Canto 10: The Summum BonumChapter 86: Arjuna Kidnaps Subhadrā, and Kṛṣṇa Blesses His Devotees

Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 10.86.2-3

śrī-śuka uvāca

arjunas tīrtha-yātrāyāḿ

paryaṭann avanīḿ prabhuḥ

gataḥ prabhāsam aśṛṇon

mātuleyīḿ sa ātmanaḥ

duryodhanāya rāmas tāḿ

dāsyatīti na cāpare

tal-lipsuḥ sa yatir bhūtvā

tri-daṇḍī dvārakām agāt

SYNONYMS

śrī-śukaḥ uvācaŚukadeva Gosvāmī said; arjunaḥArjuna; tīrthato holy places; yātrāyām — while on pilgrimage; paryaṭan — wandering; avanīm — the earth; prabhuḥ — the great lord; gataḥ — having gone; prabhāsamto Prabhāsa; aśṛṇot — heard; mātuleyīm — uncle's daughter; saḥhe; ātmanaḥ — his; duryodhanāyato Duryodhana; rāmaḥ — Lord Balarāma; tām — her; dāsyati — intends to give; iti — thus; na — not; ca — and; apare — anyone else; tat — her; lipsuḥ — desirous of obtaining; saḥhe, Arjuna; yatiḥa sannyāsī; bhūtvā — becoming; tri-daṇḍī — carrying a triple staff; dvārakāmto Dvārakā; agāt — went.

TRANSLATION

Śukadeva Gosvāmī said: While traveling far and wide visiting various holy places of pilgrimage, Arjuna came to Prabhāsa. There he heard that Lord Balarāma intended to give his maternal cousin Subhadrā to Duryodhana in marriage, and that no one else approved of this plan. Arjuna wanted to marry her himself, so he disguised himself as a renunciant, complete with triple staff, and went to Dvārakā.

PURPORT

Arjuna's plan for obtaining Subhadrā as his wife may have seemed unconventional, but he was not acting without encouragement; in fact, Lord Kṛṣṇa was his prime co-conspirator. And in Dvārakā, most of the members of the royal family, especially Vasudeva, were unhappy about giving their favorite daughter to Duryodhana.

<<< >>>

Buy Online Copyright © The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International, Inc.
His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, Founder Ācārya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness
His Holiness Hrdayananda dasa Goswami
Gopiparanadhana dasa Adhikari
Dravida dasa Brahmacari