Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.17.6
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
-
viṣa-āyudhaḥ
—
whose weapon was poison
Compound: viṣa (poison) + āyudha (weapon). The serpent is identified by what he fights with. Gauḍīyas note: the jīva's defenses against grace are often the very kleśas — anger, pride, lust — by which he was wounded in the first place.
-
dat-āyudhaḥ
—
whose fangs were weapons
Compound: dat (tooth) + āyudha (weapon). The body itself weaponized — every part turned to attack. A picture of the obstinate jīva: even the organs given for service become instruments of defiance.
-
karāla-jihvā
—
fearsome tongues
Compound: karāla (terrifying) + jihvā (tongue). The same organ that should chant kṛṣṇa-nāma is, in Kāliya, splayed for attack. Gauḍīya implication: the tongue is the most powerful organ of the body either way — for praise or for poison.
-
ugra-locanaḥ
—
with terrible eyes
Compound: ugra (terrible) + locana (eye). The eye that should weep on seeing Kṛṣṇa instead glares with venom. The contrast is set up for verse 13–14, when the same waters yield the Lord whose eyes draw out the cowherds' senses.
The ācāryas explain that Kāliya used his weapon of poison at a distance by spitting venom upon his enemy and at short range by biting him with his terrible fangs.
From far off Kaliya could blow his poison at his enemy, and close up he could bite with his teeth. He had a ferocious tongue, loud hissing and terrible eyes.
Kāliya who release poison by spitting from far away (viṣāyudhaḥ—poison weapon). He approached close and bit Garuḍa using his fangs (dad-āyudhaḥ). He had a terrible tongue whose touch would inflict poison (karāla) and expanding, terrifying eyes, which would turn things to ashes by their glance.
Kāliya’s only weapon was his poison. This indicates its deadly nature. His teeth acted as weapons because they were covered with poison. He had a terrible tongue whose touch would inflict poison (karāla) and expanding, terrifying eyes, which would turn things to ashes by their glance. He was a formidable opponent. But nothing happened when his poisonous fangs bit Garuḍa. Kāliya with his pride and poison was useless in front of Garuḍa.
- What 'short-range' and 'long-range' weapons of pride do I deploy when corrected?
- Which of them have I confused with strength?
Kāliya raises a hundred hoods and bares his fangs — the way pride, when finally cornered, multiplies its arguments and shows its teeth. The fang is grammar, the poison is sophistry, and yet none of this slows the Lord's servant by a single moment. Defended self-righteousness only delays the chastisement it cannot avert.
My note
Source: vedabase.io