नु विदाम कच्चिदजित: स्वस्त्यास्त उक्तं पुरा ।
किं वा नश्चलसौहृद: स्मरति तं कस्माद् भजामो वयं
क्षौद्रालापय कामदं श्रियमृते सैवैकनिष्ठा स्त्रियाम् ॥ २४ ॥
Verse text
haṁsa svāgatam āsyatāṁ piba payo brūhy aṅga śaureḥ kathāṁ
dūtaṁ tvāṁ nu vidāma kaccid ajitaḥ svasty āsta uktaṁ purā
kiṁ vā naś cala-sauhṛdaḥ smarati taṁ kasmād bhajāmo vayaṁ
kṣaudrālāpaya kāma-daṁ śriyam ṛte saivaika-niṣṭhā striyām
Synonyms
haṁsa
—
O swan
;
su
—
āgatam — welcome
;
āsyatām
—
please come and sit down
;
piba
—
please drink
;
payaḥ
—
milk
;
brūhi
—
tell us
;
aṅga
—
dear one
;
śaureḥ
—
of Śauri
;
kathām
—
news
;
dūtam
—
messenger
;
tvām
—
you
;
nu
—
indeed
;
vidāma
—
we recognize
;
kaccit
—
whether
;
ajitaḥ
—
the unconquerable one
;
svasti
—
well
;
āste
—
is
;
uktam
—
spoken
;
purā
—
long ago
;
kim
—
whether
;
vā
—
or
;
naḥ
—
to us
;
cala
—
fickle
;
sauhṛdaḥ
—
whose friendship
;
smarati
—
He remembers
;
tam
—
Him
;
kasmāt
—
for what reason
;
bhajāmaḥ
—
should worship
;
vayam
—
we
;
kṣaudra
—
O servant of Him who is petty
;
ālāpaya
—
tell Him to come
;
kāma
—
desire
;
dam
—
who bestows
;
śriyam
—
the goddess of fortune
;
ṛte
—
without
;
sā
—
she
;
eva
—
alone
;
eka
—
niṣṭhā — exclusively devoted
;
striyām
—
among women .
Translation
Welcome, swan. Please sit here and drink some milk. Give us some news of the descendant of Śūra, dear one. We know you are His messenger. Is that invincible Lord doing well, and does that unreliable friend of ours still remember the words He spoke to us long ago? Why should we go and worship Him? O servant of a petty master, go tell Him who fulfills our desires to come here without the goddess of fortune. Is she the only woman exclusively devoted to Him?
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Welcome, swan. Please sit here and drink some milk. Give us some news of the descendant of Śūra, dear one. We know you are His messenger. Is that invincible Lord doing well, and does that unreliable friend of ours still remember the words He spoke to us long ago? Why should we go and worship Him? O servant of a petty master, go tell Him who fulfills our desires to come here without the goddess of fortune. Is she the only woman exclusively devoted to Him?
KB 10.90.24
One queen addressed a swan as follows: “My dear swan, please come here, come here. You are welcome. Please sit down and take some milk. My dear swan, can you tell me if you have any message from Śyāmasundara? I take you to be a messenger from Him. If you have any such news, please tell me. Our Śyāmasundara is always very independent. He never comes under the control of anyone. We have all failed to control Him, and therefore we ask you, Is He keeping Himself well? I may inform you that Śyāmasundara is very fickle. His friendship is always temporary; it breaks even by slight agitation. But would you kindly explain why He is so unkind to me? Formerly He said that I alone am His dearmost wife. Does He remember this assurance? Anyway, you are welcome. Please sit down. But I cannot accept your entreaty to go to Śyāmasundara. When He does not care for me, why should I be mad after Him? I am very sorry to let you know that you have become the messenger of a poor-hearted soul. You are asking me to go to Him, but I am not going. What is that? You talk of His coming to me? Does He desire to come here to fulfill my long expectation for Him? All right. You may bring Him here. But don’t bring with Him His most beloved goddess of fortune. Do you think that He cannot be separated from the goddess of fortune even for a moment? Could He not come here alone, without Lakṣmī? His behavior is very displeasing. Does it mean that without Lakṣmī, Śyāmasundara cannot be happy? Can’t He be happy with any other wife? Does it mean that the goddess of fortune has the ocean of love for Him and none of us can compare to her?”
Purport
Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī relates the following conversation between the queens and the swan:
The queens ask, “Is the unconquerable Lord doing well?”
The swan replies, “How can Lord Kṛṣṇa be doing well without you, His beloved consorts?”
“But does He even remember what He once told one of us, Śrīmatī Rukmiṇī? Does He recall that He said, ‘In all My palaces I see no other wife as dear as you’?”
“He does indeed remember this, and that is just why He sent me here. You should all go to Him and engage in His devotional service.”
“Why should we go worship Him if He refuses to come here to be with us?”
“But my dear oceans of compassion, He is suffering so much from your absence! How can He be saved from this distress?”
