Bhagavatapurana 10.43: atha tricatvāriṃśo'dhyāyaḥ

10.43.1

/0 śrī-śuka uvāca
atha kṛṣṇaś ca rāmaś ca kṛta-śaucau parantapa /
malla-dundubhi-nirghoṣaṃ śrutvā draṣṭum upeyatuḥ //

Śrī Śuka said:
Then Kṛṣṇa and Rāma, having performed their morning purifications, O scorcher of foes, / hearing the boom of the wrestling drums, went to see.

1. Sri Suka said:—Next morning, O destroyer of enemies, Rama and Krishna finished their bath and other duties and on hearing the sound of the drum calling for wrestlers and their shouts,—they went in to see.

10.43.2

raṅga-dvāraṃ samāsādya tasmin nāgam avasthitam /
apaśyat kuvalayāpīḍaṃ kṛṣṇo 'mbaṣṭha-pracoditam //

Arriving at the gate of the arena, Kṛṣṇa saw stationed there / the elephant Kuvalayāpīḍa, directed by his driver.

2. On reaching the entrance of the arena Krishna saw the elephant Kuvalayapeeda stationed there under the command of Ambashta.

10.43.3

baddhvā parikaraṃ śauriḥ samuhya kuṭilālakān /
uvāca hastipaṃ vācā megha-nāda-gabhīrayā //

Tightening His garment and gathering up His curling locks of hair, Śauri / spoke to the elephant-keeper in a voice deep as thunder:

3. Krishna tightened His girdle and tied up His flowing curls and spoke to the keeper in accents sublime like the roar of thundering clouds.

10.43.4

ambaṣṭhāmbaṣṭha mārgaṃ nau dehy apakrama mā ciram /
no cet sa-kuñjaraṃ tvādya nayāmi yama-sādanam //

"Driver, driver! Give us passage; step aside without delay! / If not, today I will dispatch you, along with your elephant, to the abode of Yama!"

4. ‘O Ambashta, Ambashta, make way for us: clear out soon; if not, I shall now send thee with the elephant to the abode of Yama.

10.43.5

evaṃ nirbhartsito 'mbaṣṭhaḥ kupitaḥ kopitaṃ gajam /
codayām āsa kṛṣṇāya kālāntaka-yamopamam //

Thus rebuked, the driver grew enraged and provoked the elephant, / who was like death and Time personified, driving him toward Kṛṣṇa.

5. Thus threatened Ambashta fell into a rage and goaded the infuriated elephant like unto Yama of deluge, to attack Krishna.

10.43.6

karīndras tam abhidrutya kareṇa tarasāgrahīt /
karād vigalitaḥ so 'muṃ nihatyāṅghriṣv alīyata //

Rushing at Him, the lordly elephant quickly seized Him with his trunk, / but slipping from the trunk, He struck him and hid between his feet.

6. The great elephant rushed at Him and seized Him with his trunk; but Krishna, slipping out of his grasp, struck him and disappeared in the middle of his four legs (between his feet).

10.43.7

saṅkruddhas tam acakṣāṇo ghrāṇa-dṛṣṭiḥ sa keśavam /
parāmṛśat puṣkareṇa sa prasahya vinirgataḥ //

Enraged at not seeing Him, guiding himself by scent, / he sought Keśava with his trunk, but He slipped out by force.

7. The enraged elephant did not find Him and by virtue of his scent employed his trunk in search of Krishna, who by dint of strength and skill, evaded his reach.

10.43.8

pucche pragṛhyāti-balaṃ dhanuṣaḥ pañca-viṃśatim /
vicakarṣa yathā nāgaṃ suparṇa iva līlayā //

Seizing it by the tail, he dragged that exceedingly mighty elephant twenty-five bow-lengths, / as playfully as Suparṇa drags a serpent.

8. Krishna took hold of his tail and with ease dragged him to a distance of twenty bows just as Suparna drags on a serpent.

