Meditation ~ Kriyas ~ Psychology ~ Philosphy ~ Religion ~ Mythology Srimad Bhagavatham Series-1: Bare Translation of 11.5.32
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Srimad Bhagavatham Series-1: Bare Translation of 11.5.32

 
December 27, 2023
Houston, Texas
 
Background:
 
I was showing the city around to the relatives who visited me. I took them to a few places in the city like museums and temples to get a feel of the city. 
 
When I took them to the ISKCON temple in Houston, there was a wall mural that depicted some of the life incidents of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. And it was mentioned below the mural that Chaitanya is the Kali Yuga incarnation of Krishna Godhead as prophesized in Shrimad Bhagavatam 11.5.32.
 
Then, my relatives kept asking me about this verse 11.5.32, they were just curious about what that verse says. As coming from the south of India, they are exposed to Vaishnava authorities like Ramanuja and Raghavendra of the Madhvacharya lineage. They hardly have any exposure to Chaitanya or Gaudiya math of Vaishnavism which is strong in East India like Bengal, and Orissa.  
 
This led me to look into the Sanskrit verse of Shrimad Bhagavatam and compare the interpretation and translation of Gaudiya Math teachers like BhaktiVedanta.
 
Sanskrit Research:
 
Here is the comparison of my bare translation of Sanskrit of 11.5.32 without any interjection of opinions or preaching lines.
 

ŚB 11.5.32

कृष्णवर्णं त्विषाकृष्णं साङ्गोपाङ्गास्त्रपार्षदम् ।यज्ञै: सङ्कीर्तनप्रायैर्यजन्ति हि सुमेधस: ॥ ३२ ॥
kṛṣṇa-varṇaṁ tviṣākṛṣṇaṁsāṅgopāṅgāstra-pārṣadamyajñaiḥ saṅkīrtana-prāyairyajanti hi su-medhasaḥ

Synonyms

  1. kṛṣṇa-varṇam — Classical compositions/ songs of kṛṣ-ṇa; 
  2. tviṣā — with a luster, splendor; 
  3. akṛṣṇam — not black/ not dark; 
  4. sa-aṅga — along with associates; 
  5. upa-aṅga — servitors; 
  6. astra — supernatural powers (psychic weapons/ tools)
  7. pārṣadam — confidential companions; 
  1. yajñaiḥ — by ceremonial sacrifice and austerities ; 
  2. saṅkīrtana-prāyaiḥ — consisting chiefly of congregational chanting; 
  3. yajanti — they worship; 
  4. hi — certainly; 
  5. su-medhasaḥ — intelligent/ wise persons.

My Translation (Ani)

  1. Splendorous light-skinned one sings the classical compositions of Krishna with his associates, servants, supernatural powers, and confidential companions. 
  2. Wise people worship Lord Krishna by ceremonial sacrifices, austerities and congregational singing.

Bakthivedanta Transliteration:

Taken from : https://vedabase.io/en/library/sb/11/5/32/

  1. kṛṣṇa-varṇam — repeating the syllables kṛṣ-ṇa; 
  2. tviṣā — with a luster; 
  3. akṛṣṇam — not black (golden); 
  4. sa-aṅga — along with associates; 
  5. upa-aṅga — servitors; 
  6. astra — weapons; 
  7. pārṣadam — confidential companions; 
  8. yajñaiḥ — by sacrifice; 
  9. saṅkīrtana-prāyaiḥ — consisting chiefly of congregational chanting; 
  10. yajanti — they worship; 
  11. hi — certainly; 
  12. su-medhasaḥ — intelligent persons.

Bakthivedanta Translation:

  1. In the Age of Kali, intelligent persons perform congregational chanting to worship the incarnation of Godhead who constantly sings the names of Kṛṣṇa.
  2. Although His complexion is not blackish, He is Kṛṣṇa Himself.
  3. He is accompanied by His associates, servants, weapons and confidential companions.

 

Critical Analysis of Translation:

  1. It is just 2 sentences that are embedded in this 4 verse Sanskrit sloka of Shrimad Bhagavatam 11.5.32. They are broken down and shown above.
S.No. Bare Translation (Ani)

Bhaktivedanta 

Translation

 Comments
1 Sanskrit verse has only 2 sentences 3 sentences

"Although His complexion is not blackish, He is Kṛṣṇa Himself."

This additional sentence with no direct Sanskrit backing was interjected as translation.

It should have been in commentary if it is author's opinion not in translation
2 kṛṣṇa-varṇam — Classical compositions/ songs of kṛṣ-ṇa; 

kṛṣṇa-varṇam — repeating the syllables kṛṣ-ṇa; 

Varnam in Sanskrit means compositions of Indian classical music. Varnam is foundational element in Indian music system to capture essence of simple to complex patterns of ragas (melodic structure).

varnam meaning cannot be reduced from classical composition to mere monotonic repetitions of syllables of the word kṛṣ-ṇa
3

 akṛṣṇam — not black/ not dark

 akṛṣṇam — not black (golden);

Not black does not automatically translate golden. The better word would be light skinned.

As Lord Rama in his time was the color of Emerald Green and there were races with more varied colors.

In current times, the skin color has boiled down to the various shades of white, brown, black. Light skinned definition can very in relative to their respective geography, culture and climate (melanin production in skin).
4

astra — supernatural powers (psychic weapons/ tools)

astra — weapons; 

I translated "astras" to supernatural powers than weapons (physical). it was more appropriate to this verse. What is the point of weapons in hand when singing God's name.

 

Conclusion:

Once the interjections were removed from the bare Sanskrit translation, the entire vibration of the verse changes, and one can sort what is institutional bias and preaching lines from an academic viewpoint.

From this analysis, this 11.5.32 verse does not corroborate the claim that Chaitanya is Krishna himself.

If there are indirect references to Chaitanya as Lord Krishna himself from other Sanskrit verses in Bhagavatham, I am open to looking into bare Sanskrit and deducing the meaning to research deeper in this claim.  

 

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