“Just listen, O servant of a petty master: tell Him to come here, as He should. If He is suffering from lusty desires, He has only Himself to blame, since He Himself is the creator of Cupid’s power. We self-respecting ladies are not going to yield to His demand that we go seek Him out.”
“So be it; then I will take my leave.”
“No, one minute, dear swan. Ask Him to come to us here, but without the goddess of fortune, who always cheats us by keeping Him all to herself.”
“Don’t you know that Goddess Lakṣmī is devoted exclusively to the Lord? How could He give her up like that?”
“And is she the only woman in the world who is completely sold out to Him? What about us?”
Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Thinking that some swan is a messenger they speak.
The swan send to say, "Indeed how can he be happy without you?"
"Does he remember his loving words that he said previously such as ‘In all my palaces I see no other wife who is as loving as you (Rukmini)’ Being unwavering in his love, does he remember?"
"He does remember, and sent me here. Go to him and worship him."
"If he does remember, he is not responding to us. He does not even come here. Therefore, why should we worship him? Why should we go?"
"But then how can he deliver you from the pain of longing?"
"O fallen messenger(ksaudra)! You should call him here, the one who bestows pain through his love (kamadam). Let him come here! Because we are proud, we will not go to him." Thinking that the swan would agree and go and call him, they again spoke.
"Cheating us, he enjoys with Laksmi alone. Call him here without Laksmi."
"She is very attached to him alone. How is it possible to avoid her?"
"Bring him without her. Among us women (striyam singular to represent a whole class), is she alone devoted to him and not us?"
There is an alternate version : ksaudra alapam akamadam. The meaning is then "How can we worship him who has words like honey (ksaudram) and does not fulfill our desire for love? Why not here? Though she does not get his respect, let her continue to worship him, because we are proud women. Among women, we have our interested in our reputation and respect. "
Purport (Jiva Goswami)
With the arrival of morning, they think the swan is a messenger and speak to it. O swan! Have you arrived comfortably (svāgatam)? Or, it is splendid that you have come at this proper time. Please sit down. Drink some milk. Having welcomed the swan they then inquire. Please tell us! Aṅga indicates great respect. Or, it can indicate “You are part of our body.” This means “O intimate friend!” Tell us what our husband, who was born in the Śūra dynasty for everyone’s auspiciousness, is doing now. That is proper. We know for certain (nu) that you are his messenger. First they ask about his health. Is he, who cannot be controlled by anyone by love (ajitasya), happy (svasti)? This question shows some internal hatred. “O ladies! How can he be happy in separation from you?” Does he remember our answers to him when he tried to console us? Kiṁ vā (questions) can also be taken as kiṁvā (or). It indicates a question with a frown like kiṁ nu. Or, does he remember the answers he gave to us. “With gratitude he remembers you, since you are so devoted to him.” We do not believe that. He is unsteady in love (cala-sauhrdaḥ). “He is steady in love and desires you, who are most dear to him.” Proudly they answer, “Why should we serve him?” “He grants all desires, and thus should be worshipped.” Tell him to come without Lakṣmī. She alone is dedicated to him. This is statement uttered in great misery. They did not fear uttering the name of the father of their father-in-law (Śura) since the name takes a derivative form (śaureḥ).
Purport (Sanatana Goswami)
With the arrival of morning, they think the swan is a messenger and speak to it. O swan! Have you arrived comfortably (svāgatam)? Or, it is splendid that you have come at this proper time. Please sit down. Drink some milk. Having welcomed the swan, they then inquire. Please tell us! Aṅga indicates great respect. Or, it can indicate “You are part of our body.” This means “O intimate friend!” Tell us what our husband, who was born in the Śūra dynasty for everyone’s auspiciousness, is doing now. That is proper. We know for certain (nu) that you are his messenger. First they ask about his health. Is he, who cannot be controlled by anyone by love (ajitasya), happy (svasti)? This question shows some internal hatred.
“O ladies! How can he be happy in separation from you?” Does he remember our answers to him when he tried to console us? Kiṁ vā (questions) can also be taken as kiṁvā (or). It indicates a question with a frown, like kiṁ nu. Or, does he remember the answers he gave to us? “With gratitude he remembers you, since you are so devoted to him.” We do not believe that. He is unsteady in love (cala-sauhrdaḥ). “He is steady in love and desires you, who are most dear to him.” Proudly they answer, “Why should we serve him?” “He grants all desires, and thus should be worshipped.” Tell him to come without Lakṣmī. She alone is dedicated to him” Or among all women she alone is dedicated to him alone. She is not fickle. This is stated with mockery. Giving up us queens, who are full dedicated to him, he serves Lakṣmī. Why should we worship him?
Though the lord was directly present, they spoke in misery with the symptom called vaicittya, out of intense prema, as if he were absent. By this the Lord fell under their control. Though filled with pain of separaton, such conditions are the highest attainment. This is explained in Bhāgavatāmṛta.