Text 42
kintv asmābhiḥ kṛtaḥ pūrvaṁ
samayaḥ sātvatarṣabha
puṁsāṁ vīrya-parīkṣārthaṁ
kanyā-vara-parīpsayā
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.
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.
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.