10.43.9

sa paryāvartamānena savya-dakṣiṇato 'cyutaḥ /
babhrāma bhrāmyamāṇena go-vatseneva bālakaḥ //

As it spun around to the left and to the right, Acyuta / moved about, being wheeled around by it like a boy by a young calf.

9. Keeping hold of the tail Achyuta turned contrariwise as the elephant turned to the right or the left to catch hold of Him, just as a boy does in making a calf turn this way and that.

10.43.10

tato 'bhimakham abhyetya pāṇināhatya vāraṇam /
prādravan pātayām āsa spṛśyamānaḥ pade pade //

Then, coming before its face and striking the elephant with his hand, / he ran ahead and made it fall, being touched at every step.

10. Then Krishna met the elephant in the front and dealt him a blow with His hand. He ran before him at such a speed as He now and then appeared to be in his grasp and (ultimately) made the animal tumble down.

10.43.11

sa dhāvan kṛīdayā bhūmau patitvā sahasotthitaḥ /
tam matvā patitaṃ kruddho dantābhyāṃ so 'hanat kṣitim //

Running, he fell to the ground in play and sprang up at once; / thinking that he had fallen, the enraged beast struck the earth with both tusks.

11. Krishna sportfully runs forward and sportfully falls down and so quickly rises up and runs forward that the elephant, thinking that He is still down, strikes with his tusks the earth in his rage.

10.43.12

sva-vikrame pratihate kuñjarendro 'ty-amarṣitaḥ /
codyamāno mahāmātraiḥ kṛṣṇam abhyadravad ruṣā //

With its prowess thwarted, the lord of elephants became exceedingly furious; / urged on by its keepers, it rushed at Kṛṣṇa in rage.

12. When his power was thus rendered futile, the great elephant grew very fierce and goaded on by the mahout, rushed in rage towards Krishna.

10.43.13

tam āpatantam āsādya bhagavān madhusūdanaḥ /
nigṛhya pāṇinā hastaṃ pātayām āsa bhū-tale //

As it rushed at him, the Lord, Madhusūdana, confronted it, / seized its trunk with his hand, and cast it to the ground.

13. The glorious Madhusudana met him as he rushed forward, caught him by the trunk and hurled him down to the ground.

10.43.14

patitasya padākramya mṛgendra iva līlayā /
dantam utpāṭya tenebhaṃ hastipāṃś cāhanad dhariḥ //

Trampling the fallen beast with his foot like a lion in divine play, / Hari pulled out its tusk and struck the elephant and its drivers with it.

14. Treading with His foot the fallen elephant, sportfully like a lion, Hari pulled out his tusk and with it He struck down the elephant and its keepers.

10.43.15

mṛtakaṃ dvipam utsṛjya danta-pāṇiḥ samāviśat /
aṃsa-nyasta-viṣāṇo 'sṛṅ- mada-bindubhir aṅkitaḥ /
virūḍha-sveda-kaṇikā vadanāmburuho babhau //

Leaving the dead elephant behind, holding a tusk in his hand, he entered [the arena]; / with the tusk resting on his shoulder, smeared with drops of blood and rut-fluid, / with beads of sweat blooming on his lotus face, he shone radiant.

15. Leaving the dead elephant, with one tusk in His hand, and another on His shoulder and stained with drops of blood and drops of rut, He entered and looked bewitching with His lotus--like face bedecked with (pearls) drops of sweat.

10.43.16

vṛtau gopaiḥ katipayair baladeva-janārdanau /
raṅgaṃ viviśatū rājan gaja-danta-varāyudhau //

Surrounded by a few cowherds, Baladeva and Janārdana / entered the arena, O king, with the great elephant-tusks as their weapons.

16. Accompained, O King, by a few of the Gopas, Baladeva and Janardana, armed with the huge elephant's tusks, entered the arena.

