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
El infante tenía un color azul oscuro como una esmeralda sin mancha; su rostro, loto esplendoroso, irradiaba hermosura, y su garganta mostraba líneas como las de una concha. Tenía el pecho amplio, la nariz bien formada, cejas bellas y orejas graciosas, semejantes a flores de granado, con pliegues internos como espirales de caracola. Las comisuras de sus ojos eran rojizas como el corazón del loto, y el fulgor de sus labios, cual coral, teñía levemente de rojo su sonrisa encantadora, dulce como néctar. Al respirar, su cabellera temblaba, y su ombligo profundo se alteraba por los pliegues móviles de su vientre, semejante a una hoja de banyán. El excelso brāhmaṇa, asombrado, vio al niño alzar con dedos delicados su pie de loto, poner un dedo en la boca y comenzar a succionarlo.
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.