Text 9
nanu brahman bhagavataḥ
sakhā sākṣāc chriyaḥ patiḥ
brahmaṇyaś ca śaraṇyaś ca
bhagavān sātvatarṣabhaḥ
nanu — indeed; brahman — O brāhmaṇa; bhagavataḥ — of your exalted self; sakhā — the friend; sākṣāt — directly; śriyaḥ — of the supreme goddess of fortune; patiḥ — the husband; brahmaṇyaḥ — compassionate to brāhmaṇas; ca — and; śaraṇyaḥ — willing to give shelter; ca — and; bhagavān — the Supreme Lord; sātvata — of the Yādavas; ṛṣabhaḥ — the best.
[Sudāmā’s wife said:] O brāhmaṇa, isn’t it true that the husband of the goddess of fortune is the personal friend of your exalted self? That greatest of Yādavas, the Supreme Lord Kṛṣṇa, is compassionate to brāhmaṇas and very willing to grant them His shelter.
Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī explains in his commentary how the brāhmaṇa’s wife anticipated every possible objection her husband might make to her request that he go to Lord Kṛṣṇa to beg charity. If the brāhmaṇa might say, “How could the husband of the goddess of fortune befriend a fallen soul like myself?” she replies by saying that Lord Kṛṣṇa is brahmaṇya, very favorably disposed toward the brāhmaṇas. If Sudāmā might claim to have no real devotion for the Lord, she replies by saying that he is a great and wise personality who would surely obtain the shelter and mercy of the Lord. If the brāhmaṇa might object that Lord Kṛṣṇa is equally disposed to all the countless unhappy conditioned souls suffering the fruits of their own karma, she replies that Lord Kṛṣṇa is especially the Lord of the devotees, and thus even if He Himself did not grant Sudāmā His mercy, certainly the devotees engaged in serving the Lord would mercifully give him some charity. Since the Lord protects the Sātvatas, the members of the Yadu dynasty, what difficulty would there be for Him to protect a humble brāhmaṇa like Sudāmā, and what fault would there be in His doing so?