Srimad Bhagavatam — Dvitiya Skandha, Shloka 26

Bhagavān’s Avatāras, Their Protections (Poṣaṇa), and the Limits of Knowing Him

Devanagari script

भूमे: सुरेतरवरूथविमर्दिताया: क्लेशव्ययाय कलया सितकृष्णकेश: । जात: करिष्यति जनानुपलक्ष्यमार्ग: कर्माणि चात्ममहिमोपनिबन्धनानि ॥ २६ ॥

Transliteration

bhūmeḥ suretara-varūtha-vimarditāyāḥ kleśa-vyayāya kalayā sita-kṛṣṇa-keśaḥ jātaḥ kariṣyati janānupalakṣya-mārgaḥ karmāṇi cātma-mahimopanibandhanāni

Translation

Lorsque la terre est accablée par la puissance guerrière de rois sans foi en Dieu, le Seigneur descend avec son expansion plénière afin d’alléger la détresse du monde. Il vient dans sa forme originelle, paré de beaux cheveux noirs; nul ne peut jauger sa manière d’agir, et pour déployer sa gloire transcendante il accomplit des œuvres extraordinaires.

Synonyms

• bhūmeḥ: of the earth
• bhūmeḥ: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: bhūmi (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Feminine, Genitive (6th/षष्ठी), Singular

• suretāra-varūtha-vimarditāyāḥ: crushed by the hosts of the ungodly
• suretāra-varūtha-vimarditāyāḥ: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: sura-itara (प्रातिपदिक) + varūtha (प्रातिपदिक) + vimardita (कृदन्त, √mṛd with vi-)
• Form: Feminine, Genitive (6th/षष्ठी), Singular; qualifying bhūmeḥ; vigraha: suretarāṇāṁ varūthaiḥ vimarditā

• kleśa-vyayāya: for the destruction of distress
• kleśa-vyayāya: Prayojana (प्रयोजन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kleśa (प्रातिपदिक) + vyaya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Dative (4th/चतुर्थी), Singular; purpose: 'for the removal of suffering'

• kalayā: by (his) portion
• kalayā: Karaṇa (करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kalā (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Feminine, Instrumental (3rd/तृतीया), Singular; 'by a portion/partial expansion'

• sita-kṛṣṇa-keśaḥ: the one with white-and-black hair
• sita-kṛṣṇa-keśaḥ: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: sita (प्रातिपदिक) + kṛṣṇa (प्रातिपदिक) + keśa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative (1st/प्रथमा), Singular; karmadhāraya: 'having white and black hair' (Balarāma-Kṛṣṇa pair implied)

• jātaḥ: born
• jātaḥ: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: jāta (कृदन्त, √jan)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative (1st/प्रथमा), Singular; past passive participle used predicatively: 'born/manifested'

• kariṣyati: will do/perform
• kariṣyati: Kriyā (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: kṛ (धातु)
• Form: Luṭ (Simple Future/लुट्), Parasmaipada, 3rd Person (प्रथम-पुरुष), Singular

• janān: people
• janān: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: jana (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Accusative (2nd/द्वितीया), Plural

• upalakṣya-mārgaḥ: whose ways are hard to discern
• upalakṣya-mārgaḥ: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: upalakṣya (कृदन्त, gerundive from √lakṣ with upa-) + mārga (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative (1st/प्रथमा), Singular; qualifying (he); 'whose path is to be recognized/inferred'

• karmāṇi: deeds
• karmāṇi: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: karman (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Neuter, Accusative (2nd/द्वितीया), Plural

• ca: and
• ca: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ca (अव्यय)
• Form: Conjunction (समुच्चय-बोधक अव्यय)

• ātma-mahima-upanibandhanāni: establishing his own glory
• ātma-mahima-upanibandhanāni: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: ātman (प्रातिपदिक) + mahimā (प्रातिपदिक) + upanibandhana (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Neuter, Accusative (2nd/द्वितीया), Plural; qualifying karmāṇi; tatpuruṣa: ātmano mahimnaḥ upanibandhanāni = 'based on/establishing his own glory'

Purport

This verse is especially describing the appearance of Lord Kṛṣṇa and His immediate expansion, Lord Baladeva. Both Lord Kṛṣṇa and Lord Baladeva are one Supreme Personality of Godhead. The Lord is omnipotent, and He expands Himself in innumerable forms and energies, and the whole unit is known as the one Supreme Brahman. Such extensions of the Lord are divided into two divisions, namely personal and differential. The personal expansions are called the viṣṇu-tattvas, and the differential expansions are called the jīva-tattvas. And in such expansional activity, Lord Baladeva is the first personal expansion of Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

Characters & Entities

• Śrī Hari (the Supreme Lord)

FAQs

What does Srimad Bhagavatam 2.7.26 say about Krishna’s appearance to relieve the earth?

It states that when the earth is oppressed by ungodly forces, the Lord appears (in a partial expansion) to remove her distress, and His extraordinary deeds become famous accounts that proclaim His divine glory.

Why did Śukadeva Gosvāmī describe the Lord as “sita-kṛṣṇa-keśa” (white- and black-haired)?

Śukadeva is indicating the Lord’s appearance with distinctive features associated with His incarnations—classically understood as pointing to divine descents connected with white and black complexions—while emphasizing that the Lord’s advent is for restoring dharma and relieving the earth’s burden.

How can a devotee apply the teaching of this verse in modern life?

By trusting that the Lord intervenes to protect dharma, and by regularly hearing and sharing His līlās—since these narrations are meant to awaken devotion through remembrance of His greatness.