SB 9.21.25

SB 9.21.25

Devanagari

स कृत्व्यां शुककन्यायां ब्रह्मदत्तमजीजनत् । योगी स गवि भार्यायां विष्वक्सेनमधात् सुतम् ॥ २५ ॥

Verse text

sa kṛtvyāṁ śuka-kanyāyāṁ brahmadattam ajījanat yogī sa gavi bhāryāyāṁ viṣvaksenam adhāt sutam

Synonyms

saḥ he (King Nīpa) ; kṛtvyām in his wife, Kṛtvī ; śuka kanyāyām — who was the daughter of Śuka ; brahmadattam a son named Brahmadatta ; ajījanat begot ; yogī a mystic yogī ; saḥ that Brahmadatta ; gavi by the name Gau or Sarasvatī ; bhāryāyām in the womb of his wife ; viṣvaksenam Viṣvaksena ; adhāt begot ; sutam a son .

Translation

King Nīpa begot a son named Brahmadatta through the womb of his wife, Kṛtvī, who was the daughter of Śuka. And Brahmadatta, who was a great yogī, begot a son named Viṣvaksena through the womb of his wife, Sarasvatī.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

King Nīpa begot a son named Brahmadatta through the womb of his wife, Kṛtvī, who was the daughter of Śuka. And Brahmadatta, who was a great yogi, begot a son named Viṣvaksena through the womb of his wife, Sarasvatī. Nīpa begot a son in his wife Kṛtvī, the daughter of Śuka. This Śuka is different from the narrator of the Bhāgavatam. He was born from Vyāsa through Araṇī. This is described in Hari-vaṁśa. parāśara kulotpannaḥ śuko nāma mahā-yaśāḥ vyāsād araṇyāṁ saṁbhūto vidhūmo ’gniriva jvalan. sa tasyāṁ pita-kanyāyāṁ vīriṇyāṁ janayiṣyati. kṛṣṇaṁ gauraṁ prabhuṁ śambhuṁ tathā bhūriśrutaṁ jayam. kanyāṁ kīrtimatīṁ yaṣṭhīṁ yoginīṁ yogamātaram. brahmadattasya jananīṁ mahiṣīm anuhasya ca Śuka of great fame, born in the family of Parāśara, appeared from Vyāsa through Araṇī. He shone like a fire without smoke. Śuka will give birth to sons named Kṛṣṇa, Gaura, Prabhu, Śambhu, and Bhūriśruta in his wife Vīriṇī, [Note: She is called Pivarī in the Matsya Purāṇa.] the daughter of the Pitṛs, as well as a daughter named Kīrtimatī, [Note: This is another name for Kṛtvī, mentioned in the Bhāgavatam verse.] expert at yoga, the mother of yoga, the mother of Brahmadatta and the queen of Anuha. Śuka, the speaker of Bhāgavatam was the first son of Vyāsa, different from the Śuka born from the womb of Araṇī. Brahma-vaivarta Purāṇa describes how Vyāsa wrote Mahābhārata at the beginning of Kali-yuga. Then it describes Śukadeva as follows: On the order of his mother, unable to tolerate the obligation to his ancestors, just an elephant cannot tolerate a post to which he is tied, Vyāsa gave up his celibacy and took the daughter of Javalī named Vīṭikā as his wife. He performed austerities with her in a hermitage, and after a long time he impregnated her. She was pregnant for eleven years and still did not give birth. In the twelfth year, Vyāsa said to the child in the womb, “O child! Why are you causing such pain to your mother? Please come out of the womb.” The child in the womb said, “If I come out of the womb, māyā will attack me. Therefore I will remain here, meditating on the Lord.” Vyāsa said, “You will not be overcome by māyā. I will guarantee that. Come out of the womb. Show your face to me. Do not give pain to my wife.” The child said, “But I know that māyā has overcome you, since you are attached to your wife and child. I do not believe your words.” Vyāsa said, “Then whose words will you trust?” The child said, “I will trust the person who controls māyā.” Vyāsa said, “Then I will bring him here.” Vyāsa then went to Dvārakā and explained everything to Kṛṣṇa. He brought Kṛṣṇa to his hermitage and said, “O son! The Lord has come.” The child said to the Lord, “Please speak, O Mādhava! Māyā is like chains on the universe. If your māyā, which cannot be surpassed by anyone, will not bind me, I will leave the womb and come out. You are the guarantee, now standing outside the womb.” The Lord said, “You will not be affected by my māyā. By my mercy you will be liberated.” Śuka came out of the womb, offered respects to the Lord and praised him. Seeing him the Lord said, “O Vyāsa! Your son speaks attractively, like a parrot. Let his name be Śuka.” Taking permission from Vyāsa, Kṛṣṇa mounted his chariot and returned to Dvārakā. Then Śuka left the house and Vyāsa pursued him. Śrīdhara Svāmī however explains that Śuka born of Araṇī, seeing his father pursue him in pain of separation, produced a duplicate Śuka, and then left. The duplicate Śuka then got married and had children. The yogī Brahmadatta (saḥ) begot a son Viṣvaksena in his wife Sarasvatī (gavi).

Purport

The Śuka mentioned here is different from the Śukadeva Gosvāmī who spoke Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Śukadeva Gosvāmī, the son of Vyāsadeva, is described in great detail in the Brahma-vaivarta Purāṇa. There it is said that Vyāsadeva maintained the daughter of Jābāli as his wife and that after they performed penances together for many years, he placed his seed in her womb. The child remained in the womb of his mother for twelve years, and when the father asked the son to come out, the son replied that he would not come out unless he were completely liberated from the influence of māyā. Vyāsadeva then assured the child that he would not be influenced by māyā, but the child did not believe his father, for the father was still attached to his wife and children. Vyāsadeva then went to Dvārakā and informed the Personality of Godhead about his problem, and the Personality of Godhead, at Vyāsadeva’s request, went to Vyāsadeva’s cottage, where He assured the child in the womb that he would not be influenced by māyā. Thus assured, the child came out, but he immediately went away as a parivrājakācārya. When the father, very much aggrieved, began to follow his saintly boy, Śukadeva Gosvāmī, the boy created a duplicate Śukadeva, who later entered family life. Therefore, the śuka-kanyā, or daughter of Śukadeva, mentioned in this verse is the daughter of the duplicate or imitation Śukadeva. The original Śukadeva was a lifelong brahmacārī.