10.43.16.p1

mallānām aśanir nṛṇāṃ nara-varaḥ strīṇāṃ smaro mūrtimān $ gopānāṃ sva-jano 'satāṃ kṣiti-bhujāṃ śāstā sva-pitroḥ śiśuḥ &

A lightning bolt to the wrestlers, the foremost of men to men, the god of love incarnate to women, / a kinsman to the cowherds, a chastiser to wicked kings, a child to his parents,

17. Appearing a thunder-bolt to wrestlers, a king to men, a Cupid in visible form to women, a kinsman to Gopas, a chastiser to, wicked princes, a child to His parents, a Yama to Kamsa, a simpleton to the ignorant, the highest truth to Yogins, the Supreme Deity to the Vrishnies, He stood with Balarama in the arena.

10.43.17

mṛtyur bhoja-pater virāḍ aviduṣāṃ tattvaṃ paraṃ yogināṃ % vṛṣṇīnāṃ para-devateti vidito raṅgaṃ gataḥ sāgrajaḥ //

death to the lord of the Bhojas, the Cosmic Form to the ignorant, the supreme truth to yogins, / and the supreme deity to the Vṛṣṇis—known thus, he entered the arena along with his elder brother.

10.43.18

hataṃ kuvalayāpīḍaṃ dṛṣṭvā tāv api durjayau /
kaṃso manasy api tadā bhṛśam udvivije nṛpa //

Seeing Kuvalayāpīḍa slain and the two brothers invincible, / Kaṃsa became intensely agitated in mind, O king.

18. When he saw Kuvalayapeeda killed and how the two were invincible, Kamsa, though naturally stout-hearted, was then in a state of great consternation, O king.

10.43.19

tau rejatū raṅga-gatau mahā-bhujau vicitra-veṣābharaṇa-srag-ambarau /
yathā naṭāv uttama-veṣa-dhāriṇau manaḥ kṣipantau prabhayā nirīkṣatām //

The two mighty-armed youths shone in the arena, dressed in varied garments, ornaments, garlands, and robes, / like two actors wearing splendid costumes, captivating the minds of the spectators with their splendor.

19. In the arena, they both, of mighty arms, dressed and adorned with quaint cloths and ornaments and wreaths, shone like two important actors in the finest dress and by their splendour captivated the heart of the lookers-on.

10.43.20

nirīkṣya tāv uttama-pūruṣau janā mañca-sthitā nāgara-rāṣṭrakā nṛpa /
praharṣa-vegotkalitekṣaṇānanāḥ papur na tṛptā nayanais tad-ānanam //

Gazing upon those two supreme persons, the people from the city and the countryside standing on the platforms, O king, / their eyes and faces blooming with the surge of delight, drank in their faces with their eyes, insatiable.

20. O king, seeing those two excellent Persons, the people in the galleries, both of the city and the country could not wink or turn their face away in their extreme delight, and, drinking with their eyes of His charming face, were not satiated.

10.43.21

pibanta iva cakṣurbhyāṃ lihanta iva jihvayā /
jighranta iva nāsābhyāṃ śliṣyanta iva bāhubhiḥ //

They seemed to drink them with their eyes, lick them with their tongues, / smell them with their nostrils, and embrace them with their arms.

21. With their eyes they seemed to drink of Him: with their nose they seemed to smell Him and with their arms they seemed to embrace Him.

10.43.22

ūcuḥ parasparaṃ te vai yathā-dṛṣṭaṃ yathā-śrutam /
tad-rūpa-guṇa-mādhurya- prāgalbhya-smāritā iva //

They spoke to one another of what they had seen and heard, / as if reminded by the beauty, virtues, sweetness, and boldness of the two [brothers]:

22. The people described Him to one another fully and precisely as they saw Him and heard of Him, just like old acquaintances who may recollect His graceful form, excellent qualities, affableness, active and noble energy.

10.43.23

etau bhagavataḥ sākṣād dharer nārāyaṇasya hi /
avatīrṇāv ihāṃśena vasudevasya veśmani //

“These two are indeed incarnations of the Lord Hari, Nārāyaṇa himself, / descended here in part in the house of Vasudeva.

23. "These two have appeared on earth in Vasudeva's house being the direct *amsas* of the glorious Lord Narayana.

