Shloka 40
Pradyumna’s Abduction, Mahā-māyā, and the Slaying of Śambara
यं वै मुहु: पितृसरूपनिजेशभावा- स्तन्मातरो यदभजन् रहरूढभावा: । चित्रं न तत् खलु रमास्पदबिम्बबिम्बे कामे स्मरेऽक्षविषये किमुतान्यनार्य: ॥ ४० ॥
yaṁ vai muhuḥ pitṛ-sarūpa-nijeśa-bhāvās tan-mātaro yad abhajan raha-rūḍha-bhāvāḥ citraṁ na tat khalu ramāspada-bimba-bimbe kāme smare ’kṣa-viṣaye kim utānya-nāryaḥ
പ്രദ്യുമ്നനോടു മാതൃസ്നേഹം തോന്നേണ്ട അന്തഃപുരസ്ത്രീകൾ പോലും രഹസ്യമായി അവനെ തങ്ങളുടെ പ്രഭുവെന്നപോലെ കരുതി പരവശമായ ആകർഷണം അനുഭവിച്ചു—ഇതിൽ അത്ഭുതമില്ല. കാരണം അവൻ പിതാവിനോട് സമാനരൂപൻ; ലക്ഷ്മീപതി ശ്രീകൃഷ്ണന്റെ സൗന്ദര്യത്തിന്റെ പ്രതിബിംബം; കണ്ണിനു മുന്നിൽ സാക്ഷാൽ കാമദേവനെപ്പോലെ പ്രത്യക്ഷമായിരുന്നു. പിന്നെ മറ്റു സ്ത്രീകളെക്കുറിച്ച് എന്തുപറയണം!
As Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī explains, whenever the palace women saw Śrī Pradyumna, they immediately remembered their Lord, Śrī Kṛṣṇa. Śrīla Prabhupāda comments as follows in Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead: “Śrīla Śukadeva Gosvāmī has explained that in the beginning all the residents of the palace, who were all mothers and stepmothers of Pradyumna, mistook Him to be Kṛṣṇa and were all bashful, infected by the desire for conjugal love. The explanation is that Pradyumna’s personal appearance was exactly like Kṛṣṇa’s, and he was factually Cupid himself. There was no cause of astonishment, therefore, when the mothers of Pradyumna and other women mistook him in that way. It is clear from the statement that Pradyumna’s bodily characteristics were so similar to Kṛṣṇa’s that he was mistaken to be Kṛṣṇa even by His mother.”
FAQs
This verse states that Kṛṣṇa is the very prototype of beauty—so captivating that even Kāma (Cupid), who causes attraction in others, becomes attracted upon seeing Him.
He highlights how Kṛṣṇa’s presence naturally awakens deep devotion and attraction; even respectable royal women, perceiving Him as their Lord and as the likeness of their husbands, developed intense inner reverence.
Train the eyes and mind to seek the divine—through darśana, kīrtana, and remembrance—because attraction directed to Kṛṣṇa purifies desire and turns it into devotion.