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sandipaneh—of Sandipani Muni; sakrt—once only; proktam—instructed; brahma—all the Vedas with their different branches of knowledge; adhitya—after studying; sa-vistaram—in all details; tasmai—unto him; pradat—rewarded; varam—a benediction; putram—his son; mrtam—who was already dead; panca-jana—the region of the departed souls; udarat—from within.

The Lord learned all the Vedas with their different branches simply by hearing them once from His teacher, Sandipani Muni, whom He rewarded by bringing back his dead son from the region of Yamaloka.

No one but the Supreme Lord can become well versed in all the branches of Vedic wisdom simply by hearing once from his teacher. Nor can anyone bring a dead body back to life after the soul has already gone to the region of Yamaraja. But Lord Krsna ventured to the planet of Yamaloka and found the dead son of His teacher and brought him back to his father as a reward for the instructions received. The Lord is constitutionally well versed in all the Vedas, and yet to teach by example that everyone must go to learn the Vedas from an authorized teacher and must satisfy the teacher by service and reward, He Himself adopted this system. The Lord offered His services to His teacher, Sandipani Muni, and the muni, knowing the power of the Lord, asked something which was impossible to be done by anyone else. The teacher asked that his beloved son, who had died, be brought back to him, and the Lord fulfilled the request. The Lord is not, therefore, an ingrate to anyone who renders Him some sort of service. The devotees of the Lord who always engage in His loving service are never to be disappointed in the progressive march of devotional service.

SB3.3.3

TEXT 3

samahuta bhismaka-kanyaya ye

sriyah savarnena bubhusayaisam

gandharva-vrttya misatam sva-bhagam

jahre padam murdhni dadhat suparnah

samahutah—invited; bhismaka—of King Bhismaka; kanyaya—by the daughter; ye—all those; sriyah—fortune; sa-varnena—by a similar sequence; bubhusaya—expecting to be so; esam—of them; gandharva—in marrying; vrttya—by such a custom; misatam—carrying so; sva-bhagam—own share; jahre—took away; padam—feet; murdhni—on the head; dadhat—placed; suparnah—Garuda.

Attracted by the beauty and fortune of Rukmini, the daughter of King Bhismaka, many great princes and kings assembled to marry her. But Lord Krsna, stepping over the other hopeful candidates, carried her away as His own share, as Garuda carried away nectar.

Princess Rukmini, the daughter of King Bhismaka, was actually as attractive as fortune itself because she was as valuable as gold both in color and in value. Since the goddess of fortune, Laksmi, is the property of the Supreme Lord, Rukmini was actually meant for Lord Krsna. But Sisupala was selected as her bridegroom by Rukmini’s elder brother, although King Bhismaka wanted his daughter to be married to Krsna. Rukmini invited Krsna to take her away from the clutches of Sisupala, so when the bridegroom, Sisupala, came there with his party with the desire to marry Rukmini, Krsna all of a sudden swept her from the scene, stepping over the heads of all the princes there, just as Garuda carried away nectar from the hands of the demons. This incident will be clearly explained in the Tenth Canto.

SB3.3.4

TEXT 4

kakudmino ’viddha-naso damitva

svayamvare nagnajitim uvaha

tad-bhagnamanan api grdhyato ’jnan

jaghne ’ksatah sastra-bhrtah sva-sastraih

kakudminah—bulls whose noses were not pierced; aviddha-nasah—pierced by the nose; damitva—subduing; svayamvare—in the open competition to select the bridegroom; nagnajitim—Princess Nagnijiti; uvaha—married; tat-bhagnamanan—in that way all who were disappointed; api—even though; grdhyatah—wanted; ajnan—the fools; jaghne—killed and wounded; aksatah—without being wounded; sastra-bhrtah—equipped with all weapons; sva-sastraih—by His own weapons.

By subduing seven bulls whose noses were not pierced, the Lord achieved the hand of Princess Nagnijiti in the open competition to select her bridegroom. Although the Lord was victorious, His competitors asked the hand of the princess, and thus there was a fight. Well equipped with weapons, the Lord killed or wounded all of them, but He was not hurt Himself.

