Verse 2.1.26

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration, Word-for-word and English translation of verse 2.1.26:

श्री-परीक्षिद् उवाच— श्री-कृष्ण-जीविते मातस् तदीय-विरहासहे ।
तवैव योग्यः प्रश्नोऽयं न कृतो यश् च कैश्चन ॥ २६ ॥

śrī-parīkṣid uvāca— śrī-kṛṣṇa-jīvite mātas tadīya-virahāsahe |
tavaiva yogyaḥ praśno'yaṃ na kṛto yaś ca kaiścana || 26 ||

śrī-parīkṣit uvāca–Śrī Parīkṣit said; śrī-kṛṣṇa–is Śrī Kṛṣṇa; jīvite–whose life and soul; mātaḥ–O mother; tadīya–from Him; viraha-asahe–who is unable to tolerate separation; tava–your; eva–indeed; yogyaḥ–qualified; praśnaḥ–question; ayam–this; na–not; kṛtaḥ–done before; yaḥ–which; ca–and; kaiścana–by any others.

Śrī Parīkṣit said: O Mother, Śrī Kṛṣṇa is your very life and soul and you are unable to tolerate the pangs of separation from Him. Thus, you alone are qualified to ask this question. No one has ever asked such a question before.

Commentary: Dig-darśinī-ṭīkā with Bhāvānuvāda

(By Śrīla Sanātana Gosvāmī himself including a deep purport of that commentary)

Śrī Parīkṣit heard his mother’s question and wanted her to absorb her mind in listening to his reply. Therefore, in speaking this verse beginning with śrī-kṛṣṇa, he first gladdens her by applauding her question. He says, “O śrī-kṛṣṇajīvite–Śrī Kṛṣṇa protected your life by shielding your womb from Aśvatthāmā’s brahmāstra (nuclear weapon).” His address also means, “You are fully surrendered to Śrī Kṛṣṇa and therefore you are kṛṣṇajīvitā, one whose very life is Śrī Kṛṣṇa, or one who is fully absorbed in Śrī Kṛṣṇa.” This is the significance of kṛṣṇa-jīvitā.

He also says, “You are unable to tolerate separation from Śrī Kṛṣṇa, and therefore you are kṛṣṇa-viraha-asahe, one for whom separation from Śrī Kṛṣṇa is unbearable.”

This is substantiated by the statement of Śrī Sūta Gosvāmī in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (1.10.9–10):

सुभद्रा द्रौपदी कुन्ती विराट-तनया तथा
गान्धारी धृतराष्ट्रश् च युयुत्सुर् गौतमो यमौ
वृकोदरश् च धौम्यश् च स्त्रियो मत्स्य-सुतादयः
न सेहिरे विमुह्यन्तो विरहं शार्ङ्ग-धन्वनः

subhadrā draupadī kuntī virāṭa-tanayā tathā
gāndhārī dhṛtarāṣṭraś ca yuyutsur gautamo yamau
vṛkodaraś ca dhaumyaś ca striyo matsya-sutādayaḥ
na sehire vimuhyanto virahaṃ śārṅga-dhanvanaḥ

Dhaumya, Dhṛtarāṣṭra, Kṛpācārya, Nakula, Sahadeva, Bhīma, Vidura, Yuyutsu, and women such as Subhadrā, Draupadī, Kuntī, Mahārāja Virāṭa’s daughter named Uttarā, Gāndhārī, and Matsya-kanyā (the daughter of the king of Matsya province) were unable to tolerate separation from Śrī Kṛṣṇa, and therefore they fainted.

Here, Uttarā is the same matsya-kanyā, the daughter of Mahārāja Virāṭa, king of the Matsya province. Uttarā is mentioned twice in the original verse. Her great love for Śrī Kṛṣṇa is indicated by the fact that she swooned due to separation from Śrī Kṛṣṇa. Similarly, that Śrī Uttarā-devī’s name is stated twice in the vocative case in these Bhāgavatam verses reveals the supreme level of Śrī Uttarādevī’s supreme devotion to Śrī Kṛṣṇa. Therefore, it is said, “Such a question is fit to be asked by you alone.” In the original verse, the word eva implies that Śrī Uttarā was most extraordinary, and even her question was extraordinary. Such a question had never been asked by anyone in the past.