FolioCorpusŚrīmad-Bhāgavatam

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.12.16

इति व्यवस्याजगरं बृहद् वपु: स योजनायाममहाद्रिपीवरम् । धृत्वाद्भ‍ुतं व्यात्तगुहाननं तदा पथि व्यशेत ग्रसनाशया खल: ॥ १६ ॥
iti vyavasyājagaraṁ bṛhad vapuḥ
[iti vyavasyaajagaram brihad vapuh]
sa yojanāyāma-mahādri-pīvaram
[sa yojanaayaama-mahaadri-peevaram]
dhṛtvādbhutaṁ vyātta-guhānanaṁ tadā
[dhritvaadbhutam vyaatta-guhaananam tadaa]
pathi vyaśeta grasanāśayā khalaḥ
[pathi vyasheta grasanaashayaa khalah]
Word-for-word
iti — in this way vyavasya — deciding ājagaram — python bṛhat vapuḥ — a very, very large body saḥ — Aghāsura yojana - āyāma — occupying eight miles of land mahā - adri - pīvaram — as thick as a great mountain dhṛtvā — assuming this form adbhutam — wonderful vyātta — spread guhā - ānanam — having a mouth resembling a big cave in a mountain tadā — at that time pathi — on the road vyaśeta — occupied grasana - āśayā — expecting to swallow all the cowherd boys khalaḥ — the most crooked .
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
iti vyavasyājagaraṁ bṛhad vapuḥ
iti
in this way
vyavasya
deciding
ājagaram
python
bṛhat vapuḥ
a very, very large body
sa yojanāyāma-mahādri-pīvaram
saḥ
Aghāsura
yojana - āyāma
occupying eight miles of land
mahā - adri - pīvaram
as thick as a great mountain
dhṛtvādbhutaṁ vyātta-guhānanaṁ tadā
dhṛtvā
assuming this form
adbhutam
wonderful
vyātta
spread
guhā - ānanam
having a mouth resembling a big cave in a mountain
tadā
at that time
pathi vyaśeta grasanāśayā khalaḥ
pathi
on the road
vyaśeta
occupied
grasana - āśayā
expecting to swallow all the cowherd boys
khalaḥ
the most crooked .
Important Words
  • ājagaram — a python form
    From ajagara (python). The python is the largest non-mythic Indian serpent, but Aghāsura's body is mountain-scale. Gauḍīyas note: the python in Bhāgavatam (e.g. Nahuṣa in 6.13, Sudarśana in 10.34) is a recurring shape for cursed or demonized beings.
  • yojana-āyāma — eight miles in length
    Compound: yojana (~ 8 miles) + āyāma (extension). The traditional cosmographic unit. Bhāgavatam is precise about size — the body of the demon is not vague, it is measurable. Kṛṣṇa's expansion in verse 30 will exceed it.
  • mahā-adri-pīvaram — as thick as a great mountain
    Compound: mahā (great) + adri (mountain) + pīvara (thick). The Vraja landscape has Govardhana, a real mountain, just to the south. Aghāsura mimics that scale — Vraja's true mountain is Govardhana, lifted in chapter 25; this is its parody.
  • guhā-ānanam — mouth like a cave
    Compound: guhā (cave) + ānana (mouth). The cave-mouth is what allows the cowherd boys to mistake the demon for forest scenery in the next verse. The līlā uses optical ambiguity — Kṛṣṇa's pastimes often run on what looks like one thing but is another.
  • khalaḥ — the wicked one
    khala — the morally crooked. Bhāgavatam uses khala specifically for demoniac beings whose envy is constitutional. Distinct from a person who happens to act badly; this is character, not behavior.
After thus deciding, that crooked Aghāsura assumed the form of a huge python, as thick as a big mountain and as long as eight miles. Having assumed this wonderful python’s body, he spread his mouth like a big cave in the mountains and lay down on the road, expecting to swallow Kṛṣṇa and His associates the cowherd boys.
Gauḍīya Ācāryas
Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura Gauḍīya
Translation
After thus deciding, that crooked Aghāsura assumed the form of a huge python, as thick as a big mountain and as long as eight miles. Having assumed this wonderful python's body, he spread his mouth like a big cave in the mountains and lay down on the road, expecting to swallow Kṛṣṇa and His associates the cowherd boys.
Commentary

Thinking in this way, Aghasura lay on the path in order to devour Krsna. He was a yojana in length (eight miles). He was as fat (pivaram) as a huge mountain (mahadri). His mouth spread open (vyattam) like a cave.

Jīva Gosvāmī Gauḍīya
Commentary

Resolving (vyavsya) thus, he spread himself out without moving since he was a cheating killer (khalaḥ), inclined to swallow little boys.

Śrīdhara Svāmī Gauḍīya
Commentary

Resolving (vyavsya) thus, at that moment (tadā), he spread himself out without moving since he was a cheating killer (khalaḥ), who could easily swallow them all by tricky means. He would swallow them all at once since he was a python. Or he was cruel, with a proclivity for eating such boys.

Related values & verses
Related values
Bhakti (Devotion)Prema (Divine Love)
Concepts
RasaYogaJiva
Related lectures
Personal Guidance
Aghāsura becomes an eight-mile python whose mouth looks like a cave on the road. Some obstacles are vast and theatrical, designed to either swallow us whole or be turned into a pastime — there is no in-between.
Reflection Questions
  • What 'eight-mile' problem in my life am I afraid even to look at clearly?
  • Could that very obstacle become a pastime if I walked toward it with Kṛṣṇa rather than away from it?
Analogy

Picture a hunter setting a trap so large that he himself disappears into it — a cave-mouth across the entire road, a serpent the length of eight miles. The geometry is unmistakable: only one road, only one way through, only one mouth. Aghāsura has made himself into the very door of his own death.

📝 My note

Source: vedabase.io

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