SB3.3.5

TEXT 5

priyam prabhur gramya iva priyaya

vidhitsur arcchad dyutarum yad-arthe

vajry adravat tam sa-gano rusandhah

krida-mrgo nunam ayam vadhunam

SYNONYMS

priyam—of the dear wife; prabhuh—the Lord; gramyah—ordinary living being; iva—in the manner of; priyayah—just to please; vidhitsuh—wishing; arcchat—brought about; dyutarum—the parijata flower tree; yat—for which; arthe—in the matter of; vajri—Indra, the King of heaven; adravat tam—went forward to fight with Him; sa-ganah—with full strength; rusa—in anger; andhah—blind; krida-mrgah—henpecked; nunam—of course; ayam—this; vadhunam—of the wives.

TRANSLATION

Just to please His dear wife, the Lord brought back the parijata tree from heaven, just as an ordinary husband would do. But Indra, the King of heaven, induced by his wives (henpecked as he was), ran after the Lord with full force to fight Him.

PURPORT

The Lord once went to the heavenly planet to present an earring to Aditi, the mother of the demigods, and His wife Satyabhama also went with Him. There is a special flowering tree called the parijata, which grows only in the heavenly planets, and Satyabhama wanted this tree. Just to please His wife, like an ordinary husband, the Lord brought back the tree, and this enraged Vajri, or the controller of the thunderbolt. cause he was a henpecked husband and also a fool, listened to them and dared to fight with Krsna. He was a fool on this occasion because he forgot that everything belongs to the Lord.

There was no fault on the part of the Lord, even though He took away the tree from the heavenly kingdom, but because Indra was henpecked, dominated by his beautiful wives like Saci, he became a fool, just as all persons who are dominated by their wives are generally foolish. Indra thought that Krsna was a henpecked husband who only by the will of His wife Satyabhama took away the property of heaven, and therefore he thought that Krsna could be punished. He forgot that the Lord is the proprietor of everything and cannot be henpecked. The Lord is fully independent, and by His will only He can have hundreds and thousands of wives like Satyabhama. He was not, therefore, attached to Satyabhama because she was a beautiful wife, but He was pleased with her devotional service and thus wanted to reciprocate the unalloyed devotion of His devotee.

SB3.3.6

TEXT 6

sutam mrdhe kham vapusa grasantam

drstva sunabhonmathitam dharitrya

amantritas tat-tanayaya sesam

dattva tad-antah-puram avivesa

sutam—son; mrdhe—in the fight; kham—the sky; vapusa—by his body; grasantam—while devouring; drstva—seeing; sunabha—by the Sudarsana wheel; unmathitam—killed; dharitrya—by the earth; amantritah—being prayed for; tat-tanayaya—to the son of Narakasura; sesam—that which was taken from; dattva—returning it; tat—his; antah-puram—inside the house; avivesa—entered.

Narakasura, the son of Dharitri, the earth, tried to grasp the whole sky, and for this he was killed by the Lord in a fight. His mother then prayed to the Lord. This led to the return of the kingdom to the son of Narakasura, and thus the Lord entered the house of the demon.

It is said in other puranas that Narakasura was the son of Dharitri, the earth, by the Lord Himself. But he became a demon due to the bad association of Bana, another demon. An atheist is called a demon, and it is a fact that even a person born of good parents can turn into a demon by bad association. Birth is not always the criterion of goodness; unless and until one is trained in the culture of good association, one cannot become good.

SB3.3.7

TEXT 7

tatrahrtas ta nara-deva-kanyah

kujena drstva harim arta-bandhum

utthaya sadyo jagrhuh praharsa-

vridanuraga-prahitavalokaih

tatra—inside the house of Narakasura; ahrtah—kidnapped; tah—all those; nara-deva-kanyah—daughters of many kings; kujena—by the demon; drstva—by seeing; harim—the Lord; arta-bandhum—the friend of the distressed; utthaya—at once got up; sadyah—then and there; jagrhuh—accepted; praharsa—joyfully; vrida—shyness; anuraga—attachment; prahita-avalokaih—by eager glances.