10.43.24

eṣa vai kila devakyāṃ jāto nītaś ca gokulam /
kālam etaṃ vasan gūḍho vavṛdhe nanda-veśmani //

This one was indeed born of Devakī and taken to Gokula; / living there hidden for all this time, he grew up in Nanda’s home.

24. “It is this Krishna that was born of Devaki and taken to Gokula: all this time He dwelt there unknown and grew up in Nanda’s house.

10.43.25

pūtanānena nītāntaṃ cakravātaś ca dānavaḥ /
arjunau guhyakaḥ keśī dhenuko 'nye ca tad-vidhāḥ //

By him Pūtanā was brought to her end, as well as the demon Cakravāta, / the two arjuna trees, the Guhyaka, Keśī, Dhenuka, and others of that kind.

25. “And it is by Him Putana, the asura Trinavarta, the two Arjuna trees, the Yaksha, Kesin, Dhenuka and others of that class, were put an end to.

10.43.26

gāvaḥ sa-pālā etena dāvāgneḥ parimocitāḥ /
kāliyo damitaḥ sarpa indraś ca vimadaḥ kṛtaḥ //

The cows along with their herdsmen were delivered from the forest fire by him; / the serpent Kāliya was subdued, and Indra was stripped of his pride.

26. “By Him were rescued the cows and the cowherds from wild fire, the serpent Kaleeya was subdued and Indra was rid of his pride.

10.43.27

saptāham eka-hastena dhṛto 'dri-pravaro 'munā /
varṣa-vātāśanibhyaś ca paritrātaṃ ca gokulam //

For seven days the best of mountains was held up by him with a single hand, / and Gokula was protected from rain, wind, and thunderbolts.

27. “By Him, on one hand, the huge hill was borne for seven days and Gokula protected from rain and wind and thunder-bolts.

10.43.28

gopyo 'sya nitya-mudita- hasita-prekṣaṇaṃ mukham /
paśyantyo vividhāṃs tāpāṃs taranti smāśramaṃ mudā //

The gopīs, beholding his face with its ever-joyous smiles and glances, / would easily cross over their varied distresses with joy.

28. “To their great delight the Gopis daily saw His face, full of joy and joyous smiles and looks and were rid of various sufferings without any effort.

10.43.29

vadanty anena vaṃśo 'yaṃ yadoḥ su-bahu-viśrutaḥ /
śriyaṃ yaśo mahatvaṃ ca lapsyate parirakṣitaḥ //

They say that this clan of Yadu, greatly celebrated, / will attain fortune, fame, and greatness, protected by him.

29. “They say that through Him this race of Yadus has become widely celebrated and under His protection, it will attain high prosperity, wide reputation and great importance.

10.43.30

ayaṃ cāsyāgrajaḥ śrīmān rāmaḥ kamala-locanaḥ /
pralambo nihato yena vatsako ye bakādayaḥ //

And this is his glorious elder brother, the lotus-eyed Rāma, / by whom Pralamba was killed, as well as Vatsaka and Baka and the rest.”

30. “Here is His elder brother of great splendour, Balarama, with lotus eyes, by whom Pralamba, Vatsaka, Baka and others were slain.”

10.43.31

janeṣv evaṃ bruvāṇeṣu tūryeṣu ninadatsu ca /
kṛṣṇa-rāmau samābhāṣya cāṇūro vākyam abravīt //

While the people were speaking thus and the musical instruments were resounding, / Cāṇūra addressed Kṛṣṇa and Rāma, saying these words:

31. When people were talking thus, trumpets were sounded; Chanura shouted to Krishna and Rama and said (as follows).

10.43.32

he nanda-sūno he rāma bhavantau vīra-sammatau /
niyuddha-kuśalau śrutvā rājñāhūtau didṛkṣuṇā //

“O son of Nanda! O Rāma! You two are esteemed as heroes / and skilled in wrestling; having heard this, the king, eager to see you, has summoned you.

