yathÄ svayaá¹-vare rÄjñi
matsyaḥ pÄrthepsayÄ ká¹›taḥ
ayaá¹ tu bahir Äcchanno
dṛśyate sa jale param
yathÄ - just as; svayam-vare - in (your) svayaá¹-vara ceremony; rÄjñi - O Queen; matsyaḥ - a fish; pÄrtha - Arjuna; Ä«psayÄ - with the desire of obtaining; ká¹›taḥ - made (into a target); ayam - this (fish); tu - however; bahiḥ - outwardly; Äcchannaḥ - covered; dṛśyate - was seen; saḥ - it; jale - in water; param - only.
Just as a fish was used as a target in your svayaá¹vara ceremony, O Queen, to assure that you would obtain Arjuna as your husband, so a fish was also used in my ceremony. In my case, however, it was concealed on all sides, and only its reflection could be seen in a pot of water below.
Arjuna is famous as the most expert bowman. Why, then, could he not hit the fish target at ÅšrÄ«matÄ« Laká¹£maṇÄ’s svayaá¹vara ceremony just as he had done once before to win DraupadÄ«? ÅšrÄ«la ÅšrÄ«dhara SvÄmÄ« explains: The target at Draupadī’s svayaá¹vara had been covered only partially, so that a marksman could see it if he looked straight up the pillar on which it was placed. To shoot Laká¹£maṇÄ’s target, however, it was necessary to aim by looking up and down at the same time, an impossible feat for any mortal. Therefore only Kṛṣṇa could strike the target.