There in the house of the demon, all the princesses kidnapped by Narakasura at once became alert upon seeing the Lord, the friend of the distressed. They looked upon Him with eagerness, joy and shyness and offered to be His wives.

Narakasura kidnapped many daughters of great kings and kept them imprisoned in his palace. But when he was killed by the Lord and the Lord entered the house of the demon, all the princesses were enlivened with joy and offered to become His wives because the Lord is the only friend of the distressed. Unless the Lord accepted them, there would be no chance of their being married because the demon kidnapped them from their fathers’ custody and therefore no one would agree to marry them. According to Vedic society, girls are transferred from the custody of the father to the custody of the husband. Since these princesses had already been taken away from the custody of their fathers, it would have been difficult for them to have any husband other than the Lord Himself.

sa-vidham jagrhe panin

anurupah sva-mayaya

asam—all those; muhurte—at one time; ekasmin—simultaneously; nana-agaresu—in different compartments; yositam—of the women; sa-vidham—with perfect rituals; jagrhe—accepted; panin—hands; anurupah—exactly to match; sva-mayaya—by His internal potency.

All those princesses were lodged in different apartments, and the Lord simultaneously assumed different bodily expansions exactly matching each and every princess. He accepted their hands in perfect rituals by His internal potency.

In the Brahma-samhita (5.33) the Lord is described as follows in regard to His innumerable plenary expansions:

advaitam acyutam anadim ananta-rupam
adyam purana-purusam nava-yauvanam ca
vedesu durlabham adurlabham atma-bhaktau
govindam adi-purusam tam aham bhajami

“The Lord, Govinda, whom I worship, is the original Personality of Godhead. He is nondifferent from His innumerable plenary expansions, who are all infallible, original and unlimited and who have eternal forms. Although He is primeval, the oldest personality, He is always fresh and young.” By His internal potency the Lord can expand Himself into various personalities of svayam-prakasa and again into prabhava and vaibhava forms, and all of them are nondifferent from one another. The forms into which the Lord expanded to marry the princesses in different apartments were all slightly different just to match each and every one of them. They are called vaibhava-vilasa forms of the Lord and are effected by His internal potency, yoga-maya.

SB3.3.9

TEXT 9

tasv apatyany ajanayad

atma-tulyani sarvatah

ekaikasyam dasa dasa

prakrter vibubhusaya

tasu—unto them; apatyani—offspring; ajanayat—begot; atma-tulyani—all like Himself; sarvatah—in all respects; eka-ekasyam—in each and every one of them; dasa—ten; dasa—ten; prakrteh—for expanding Himself; vibubhusaya—so desiring.

Just to expand Himself according to His transcendental features, the Lord begot in each and every one of them ten offspring with exactly His own qualities.

SB3.3.10

TEXT 10

kala-magadha-salvadin

anikai rundhatah puram

ajighanat svayam divyam

sva-pumsam teja adisat

SYNONYMS

kala—Kalayavana; magadha—the King of Magadha (Jarasandha); salva—King Salva; adin—and others; anikaih—by the soldiers; rundhatah—being encircled; puram—the city of Mathura; ajighanat—killed; svayam—personally; divyam—transcendental; sva-pumsam—of His own men; tejah—prowess; adisat—exhibited.

TRANSLATION

Kalayavana, the King of Magadha and Salva attacked the city of Mathura, but when the city was encircled by their soldiers, the Lord refrained from killing them personally, just to show the power of His own men.

PURPORT

After the death of Kamsa, when Mathura was encircled by the soldiers of Kalayavana, Jarasandha and Salva, the Lord seemingly fled from the city, and thus He is known as Ranchor, or one who fled from fighting. Actually, the fact was that the Lord wanted to kill them through the agency of His own men, devotees like Mucukunda and Bhima. Kalayavana and the King of Magadha were killed by Mucukunda and Bhima respectively, who acted as agents of the Lord. By such acts the Lord wanted to exhibit the prowess of His devotees, as if He were personally unable to fight but His devotees could kill them. The relationship of the Lord with His devotees is a very happy one. Actually, the Lord descended at the request of Brahma in order to kill all the undesirables of the world, but to divide the share of glory He sometimes engaged His devotees to take the credit. The Battle of Kuruksetra was designed by the Lord Himself, but just to give credit to His devotee Arjuna (nimitta-matram bhava savyasacin), He played the part of the charioteer, while Arjuna was given the chance to play the fighter and thus become the hero of the Battle of Kuruksetra. What He wants to do Himself by His transcendental plans, He executes through His confidential devotees. That is the way of the Lord’s mercy towards His pure unalloyed devotees.