32. ‘O son of Nanda, O Rama, on hearing that You are regarded as great warriors, and experts in single combat (wrestling), You are invited by the king who is eager to see.

10.43.33

priyaṃ rājñaḥ prakurvatyaḥ śreyo vindanti vai prajāḥ /
manasā karmaṇā vācā viparītam ato 'nyathā //

Subjects who perform what is pleasing to the king attain true welfare / in thought, deed, and word; the opposite occurs otherwise.

33. ‘Subjects attain to great prosperity who, in thought, word and deed, do what is agreeable to the king: if they do not, the consequences will be of the opposite kind.

10.43.34

nityaṃ pramuditā gopā vatsa-pālā yathā-sphuṭam /
vaneṣu malla-yuddhena krīḍantaś cārayanti gāḥ //

It is well known that cowherds who tend calves, ever full of joy, / tend their cattle while playing in the woods through wrestling contests.

34. ‘It is well known that those who tend calves and cows are always in great joy, sporting and wrestling in the woods while grazing their cows.

10.43.35

tasmād rājñaḥ priyaṃ yūyaṃ vayaṃ ca karavāma he /
bhūtāni naḥ prasīdanti sarva-bhūta-mayo nṛpaḥ //

Therefore let us and you do what is pleasing to the king; / all beings are pleased with us [when he is pleased], for the king embodies all beings.”

35. Therefore let us, both You and we, do what is desired by the king: thereby all beings will be pleased with us; for a king is the personification (embodiment) of all creatures.

10.43.36

tan niśamyābravīt kṛṣṇo deśa-kālocitaṃ vacaḥ /
niyuddham ātmano 'bhīṣṭaṃ manyamāno 'bhinandya ca //

Hearing that, Kṛṣṇa spoke words suited to the place and time, / considering wrestling to be to his liking and welcoming it:

36. Accepting Chanura’s challenge Sri Krishna thought that wrestling was to His liking and approving of it, made His reply appropriate to the time and place. 37. Subjects We are of this king of Bhojas, though living in the woods; let Us do what would please him: it will be for Our greatest grace.

10.43.37

prajā bhoja-pater asya vayaṃ cāpi vane-carāḥ /
karavāma priyaṃ nityaṃ tan naḥ param anugrahaḥ //

“We are the subjects of this lord of the Bhojas, though we dwell in the forest; / we will ever do what is pleasing to him, for that is a supreme favor to us.

10.43.38

bālā vayaṃ tulya-balaiḥ krīḍiṣyāmo yathocitam /
bhaven niyuddhaṃ mādharmaḥ spṛśen malla-sabhā-sadaḥ //

We are boys and will play properly with those of equal strength; / let the wrestling take place so that unrighteousness does not touch the members of the wrestling assembly.”

38. Boys We are. We shall, to the best of Our might, play with those that are of equal strength and let there be wrestling: let no injustice mar it, O judges of the wrestling match.

10.43.39

/0 cāṇūra uvāca
na bālo na kiśoras tvaṃ balaś ca balināṃ varaḥ /
līlayebho hato yena sahasra-dvipa-sattva-bhṛt //

Cāṇūra said: / “You are neither a child nor an adolescent, and Bala is the foremost among the strong; / by you an elephant possessing the strength of a thousand elephants was slain in play.

39. Chanura said:— Thou art not a boy, nor a child, nor this Balarama: Thou art the First among those that claim to be strong, for Thou hast playfully killed the elephant endowed with the strength of a thousand elephants.

10.43.40

tasmād bhavadbhyāṃ balibhir yoddhavyaṃ nānayo 'tra vai /
mayi vikrama vārṣṇeya balena saha muṣṭikaḥ //

Therefore, both of you must fight with the strong; there is no impropriety in this! / Display your valor against me, O descendant of Vṛṣṇi, and let Muṣṭika [fight] with Bala.”

40. Therefore You should combat the strong, there is nothing unfair in it, O son of Vrishni's race, show Thy prowess against me, and let Mushtika try with Balarama.