upasthÄyÄrkam udyantaá¹
tarpayitvÄtmanaḥ kalÄḥ
devÄn ṛṣīn pitá¹n vá¹›ddhÄn
viprÄn abhyarcya cÄtmavÄn
dhenÅ«nÄá¹ rukma-śṛṅgÄ«nÄá¹
sÄdhvÄ«nÄá¹ mauktika-srajÄm
payasvinÄ«nÄá¹ gṛṣá¹Ä«nÄá¹
sa-vatsÄnÄá¹ su-vÄsasÄm
dadau rÅ«pya-khurÄgrÄṇÄá¹
ká¹£aumÄjina-tilaiḥ saha
alaá¹…ká¹›tebhyo viprebhyo
badvaá¹ badvaá¹ dine dine
upasthÄya - worshiping; arkam - the sun; udyantam - rising; tarpayitvÄ - propitiating; Ätmanaḥ - His own; kalÄḥ - expansions; devÄn - the demigods; ṛṣīn - sages; pitá¹n - and forefathers; vá¹›ddhÄn - His elders; viprÄn - and brÄhmaṇas; abhyarcya - worshiping; ca - and; Ätma-vÄn - self-possessed; dhenÅ«nÄm - of cows; rukma - (covered with) gold; śṛṅgÄ«nÄm - whose horns; sÄdhvÄ«nÄm - good-natured; mauktika - of pearls; srajÄm - with necklaces; payasvinÄ«nÄm - giving milk; gṛṣá¹Ä«nÄm - having given birth only once; sa-vatsÄnÄm - together with their calves; su-vÄsasÄm - nicely dressed; dadau - He gave; rÅ«pya - (covered with) silver; khura - of their hooves; agrÄṇÄm - the fronts; ká¹£auma - linen; ajina - deerskins; tilaiḥ - and sesame seeds; saha - together with; alaá¹…ká¹›tebhyaḥ - who were given ornaments; viprebhyaḥ - to learned brÄhmaṇas; badvam badvam - (one hundred and seven) groups of 13,084 (thus totaling 1,400,000); dine dine - each day.
Each day the Lord worshiped the rising sun and propitiated the demigods, sages and forefathers, who are all His expansions. The self-possessed Lord would then carefully worship His elders and the brÄhmaṇas. To those well-attired brÄhmaṇas He would offer herds of tame and peaceful cows with gold-plated horns and pearl necklaces. These cows were also dressed in fine cloth, and the fronts of their hooves were plated with silver. Providers of abundant milk, they had each given birth only once and were accompanied by their calves. Daily the Lord gave many groups of 13,084 cows to the learned brÄhmaṇas, together with linen, deerskins and sesame seeds.
ÅšrÄ«dhara SvÄmÄ« quotes several Vedic scriptures to show that in the context of Vedic ritual, a badva here refers to 13,084 cows. The words badvaá¹ badvaá¹ dine dine indicate that Lord Kṛṣṇa would give the learned brÄhmaṇas many such groups of cows on a daily basis. ÅšrÄ«dhara SvÄmÄ« further gives evidence that the usual practice for great saintly kings in previous ages was to give 107 such badva, or groups of 13,084 cows. Thus the total number of cows given in this sacrifice, known as MañcÄra, is 14 lakhs, or 1,400,000.
The words alaá¹…ká¹›tebhyo viprebhyaḥ indicate that in Lord Kṛṣṇa’s kingdom the brÄhmaṇas were given nice clothes and ornaments and were thus well attired.
In Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, ÅšrÄ«la PrabhupÄda writes with striking and profound insight on these pastimes of Lord Kṛṣṇa. The reader is strongly urged to study this book, which contains an invaluable wealth of information and commentary on the pastimes described in the Tenth Canto of ÅšrÄ«mad-BhÄgavatam. Our humble attempt here can never equal the consummate purity and skill of our great master. Still, as a service offered at his lotus feet, we are simply presenting the original Sanskrit text of the Tenth Canto, word-for-word meanings, a clear translation and essential commentary, for the most part based on the statements of the great spiritual masters in our line.
