FolioCorpusŚrīmad-Bhāgavatam

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.34.29

स वीक्ष्य तावनुप्राप्तौ कालमृत्यू इवोद्विजन् । विषृज्य स्त्रीजनं मूढ: प्राद्रवज्जीवितेच्छया ॥ २९ ॥
sa vīkṣya tāv anuprāptau
[sa veekshya taav anupraaptau]
kāla-mṛtyū ivodvijan
[kaala-mrityoo ivodvijan]
viṣṛjya strī-janaṁ mūḍhaḥ
[vishrijya stree-janam moodhah]
prādravaj jīvitecchayā
[praadravaj jeevitechchayaa]
Word-for-word
saḥ — he, Śaṅkhacūḍa vīkṣya — seeing tau — the two anuprāptau — approached kāla - mṛtyū — Time and Death iva — as udvijan — becoming anxious visṛjya — leaving aside strī - janam — the women mūḍhaḥ — confused prādravat — ran away jīvita — his life icchayā — with the desire of preserving .
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
sa vīkṣya tāv anuprāptau
saḥ
he, Śaṅkhacūḍa
vīkṣya
seeing
tau
the two
anuprāptau
approached
kāla-mṛtyū ivodvijan
kāla - mṛtyū
Time and Death
iva
as
viṣṛjya strī-janaṁ mūḍhaḥ
udvijan
becoming anxious
prādravaj jīvitecchayā
visṛjya
leaving aside
strī - janam
the women
mūḍhaḥ
confused
prādravat
ran away
jīvita
his life
icchayā
with the desire of preserving .
Important Words
  • kāla-mṛtyū iva — like Time and Death (the two)
    Kāla (Time) + mṛtyu (Death), dual. Bhagavān as the source-form of Time (BG 11.32, kālo'smi). For the demon, Vraja's two cowherd boys are revealed as the personified cosmic dissolvers. Gauḍīyas note the rasa-doubling: vātsalya for Yaśodā, kāla-mṛtyu for adharma.
  • udvijan — becoming agitated, terror-struck
    Ud-√vij = to tremble upward, to be uprooted with fear. The same root produces nirvegacitta in dispassion-vocabulary, but here without the prefix nis — the demon is unhinged inward, not freed outward.
  • visṛjya — leaving aside, releasing
    Vi-√sṛj = to release, set free. Śaṅkhacūḍa releases the gopīs not from generosity but from terror. Gauḍīyas note the irony: the gopīs were 'freed' by the demon's fear before Kṛṣṇa even reached him. Bhagavān's mere approach is liberative.
  • mūḍhaḥ — confused, foolish
    From √muh — to be deluded. The technical word for a soul in tamoguṇa, unable to discern. Śaṅkhacūḍa's last named state is mūḍha — exactly the state in which the jīva mistakes Bhagavān for an opponent. The label is also the diagnosis of saṁsāra.
When Śaṅkhacūḍa saw the two of Them coming toward him like the personified forces of Time and Death, he was filled with anxiety. Confused, he abandoned the women and fled for his life.
Gauḍīya Ācāryas
Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura Gauḍīya
Translation
When Śaṅkhacūḍa saw the two of Them coming toward him like the personified forces of Time and Death, he was filled with anxiety. Confused, he abandoned the women and fled for his life.
Jīva Gosvāmī Gauḍīya
Commentary

Kṛṣṇa was like the dispatcher of time and Balarāma was like the dispatcher of death. The fool, bewildered, though fleeing, found it impossible save himself and thus thought of suicide. Or he was bewildered about what to do.

Śrīdhara Svāmī Gauḍīya
Commentary

He saw the two coming after him (anuprāptau). He was not worried about their coming, since he was insane, but he looked back constantly with great fear. The two were like time, the instigator and death, the final result. Though the two are forms of the highest bliss they appeared in this way to the foolish demon because of his fear. That is clear in SB 10.43.17, where it is explained that the wrestlers of Kaṁsa saw Kṛṣṇa as a thunderbolt and Kaṁsa saw him as death. Terrified (udvijan), he fled with speed as previously, to save his life, not with a desire for fame. He simply fled, without fighting. This was because he was a fool, since he provoked his own death and did not seen that running away would only produce his death. Or he was a fool because he did not know at all proper conduct.

Related values & verses
Concepts
Jiva
Personal Guidance
Seeing the brothers like personified Time and Death, Śaṅkhacūḍa is filled with anxiety, abandons the women, and flees for his life. When the Lord enters the chase, the demon's appetite quickly becomes self-preservation.
Reflection Questions
  • Have you noticed certain inner demons fleeing when devotion intensifies?
  • Where is a habit currently holding hostage what Kṛṣṇa is about to liberate?
Analogy

Śaṅkhacūḍa, who moments ago was driving women through the forest, now sees kāla-mṛtyu coming toward him in two boy-shapes, drops his cargo, and runs for his life. Hell's brave often turn cowards the instant Bhagavān looks at them; the gopīs were the bait, and the demon was always the catch.

📝 My note

Source: vedabase.io

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