Skip to main content

ŚB 10.58.42

Devanagari

किन्‍त्‍वस्माभि: कृत: पूर्वं समय: सात्वतर्षभ ।
पुंसां वीर्यपरीक्षार्थं कन्यावरपरीप्सया ॥ ४२ ॥

Text

kintv asmābhiḥ kṛtaḥ pūrvaṁ
samayaḥ sātvatarṣabha
puṁsāṁ vīrya-parīkṣārthaṁ
kanyā-vara-parīpsayā

Synonyms

kintu — but; asmābhiḥ — by us (her family); kṛtaḥ — made; pūrvam — previously; samayaḥ — a stipulation; sātvata-ṛṣabha — O chief of the Sātvatas; puṁsām — of the men (who came as suitors); vīrya — the prowess; parīkṣā — of testing; artham — for the purpose; kanyā — for my daughter; vara — the husband; parīpsayā — with the desire of finding.

Translation

But to ascertain the proper husband for my daughter, O chief of the Sātvatas, we previously set a condition to test the prowess of her suitors.

Purport

According to Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī, the King’s actual purpose in setting up the test was to obtain Śrī Kṛṣṇa as his son-in-law, since only He could subdue the bulls. Without such a test it would have been difficult for Nagnajit to refuse the many apparently qualified princes and kings who came to ask for his daughter’s hand in marriage.