SB 5.8.24 · Srimad-Bhagavatam

Devanagari

अपिस्विदसौ भगवानुडुपतिरेनं मृगपतिभयान्मृतमातरं मृगबालकं स्वाश्रमपरिभ्रष्टमनुकम्पया कृपणजनवत्सल: परिपाति ॥ २४ ॥

Verse text

api svid asau bhagavān uḍu-patir enaṁ mṛga-pati-bhayān mṛta-mātaraṁ mṛga-bālakaṁ svāśrama-paribhraṣṭam anukampayā kṛpaṇa-jana-vatsalaḥ paripāti.

Synonyms

api svit — can it be ; asau — that ; bhagavān — most powerful ; uḍu — patiḥ — the moon ; enam — this ; mṛga — pati — bhayāt — because of fear of the lion ; mṛta — mātaram — who lost its mother ; mṛga — bālakam — the son of a deer ; sva — āśrama — paribhraṣṭam — who strayed from its āśrama ; anukampayā — out of compassion ; kṛpaṇa — jana — vatsalaḥ — (the moon) who is very kind to the unhappy men ; paripāti — now is protecting it .

Translation

Mahārāja Bharata continued to speak like a madman. Seeing above his head the dark marks on the rising moon, which resembled a deer, he said: Can it be that the moon, who is so kind to an unhappy man, might also be kind upon my deer, knowing that it has strayed from home and has become motherless? This moon has given the deer shelter near itself just to protect it from the fearful attacks of a lion.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

The Lord in the form of the moon, affectionate to helpless persons out of mercy, is protecting this young deer, whose mother died out of fear of a lion and who has now left my hermitage. Looking in the sky, and seeing the moon, he thinks that he sees his small deer on the moon. The deer has left my hermitage since I, a most sinful person, have been inattentive. O moon! You are the Lord (bhagavān). Otherwise, who could you have the fortune to have the mark of the deer on your surface?