SB3.3.11

TEXT 11

sambaram dvividam banam

muram balvalam eva ca

anyams ca dantavakradin

avadhit kams ca ghatayat

sambaram—Sambara; dvividam—Dvivida; banam—Bana; muram—Mura; balvalam—Balvala; eva ca—as also; anyan—others; ca—also; dantavakra-adin—like Dantavakra and others; avadhit—killed; kan ca—and many others; ghatayat—caused to be killed.

Of kings like Sambara, Dvivida, Bana, Mura, Balvala and many other demons, such as Dantavakra, some He killed Himself, and some He caused to be killed by others [Sri Baladeva, etc.].

SB3.3.12

TEXT 12

atha te bhratr-putranam

paksayoh patitan nrpan

cacala bhuh kuruksetram

yesam apatatam balaih

SYNONYMS

atha—thereafter; te—your; bhratr-putranam—of the nephews; paksayoh—of both sides; patitan—killed; nrpan—kings; cacala—shook; bhuh—the earth; kuruksetram—the Battle of Kuruksetra; yesam—of whom; apatatam—traversing; balaih—by strength.

TRANSLATION

Then, O Vidura, the Lord caused all the kings, both the enemies and those on the side of your fighting nephews, to be killed in the Battle of Kuruksetra. All those kings were so great and strong that the earth seemed to shake as they traversed the warfield.

SB3.3.13

TEXT 13

sa karna-duhsasana-saubalanam

kumantra-pakena hata-sriyayusam

suyodhanam sanucaram sayanam

bhagnorum urvyam na nananda pasyan

SYNONYMS

sah—He (the Lord); karna—Karna; duhsasana—Duhsasana; saubalanam—Saubala; kumantra-pakena—by the intricacy of ill advice; hata-sriya—bereft of fortune; ayusam—duration of life; suyodhanam—Duryodhana; sa-anucaram—with followers; sayanam—lying down; bhagna—broken; urum—thighs; urvyam—very powerful; na—did not; nananda—take pleasure; pasyan—seeing like that.

TRANSLATION

Duryodhana was bereft of his fortune and duration of life because of the intricacy of ill advice given by Karna, Duhsasana and Saubala. When he lay on the ground with his followers, his thighs broken although he was powerful, the Lord was not happy to see the scene.

PURPORT

The fall of Duryodhana, the leading son of Dhrtarastra, was not pleasing to the Lord, although He was on the side of Arjuna and it was He who advised Bhima how to break the thighs of Duryodhana while the fight was going on. The Lord is constrained to award punishment upon the wrongdoer, but He is not happy to award such punishments because the living entities are originally His parts and parcels. He is harder than the thunderbolt for the wrongdoer and softer than the rose for the faithful. The wrongdoer is misled by bad associates and by ill advice, which is against the established principles of the Lord’s order, and thus he becomes subject to punishment. The surest path to happiness is to live by the principles laid down by the Lord and not disobey His established laws, which are enacted in the Vedas and the Puranas for the forgetful living entities.

SB3.3.14

TEXT 14

kiyan bhuvo ’yam ksapitoru-bharo

yad drona-bhismarjuna-bhima-mulaih

astadasaksauhiniko mad-amsair

aste balam durvisaham yadunam

mitho yadaisam bhavita vivado

kiyan—what is this; bhuvah—of the earth; ayam—this; ksapita—abated; uru—very great; bharah—burden; yat—which; drona—Drona; bhisma—Bhisma; arjuna—Arjuna; bhima—Bhima; mulaih—with the help; astadasa—eighteen; aksauhinikah—phalanxes of military strength (vide Bhag. 1.16.34); mat-amsaih—with My descendants; aste—are still there; balam—great strength; durvisaham—unbearable; yadunam—of the Yadu dynasty.

