Canto 4: Creation of the Fourth OrderChapter 3: Talks Between Lord Śiva and Satī

Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.3.5-7

tad upaśrutya nabhasi

khe-carāṇāḿ prajalpatām

satī dākṣāyaṇī devī

pitṛ-yajña-mahotsavam

vrajantīḥ sarvato digbhya

upadeva-vara-striyaḥ

vimāna-yānāḥ sa-preṣṭhā

niṣka-kaṇṭhīḥ suvāsasaḥ

dṛṣṭvā sva-nilayābhyāśe

lolākṣīr mṛṣṭa-kuṇḍalāḥ

patiḿ bhūta-patiḿ devam

autsukyād abhyabhāṣata

SYNONYMS

tat — then; upaśrutya — hearing; nabhasiin the sky; khe-carāṇām — of those who were flying in the air (the Gandharvas); prajalpatām — the conversation; satīSati; dākṣāyaṇī — the daughter of Dakṣa; devī — the wife of Śiva; pitṛ-yajña-mahā-utsavam — the great festival of sacrifice performed by her father; vrajantīḥ — were going; sarvataḥ — from all; digbhyaḥ — directions; upadeva-vara-striyaḥ — the beautiful wives of the demigods; vimāna-yānāḥ — flying in their airplanes; sa-preṣṭhāḥ — along with their husbands; niṣka-kaṇṭhīḥ — having nice necklaces with lockets; su-vāsasaḥ — dressed in fine clothing; dṛṣṭvā — seeing; sva-nilaya-abhyāśe — near her residence; lola-akṣīḥ — having beautiful glittering eyes; mṛṣṭa-kuṇḍalāḥnice earrings; patim — her husband; bhūta-patim — the master of the bhūtas; devam — the demigod; autsukyāt — from great anxiety; abhyabhāṣata — she spoke.

TRANSLATION

The chaste lady Satī, the daughter of Dakṣa, heard the heavenly denizens flying in the sky conversing about the great sacrifice being performed by her father. When she saw that from all directions the beautiful wives of the heavenly denizens, their eyes very beautifully glittering, were near her residence and were going to the sacrifice dressed in fine clothing and ornamented with earrings and necklaces with lockets, she approached her husband, the master of the bhūtas, in great anxiety, and spoke as follows.

PURPORT

It appears that the residence of Lord Śiva was not on this planet but somewhere in outer space, otherwise how could Sati have seen the airplanes coming from different directions towards this planet and heard the passengers talking about the great sacrifice being performed by Dakṣa? Satī is described here as Dākṣāyaṇī because she was the daughter of Dakṣa. The mention of upadeva-vara refers to inferior demigods like the Gandharvas, Kinnaras and Uragas, who are not exactly demigods but between the demigods and human beings. They were also coming in planes. The word sva-nilayābhyāśe indicates that they were passing right near her residential quarters. The dresses and bodily features of the wives of the heavenly denizens are very nicely described here. Their eyes moved, their earrings and other ornaments glittered and glared, their dresses were the nicest possible, and all of them had special lockets on their necklaces. Each woman was accompanied by her husband. Thus they looked so beautiful that Satī, Dākṣāyaṇī, was impelled to dress similarly and go to the sacrifice with her husband. That is the natural inclination of a woman.

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His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, Founder Ācārya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness