FolioCorpusŚrīmad-Bhāgavatam

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.30.21

आरुह्यैका पदाक्रम्य शिरस्याहापरां नृप । दुष्टाहे गच्छ जातोऽहं खलानां ननु दण्डकृत् ॥ २१ ॥
āruhyaikā padākramya
[aaruhyaikaa padaakramya]
śirasy āhāparāṁ nṛpa
[shirasy aahaaparaam nripa]
duṣṭāhe gaccha jāto ’haṁ
[dushtaahe gachcha jaato ’ham]
khalānām nanu daṇḍa-kṛt
[khalaanaam nanu danda-krit]
Word-for-word
āruhya — rising up ekā — one of the gopīs padā — with her foot ākramya — climbing above śirasi — the head āha — said aparām — to another nṛpa — O King (Parīkṣit) duṣṭa — wicked ahe — O snake gaccha — go away jātaḥ — have taken birth aham — I khalānām — on those who are envious nanu — indeed daṇḍa — of punishment kṛt — as the imposer .
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
āruhyaikā padākramya
āruhya
rising up
ekā
one of the gopīs
padā
with her foot
ākramya
climbing above
śirasy āhāparāṁ nṛpa
śirasi
the head
āha
said
aparām
to another
nṛpa
O King (Parīkṣit)
duṣṭāhe gaccha jāto ’haṁ
duṣṭa
wicked
ahe
O snake
gaccha
go away
jātaḥ
have taken birth
aham
I
khalānām nanu daṇḍa-kṛt
khalānām
on those who are envious
nanu
indeed
daṇḍa
of punishment
kṛt
as the imposer .
Important Words
  • duṣṭa-ahe — O wicked snake
    Compound vocative: duṣṭa (wicked) + ahi (snake). The very word Kṛṣṇa used to Kāliya. The gopī is reciting Kṛṣṇa's lines verbatim — her body is the stage, His script is the play.
  • daṇḍa-kṛt — the imposer of punishment
    Compound: daṇḍa (rod, punishment) + kṛt (doer). Coupled in this verse with khalānām ('on the envious'). Kṛṣṇa's avatāra-purpose paraphrased: paritrāṇāya sādhūnāṁ vināśāya ca duṣkṛtām (BG 4.8). The gopī claims His mission in the first person — the highest blasphemy if not for love.
  • ākramya-śirasi — treading upon the head
    Phrase: ākramya (treading upon, absolutive of ā-√kram) + śirasi (locative of śiras, on the head). The exact verb-noun combination Bhāgavatam uses for Kṛṣṇa stepping on Kāliya's hoods. The gopī's body is performing Bhāgavata Sanskrit.
  • nṛpa — O King
    Vocative — Śukadeva addressing Parīkṣit. The narrator surfaces here to remind us that this whole scene is being told to a dying king as the highest possible last-hearing. The frame matters: rāsa-līlā is the supreme text for the threshold of death.
[Śukadeva Gosvāmī continued:] O King, one gopī climbed on another’s shoulders and, putting her foot on the other’s head, said, “Go away from here, O wicked snake! You should know that I have taken birth in this world just to punish the envious.”
Purport

Here the gopīs enact Kṛṣṇa’s chastisement of Kāliya.

— A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda
Gauḍīya Ācāryas
Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura Gauḍīya
Translation
[Śukadeva Gosvāmī continued:] O King, one gopī climbed on another's shoulders and, putting her foot on the other's head, said, "Go away from here, O wicked snake! You should know that I have taken birth in this world just to punish the envious."
Commentary

"Dusta he" here indicates Kaliya.

Jīva Gosvāmī Gauḍīya
Commentary

Using her feet, putting them on the head of another gopī, she spoke. Nanu indicates certainty or calling out. Sometimes the word nṛpa is inserted. This indicates astonishment. Duṣṭāhe means “O wicked snake!” Leave this place or else I will punish you. Nanu means certainly. Though in the actual pastime Kṛṣṇa did not say this, the gopī said this as a conclusion or to explain the meaning of the pastime.

Śrīdhara Svāmī Gauḍīya
Commentary

Nanu indicates certainty. One version has nrpa (O king)! This expresses astonishment. O Kāliya (duṣṭāhe)! Go from. Otherwise I will punish you. Using her feet, putting them on the head of another gopī, she spoke. Nanu indicates certainty or calling out. Sometimes the word nṛpa is inserted. This indicates astonishment. Duṣṭāhe means “O wicked snake!” Leave this place or else I will punish you. Nanu means certainly. Though in the actual pastime Kṛṣṇa did not say this, the gopī said this as a conclusion or to explain the meaning of the pastime.

Related values & verses
Related values
Anahankarah (Freedom from False Ego)Prema (Divine Love)
Related verses
BG 15.9 BG 9.1 BG 4.8 BG 10.1 BG 18.64 BG 15.7 BG 2.62 BG 3.11 BG 10.4 BG 12.3 BG 15.2 SB 4.29.2 BG 2.21 BG 16.1 BG 9.11 BG 3.30 BG 7.1
Concepts
Jiva
Related lectures
Personal Guidance
One gopī climbs another's shoulders to crush Kāliya. Reenacting Kṛṣṇa's victories rehearses our trust that He has conquered every poison — past, present, and future.
Reflection Questions
  • What 'Kāliya' in me has Kṛṣṇa already begun to subdue?
  • Can I dance on the poison instead of fearing it?
Analogy

When the great hero of a village kills the snake that menaced the well, every child for a year afterward dances on a coiled rope shouting 'wicked snake, away!' One gopī climbs another, plants her foot on her head, and announces her birth-purpose as Kāliya-tamer — Vraja's storytelling lives inside the bodies of its girls.

Stories
Kāliya subdued

The thousand-hooded serpent Kāliya had poisoned a long reach of the Yamunā; the cows that drank fell dead. Kṛṣṇa leapt into the river, was coiled, broke free, and danced on Kāliya's hoods until the serpent submitted (SB 10.16). Kāliya's wives begged for mercy; Kṛṣṇa banished him from Yamunā but spared him.

Gauḍīyas read Kāliya-damana as the prototype of all Kṛṣṇa-conquests of envy in the heart. The gopī here plays both the dancer and the dance — and her line 'I have taken birth to punish the envious' is Kṛṣṇa's own mission-statement repurposed.

📝 My note

Source: vedabase.io

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