TRANSLATION

[After the end of the Battle of Kuruksetra, the Lord said:] The abatement of the earth’s great burden, eighteen aksauhinis, has now been effected with the help of Drona, Bhisma, Arjuna and Bhima. But what is this? There is still the great strength of the Yadu dynasty, born of Myself, which may be a more unbearable burden.

PURPORT

It is a wrong theory that due to an increase in population the world becomes overburdened and therefore there are wars and other annihilating processes. The earth is never overburdened. The heaviest mountains and oceans on the face of the earth hold more living entities than there are human beings, and they are not overburdened. If a census were taken of all the living beings on the surface of the earth, certainly it would be found that the number of humans is not even five percent of the total number of living beings. If the birthrate of human beings is increasing, then the birthrate of other living beings is increasing proportionately. The birthrate of lower animals—beasts, aquatics, birds, etc.—is far greater than that of human beings. There is an adequate arrangement for food for all the living beings all over the earth by the order of the Supreme Lord, and He can arrange more and more if there is actually a disproportionate increase of living beings.

Therefore, there is no question of an increase in population causing a burden. The earth became overburdened due to dharma-glani, or irregular discharge of the Lord’s desire. The Lord appeared on the earth to curb the increase in miscreants, and not the increase in population, as is wrongly put forward by the mundane economist. When Lord Krsna appeared, there had been a sufficient increase in miscreants who had violated the desire of the Lord. The material creation is meant for fulfilling the desire of the Lord, and His desire is that the conditioned souls who are unfit to enter into the kingdom of God have a chance to improve their conditions for entering. The entire process of cosmic arrangement is intended just to give a chance to the conditioned souls to enter the kingdom of God, and there is an adequate arrangement for their maintenance by the nature of the Lord.

Therefore, although there may be a great increase in population on the surface of the earth, if the people are exactly in line with God consciousness and are not miscreants, such a burden on the earth is a source of pleasure for her. There are two kinds of burdens. There is the burden of the beast and the burden of love. The burden of the beast is unbearable, but the burden of love is a source of pleasure. Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti describes the burden of love very practically. He says that the burden of the husband on the young wife, the burden of the child on the lap of the mother, and the burden of wealth on the businessman, although actually burdens from the viewpoint of heaviness, are sources of pleasure, and in the absence of such burdensome objects, one may feel the burden of separation, which is heavier to bear than the actual burden of love. When Lord Krsna referred to the burden of the Yadu dynasty on the earth, He referred to something different than the burden of the beast. The large numbers of family members born of Lord Krsna counted to some millions and were certainly a great increase in the population of the earth, but because all of them were expansions of the Lord Himself by His transcendental plenary expansions, they were a source of great pleasure for the earth. When the Lord referred to them in connection with the burden on the earth, He had in mind their imminent disappearance from the earth. All the members of the family of Lord Krsna were incarnations of different demigods, and they were to disappear from the surface of the earth along with the Lord. When He referred to the unbearable heaviness on the earth in connection with the Yadu dynasty, He was referring to the burden of their separation. Srila Jiva Gosvami confirms this inference.

SB3.3.15

TEXT 15

madhv-amadatamra-vilocananam

naisam vadhopaya iyan ato ’nyo

mayy udyate ’ntardadhate svayam sma

mithah—one another; yada—when; esam—of them; bhavita—will take place; vivadah—quarrel; madhu-amada—intoxication by drinking; atamra-vilocananam—of their eyes being copper-red; na—not; esam—of them; vadha-upayah—means of disappearance; iyan—like this; atah—besides this; anyah—alternative; mayi—on My; udyate—disappearance; antah-dadhate—will disappear; svayam—themselves; sma—certainly.

When they quarrel among themselves, influenced by intoxication, with their eyes red like copper because of drinking [madhu], then only will they disappear; otherwise, it will not be possible. On My disappearance, this incident will take place.