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
那婴儿肤色深蓝，如无瑕祖母绿；圣颜如莲华盛放，光彩照人；颈间现出如海螺纹理般的线痕，胸膛宽阔，鼻梁端正，眉目秀美。其耳如石榴花，内有如螺旋般的褶纹；眼角微赤似莲蕊，珊瑚般的唇光使那甘露般迷人的微笑略带红晕。随呼吸，秀发轻颤；其腹如榕叶，皮褶起伏，深深的脐窝亦随之变动。尊贵的婆罗门惊异地看见：婴儿以柔美手指举起自己的莲足，将一趾含入口中，开始吮吸。
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.