Shloka 20

अक्रूर-सत्कारः, मथुरायात्रा-विरहः, यमुनातटे दिव्यदर्शनम्, चतुर्व्यूह-नमस्कारः

Devanagari script

किं न वेत्ति नृशंसो ऽयम् अनुरागपरं जनम् येनेमम् अक्ष्णोर् आह्लादं नयत्य् अन्यत्र नो हरिम्

Transliteration

kiṃ na vetti nṛśaṃso 'yam anurāgaparaṃ janam yenemam akṣṇor āhlādaṃ nayaty anyatra no harim

Translation

Does this cruel one not understand a people wholly given over to love—how he drags the delight of our eyes away from Hari and forces it to rest anywhere else but on Him?

Word by Word

• किम्: what? / how?
• किम्: Prashna (प्रश्न)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: किम् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अव्ययवत् प्रश्नार्थक-नपुंसक (interrogative particle ‘what?/how?’)

• न: not
• न: Nishedha (निषेध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: न (अव्यय)
• Form: निषेध-अव्यय (negation particle)

• वेत्ति: knows
• वेत्ति: Kriya (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: विद् (धातु)
• Form: लट् (Present), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd person), एकवचन; परस्मैपद

• नृशंसः: cruel, pitiless
• नृशंसः: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: नृशंस (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन; विशेषण

• अयम्: this (one)
• अयम्: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: इदम् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन; सर्वनाम

• अनुरागपरम्: devoted with affection
• अनुरागपरम्: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अनुराग (प्रातिपदिक) + पर (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative), एकवचन; समासः—तत्पुरुष (अनुरागे परः = devoted to love)

• जनम्: people/persons
• जनम्: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: जन (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative), एकवचन

• येन: by whom/whereby
• येन: Karana (करण/Instrument)
• Type: Noun
• Root: यद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग/नपुंसकलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3rd/Instrumental), एकवचन; सम्बन्धक-सर्वनाम (relative pronoun)

• इमम्: this
• इमम्: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: इदम् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative), एकवचन; सर्वनाम

• अक्ष्णोः: of (our) two eyes
• अक्ष्णोः: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/Genitive)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अक्षि (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th/Genitive), द्विवचन; (irregular stem: अक्ष्णोः)

• आह्लादम्: delight, joy
• आह्लादम्: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: आह्लाद (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative), एकवचन

• नयति: leads/takes away
• नयति: Kriya (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: नी (धातु)
• Form: लट् (Present), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd person), एकवचन; परस्मैपद

• अन्यत्र: elsewhere
• अन्यत्र: Kriya-visheshana (क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: अन्यत्र (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; स्थानवाचक/विषयवाचक (adverb: elsewhere/otherwise)

• नः: our / for us
• नः: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/Genitive)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अस्मद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: षष्ठी (6th/Genitive) बहुवचन वा चतुर्थी (4th/Dative) बहुवचन; एन्क्लिटिक-रूप (enclitic)

• हरिम्: Hari (Krishna)
• हरिम्: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: हरि (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative), एकवचन

Speaker

Gopis (cowherd women of Vraja), as narrated by Sage Parasara to Maitreya

Avatara Context

Avatara: Krishna

Purpose: Krishna’s līlā draws the hearts of devotees so completely that separation itself becomes a furnace intensifying remembrance and surrender.

Leela: Moksha-dana

Dharma Restored: Supremacy of single-pointed devotion (ananya-bhakti) as the sustaining order of the heart.

Philosophical Teaching

Concept: For those whose love is fixed on Hari, the mind and senses find no true delight anywhere else, revealing the exclusivity of ananya-bhakti.

Vedantic Theme: Moksha

Application: Cultivate single-pointed remembrance (nāma-japa, kīrtana, and daily contemplation) so that distractions lose their binding power.

Vishishtadvaita: The soul’s natural dependence (śeṣatva) expresses itself as exclusive attachment to the personal Lord, not as dissolution into an impersonal absolute.

Vaishnava Theology

Vishnu Form: Hari

Bhakti Type: Madhurya

Characters & Entities

• Hari
• Krishna

FAQs

What is the significance of exclusive delight in Hari in the Vishnu Purana?

This verse presents ananya-bhakti—devotion that refuses substitution—where the eyes (symbolizing perception and desire) find true joy only in Hari, underscoring Vishnu/Krishna as the supreme and sufficient object of love.

How does Sage Parasara explain the intensity of devotion in Krishna’s Vraja episodes?

Through the voices of the Gopis, Parasara depicts devotion as total absorption: even sensory happiness is legitimate only when oriented to Hari, making separation a heightened spiritual state rather than mere emotion.

The theological importance of Lord Vishnu (Hari) in this context?

Hari is portrayed as the ultimate center of bliss and meaning; moving the heart’s joy away from Him is described as cruelty, reflecting Vaishnava theology where the Supreme Lord alone fulfills the soul’s longing.