atha narma-paṇḍitā—
vaṁśyās tvam upādhyāyaḥ
kim upādhyāyī tavātra vaṁśī vā |
kula-yuvati-dharma-haraṇād
asti yayor nāparaṁ karma ||
The verse — decoded
L1other
vaṁśyās tvam upādhyāyaḥ
vaṁśyāḥof the flute (vaṁśī) genitive — 'the flute's'बाँसुरी का (जिसका — सम्बन्ध)
tvamyou [Kṛṣṇa]तू
upādhyāyaḥare the teacherउपाध्याय (पढ़ानेवाला गुरु)
tvam — you; vaṁśyāḥ — of the flute; upādhyāyaḥ — are the teacher.
बाँसुरी का उपाध्याय तू है।
'You are the flute's teacher,' [she teases]. So Rādhā, the lady expert in playful banter (narma-paṇḍitā), opens her jibe at Kṛṣṇa: you are the one who instructs the flute.
तू बाँसुरी का गुरु है — यही जो सिखाना है, वह तूने ही बाँसुरी को सिखाया।
The lead-in 'atha narma-paṇḍitā' marks this whole verse as Rādhā's playful, learned teasing. Its 'paṇḍitā' (scholarly) edge is a grammar pun set up here and sprung in the next line — upādhyāya (a male teacher) against upādhyāyī (a woman who herself teaches).
L2alternative
kim upādhyāyī tavātra vaṁśī vā |
kimor is it rather — opening the second possibility interrogative framing the doubtक्या (सन्देह उठाता हुआ)
upādhyāyīthe lady-teacher — a woman who herself teachesउपाध्यायी (पढ़ानेवाली गुरु — स्त्रीलिंग)
tavayourतेरी
atrahere, in this matterयहाँ (इस विषय में)
vaṁśīthe fluteबाँसुरी
vāorअथवा
vā — or; kim — is it rather that; vaṁśī — the flute; atra — here; tava — [is] your; upādhyāyī — lady-teacher?
अथवा क्या यहाँ तेरी बाँसुरी उपाध्यायी है?
'Or is the flute your teacher — a woman who instructs you?' She flips the first option: maybe you don't teach the flute; maybe the flute teaches you. Either way, one of you is schooling the other in this mischief.
या फिर उलटा — तेरी बाँसुरी ही तेरी गुरु है? कौन किसको सिखाता है, कहना कठिन है।
The pun turns on a precise grammar point: upādhyāyī means a woman who is herself a teacher, distinct from upādhyāyānī, which means the wife of a (male) teacher. Rādhā deliberately picks upādhyāyī — she is not calling the flute Kṛṣṇa's wife but his active instructress. Choosing the exact form is what makes the taunt paṇḍitā (learned).
श्लेष 'उपाध्याय' (पुल्लिंग गुरु) और 'उपाध्यायी' (स्त्रीलिंग गुरु) पर टिका है — एक ही काम दोनों करते हैं, इसलिए कौन किसका गुरु, यह प्रश्न बना रहता है। दोनों पक्ष खुले रखे गए हैं।
L3other
kula-yuvati-dharma-haraṇād
kula-yuvati-dharma-haraṇātthan stealing the chastity of well-born young wives ablative — pairs with 'aparam' below, 'other than…'कुलीन युवतियों के धर्म के हरण से (इसके सिवा — 'अपरम्' के साथ)
kula-yuvati-dharma-haraṇāt — [any occupation] other than stealing the chastity of well-born young wives.
कुल की युवतियों के धर्म का हरण — इससे भिन्न।
She names the reason for the joke: stealing the virtue of the young wives of respectable families. 'Kula-yuvati' are the well-born young women; their 'dharma' here is their chastity; 'haraṇa' is the carrying-off of it. The ablative sets up the punchline — no work OTHER THAN this.
अच्छे घर की युवतियों का धर्म (सतीत्व) हर लेना — इसके अतिरिक्त।
L4conclusion
asti yayor nāparaṁ karma ||
astithere isहै
yayoḥof which two — i.e., of you and the flute relative genitive dual, resolved by 'you two'जिन दोनों का (तू और बाँसुरी — द्विवचन)
nano, notनहीं
aparamotherऔर कोई दूसरा
karmawork, occupationकाम
yayoḥ — of you two [Kṛṣṇa and the flute]; kula-yuvati-dharma-haraṇāt — other than stealing the chastity of well-born young wives; aparam karma — [any] other occupation; na asti — there is none.
जिन दोनों का इसके सिवा और कोई काम नहीं है।
The punchline: the two of you have no other job. Whether you teach the flute or the flute teaches you, your one shared occupation is carrying off the chastity of the young wives of good families. 'Yayoḥ' — 'of which two' — ties Kṛṣṇa and the flute together as the guilty pair.
तुम दोनों का इसके अतिरिक्त और कोई काम ही नहीं है — इसीलिए तो यह पूछना पड़ा कि गुरु कौन है।
Commentary — decoded
Jīva Gosvāmī
s1other
na vyākhyātam |
nanotनहीं
vyākhyātamexplained, commented onव्याख्या की गई
na vyākhyātam — it was not explained.
व्याख्या नहीं की गई।
Jīva records that he offers no comment on this verse: 'not explained.' The playful jibe is left to stand on its own; he passes it by without a gloss.
जीव ने इस पद्य की व्याख्या नहीं की।
Viśvanātha Cakravartī
s1other
vaṁśyā iti ||
vaṁśyāḥ'vaṁśyāḥ' — the verse's opening word, quoted as its catchword'वंश्याः' (पद्य का आरम्भिक पद — प्रतीक)
iti'thus' — closing the quotation, i.e., just the catchword and no more pratīka marker; signals 'and so on, no comment needed'इति (इतना ही; आगे टिप्पणी की आवश्यकता नहीं)
vaṁśyāḥ iti — [the verse beginning] 'vaṁśyāḥ,' and so on.
'वंश्याः' इत्यादि।
Viśvanātha too passes the verse by. He quotes only its first word, 'vaṁśyāḥ,' with 'iti' — the standard way of naming a verse by its catchword when the commentator has nothing further to add.
विश्वनाथ ने केवल 'वंश्याः' प्रतीक देकर छोड़ दिया, इसके आगे कुछ नहीं कहा।