deve 'varṣati kāśīśaḥ
śvaphalkāyāgatāya vai
sva-sutāḿ gāṇdinīḿ prādāt
tato 'varṣat sma kāśiṣu
deve -- when the demigod, Lord Indra; avarshati -- had not been supplying rain; kasi-isah -- the King of Benares; svaphalkaya -- to Svaphalka (Akrura's father); agataya -- who had come; vai -- certainly; sva -- his own; sutam -- daughter; gandinim -- Gandini; pradat -- gave; tatah -- then; avarshat -- it rained; sma -- indeed; kasishu -- in the kingdom of Kasi.
[The elders said:] Previously, when Lord Indra had withheld rain from Kasi [Benares], the king of that city gave his daughter Gandini to Svaphalka, who was then visiting him. It soon rained in the kingdom of Kasi.
Svaphalka was Akrura's father, and the citizens felt that the son must have the same power as the father. Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti points out that because of Akrura's relationship with his maternal grandfather, the King of Kasi, in a time of difficulty Akrura went to that city.
