Here, they say, Nanda's house once stood; here the cart was smashed; here Dāmodara, who cuts all bondage, was bound with ropes. Drinking in this way the stream of nectar flowing from the mouths of Mathurā's elders, when shall I, blessed and shedding tears of joy, wander through Madhupurī?
कहते हैं, यहाँ नन्द का भवन था; यहाँ शकट का भंजन हुआ था; यहाँ बन्धन काटने वाले दामोदर भी रस्सियों से बँध गए थे — इस प्रकार मथुरा के वृद्धों के मुख से झरती अमृत-धारा का पान करता हुआ, आनन्द के आँसू बहाता मैं धन्य होकर कब मधुपुरी में विचरण करूँगा?
The verse — line by line
L1other
atrāsīt kila nanda-sadma śakaṭasyātrābhavad bhañjanaṁ
atraright here — in this very spot locative of placeयहाँ
āsītthere once stood imperfect, pastथा
kilaso they say — reporting what the elders tell particle of report/traditionकहते हैं कि (परम्परा से)
nanda-sadmathe home of Nanda nominative, subjectनन्द का भवन
śakaṭasyaof the cart genitiveगाड़ी का
atraand here locative of placeयहीं
abhavatthere happened imperfect, pastहुआ था
bhañjanaṁthe breaking (its being smashed to pieces) nominative, subjectटूटना (भंजन)
atra — right here; kila — so they say; nanda-sadma — Nanda's home; āsīt — once stood; atra — and here; śakaṭasya — of the cart; bhañjanaṁ — the smashing; abhavat — happened
atra — यहाँ; āsīt — था; kila — कहते हैं कि; nanda-sadma — नन्द का भवन; śakaṭasya — गाड़ी का; atra — यहीं; abhavat — हुआ था; bhañjanaṁ — टूटना (भंजन)
Right here, they say, once stood the home of Nanda. And here is where the cart was smashed to pieces. The speaker is walking the ground of Mathurā and pointing: on this very spot, that pastime took place. "They say" (kila) marks that he is repeating what the old residents tell.
कहते हैं कि यहाँ नन्द का भवन था। और यहीं गाड़ी का टूटना (शकट-भंजन) हुआ था।
śakaṭa-bhañjana: baby Kṛṣṇa kicked over and broke the cart (the Śakaṭāsura episode). Named here as a landmark on the pilgrimage, not narrated.
शकट-भंजन — शिशु कृष्ण ने गाड़ी को लात मारकर तोड़ दिया था (शकटासुर-प्रसंग)। यहाँ इसे तीर्थयात्रा के एक स्थान-चिह्न के रूप में केवल नाम से कहा गया है, वर्णन नहीं किया गया।
L2other
bandha-ccheda-karo’pi dāmabhir abhūd baddho’tra dāmodaraḥ |
bandha-ccheda-karaḥthe one who cuts through all bondage nominative; agent nounबन्धन को काटने वाला
apieven though he is that concessive particleहोते हुए भी
dāmabhiḥwith ropes — bound by mere ropes instrumental of meansरस्सियों के द्वारा
abhūthe became aorist, pastहो गया
baddhaḥtied up past participle, predicateबँधा हुआ
atraright here — on this spot locative of placeयहाँ
dāmodaraḥDāmodara — "the one with a rope round his belly" nominative, subjectदामोदर
bandha-ccheda-karaḥ api — though he is the cutter of all bondage; atra — here; dāmabhiḥ — with ropes; baddhaḥ abhūt — he was tied up; dāmodaraḥ — Dāmodara
bandha-ccheda-karaḥ — बन्धन को काटने वाला; api — होते हुए भी; dāmabhiḥ — रस्सियों के द्वारा; abhūt — हो गया; baddhaḥ — बँधा हुआ; atra — यहाँ; dāmodaraḥ — दामोदर
He is the one who cuts through every bondage — yet right here, He let Himself be tied up with mere ropes. That is why He is called Dāmodara. The wonder is the reversal: the Lord who frees all beings from bondage is Himself bound. And the binding happened on this very spot the speaker now stands.
यहाँ वही दामोदर, जो (सबके) बन्धन को काटने वाला है, फिर भी रस्सियों से बँध गया।
dāma-udara literally = "rope around the belly." The name recalls Yaśodā binding baby Kṛṣṇa to the grinding mortar (the dāmodara-līlā). The verse turns the name into a paradox: the un-binder, bound.
