Srimad Bhagavatam — Dvadasha Skandha, Shloka 25
Mārkaṇḍeya’s Request to See Māyā and the Vision of the Cosmic Deluge
महामरकतश्यामं श्रीमद्वदनपङ्कजम् । कम्बुग्रीवं महोरस्कं सुनसं सुन्दरभ्रुवम् ॥ २२ ॥ श्वासैजदलकाभातं कम्बुश्रीकर्णदाडिमम् । विद्रुमाधरभासेषच्छोणायितसुधास्मितम् ॥ २३ ॥ पद्मगर्भारुणापाङ्गं हृद्यहासावलोकनम् । श्वासैजद्वलिसंविग्ननिम्ननाभिदलोदरम् ॥ २४ ॥ चार्वङ्गुलिभ्यां पाणिभ्यामुन्नीय चरणाम्बुजम् । मुखे निधाय विप्रेन्द्रो धयन्तं वीक्ष्य विस्मित: ॥ २५ ॥
mahā-marakata-śyāmaṁ śrīmad-vadana-paṅkajam kambu-grīvaṁ mahoraskaṁ su-nasaṁ sundara-bhruvam
Der Säugling war dunkelblau wie ein makelloser Smaragd; sein lotusgleiches Antlitz strahlte in reichem Glanz, und an seiner Kehle zeichneten sich Linien wie die Rillen einer Muschel ab. Er hatte eine breite Brust, eine wohlgeformte Nase, schöne Brauen und liebliche Ohren, den Granatapfelblüten gleich, mit inneren Falten wie die Windungen einer Conch. Die Augenwinkel waren rötlich wie das Innere einer Lotusknospe, und der Schimmer seiner korallenroten Lippen rötete sanft sein nektargleiches, bezauberndes Lächeln. Mit jedem Atemzug bebte sein Haar, und sein tiefer Nabel wurde durch die sich bewegenden Bauchfalten verzogen, die einem Banyanblatt glichen. Der erhabene Brāhmaṇa sah staunend, wie das Kind mit anmutigen Fingern seinen Lotusfuß hob, eine Zehe in den Mund legte und zu saugen begann.
The young child was the Supreme Personality of Godhead. According to Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura, Lord Kṛṣṇa wondered, “So many devotees are hankering for the nectar of My lotus feet. Therefore let Me personally experience that nectar.” Thus the Lord, playing like an ordinary baby, began to suck on His toes.
FAQs
This verse highlights the Lord’s lotus foot as a direct object of devotion: even a great sage becomes absorbed and astonished, showing that remembrance and reverence for Hari’s feet awakens bhakti and spiritual realization.
He witnessed an intimate divine wonder—Śrī Hari, the Supreme Lord, sucking His own toe—revealing the Lord’s inconceivable nature and childlike, transcendental līlā that overwhelms even perfected sages.
Cultivate humility and steady devotion by daily remembering the Lord’s lotus feet—through prayer, japa, and reading—accepting that the Divine can be beyond logic and still deeply transformative for the heart.