दाम-उदर का शाब्दिक अर्थ है "पेट पर रस्सी"। यह नाम यशोदा द्वारा शिशु कृष्ण को ओखली से बाँधने की लीला (दामोदर-लीला) की स्मृति दिलाता है। श्लोक इस नाम को एक विरोधाभास में बदल देता है — बन्धन खोलने वाला स्वयं बँध गया।
L3other
itthaṁ māthura-vṛddha-vaktra-vigalat-pīyūṣa-dhārāṁ pibann
itthaṁin just this way — pointing out spot after spot like this adverb, summing up L1–L2इस प्रकार
māthura-vṛddha-vaktra-vigalat-pīyūṣa-dhārāṁthe flowing stream of nectar that pours from the mouths of the old people of Mathurā (their telling of these pastimes is the nectar) accusative, object of pibannमथुरा के वृद्धजनों के मुख से झरती हुई अमृत-धारा को
pibandrinking it in present participle, of the speakerपीता हुआ
itthaṁ — in this way; māthura-vṛddha-vaktra-vigalat-pīyūṣa-dhārāṁ — the stream of nectar pouring from the mouths of Mathurā's elders; piban — drinking it in
itthaṁ — इस प्रकार; māthura-vṛddha-vaktra-vigalat-pīyūṣa-dhārāṁ — मथुरा के वृद्धजनों के मुख से झरती हुई अमृत-धारा को; piban — पीता हुआ
In just this way — one remembered spot after another — the old people of Mathurā keep telling these pastimes. Their words pour out like a flowing stream of nectar. And the speaker drinks that stream in as they speak. The long compound packs the whole image: Mathurā's elders (māthura-vṛddha), their mouths (vaktra), nectar streaming from them (vigalat-pīyūṣa-dhārā).
इस प्रकार मथुरा के वृद्धजनों के मुख से झरती हुई अमृत की धारा को पीता हुआ।
pīyūṣa = the nectar of immortality (amṛta). Here it is the elders' hari-kathā — their storytelling itself is the nectar he longs to drink.
पीयूष — अमरता का अमृत। यहाँ यह वृद्धजनों की हरि-कथा ही है — उनका कथा-कथन ही वह अमृत है जिसे वह पीना चाहता है।
L4other
ānandāśru-dharaḥ kadā madhu-purīṁ dhanyaś cariṣyāmy aham ||
ānandāśru-dharaḥcarrying tears of joy (weeping with love as he listens) nominative, describes the speakerआनन्द के अश्रु धारण किए हुए
kadāwhen — oh, when will it be? interrogative of longingकब
madhu-purīṁthrough Madhu-purī — the city of Mathurā accusative of place traversedमधुपुरी में
dhanyaḥblessed, fortunate — a fulfilled man at last nominative, predicate of the speakerधन्य होकर
cariṣyāmishall I wander, walk about future, 1st personविचरण करूँगा
ahamI nominative, subjectमैं
ānandāśru-dharaḥ — bearing tears of joy; dhanyaḥ — blessed; aham — I; kadā — when; madhu-purīṁ — through Madhu-purī (Mathurā); cariṣyāmi — shall wander
ānandāśru-dharaḥ — आनन्द के अश्रु धारण किए हुए; kadā — कब; madhu-purīṁ — मधुपुरी में; dhanyaḥ — धन्य होकर; cariṣyāmi — विचरण करूँगा; aham — मैं
When, oh when, shall I be so blessed as to wander through Madhu-purī — the city of Mathurā — with tears of joy running down my face? This is the heart of the verse: a longing question. The whole prayer is the ache of a devotee who has not yet reached Mathurā and yearns to walk its ground, hearing the elders and weeping. "Madhu-purī" is Mathurā — the commentators gloss it as Mathurā and the region around it (with an alternate reading, Vraja).
आनन्द के आँसू धारण किए हुए मैं धन्य होकर मधुपुरी में कब विचरण करूँगा?
madhu-purī = "the city of Madhu," a standard name for Mathurā. The commentary here glosses it as tad-upalakṣita mathurā-maṇḍalam — Mathurā together with its whole surrounding region — and records a variant reading vraja-bhuvam (the land of Vraja).
मधु-पुरी — "मधु की नगरी", मथुरा का एक प्रसिद्ध नाम। यहाँ टीका इसे तद्-उपलक्षित मथुरा-मण्डल बताती है — मथुरा अपने समस्त आसपास के प्रदेश सहित — और एक पाठान्तर व्रज-भूमि (व्रज की भूमि) भी अंकित करती है।