Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.34.5
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
-
mahān ahiḥ
—
a great serpent
Ahi is the Vedic word for snake, with cosmic resonance (Vṛtra is called ahi in Ṛg-veda). The size is emphasized so that Kṛṣṇa's coming touch will look smaller than the threat — and still more powerful.
-
ati-bubhukṣitaḥ
—
extremely hungry
Desiderative of √bhuj — 'wishing very much to eat.' The hunger is the cursed Vidyādhara's accumulated kṣud, the inner mark of a body lived in pāpa. Hunger is the engine of saṁsāra; only Bhagavān's foot stills it.
-
ura-gaḥ
—
moving on the chest, snake
Compound: uras (chest) + ga (going). The classical etymological name for snakes — those that travel on the breast. The poetic word foreshadows the moment Kṛṣṇa's foot will press on that very chest in verse 8.
-
agrasīt
—
swallowed
Aorist of √gras (to swallow). The same root in grasta of v. 7 — the verb that frames the whole episode. Saṁsāra itself is described in śāstra as a swallowing; here it is staged in miniature, with the rescue close behind.
Mahan ahih means boa constrictor. The word uraga (snake)as well as ahih (snake) is used to indicate that he slithered into the forest on his chest (uras + ga to go), so that he would be unseen by others.
What happened the next night is described. Some remarkable snake, appeared by some good fortune (yadṛcchayā). The snake approached on its breast (uragaḥ) since it did not have feet. Nanda was sleeping soundly because of fatigue from the fast and staying awake the previous night. The snake came to him because he was sleeping in a solitary place to avoid people disturbing him. The snake began swallowing his legs.
No one was awake. That is mentioned later. The snake was actually attempting to be rescued from his condition. The snake was very hungry, because it had not eaten for a long time. By some fortune it came to that forest. Or it lived there and by chance came to Nanda. It began to swallow Nanda by his feet. “Seeing the snake, why did Nanda not flee?” He was sleeping because of fatigue from the journey. “Why was the snake not afraid when he saw Nanda?” Nanda was inactive on the ground, covered by a cloth. “By fortune (yadṛcchayā)” indicates the chief cause in this event: with great pain the snake took shelter of Nanda’s feet in order that he be delivered.
- Have you noticed challenges intensify around your most serious spiritual practices?
- What 'serpent' is presently testing you while you sleep through it?
A huge hungry serpent slides up to the sleeping Nanda — like the karma-coiled past life of a cursed Vidyādhara reaching for the one mouth it cannot finally close, the mouth of Kṛṣṇa's father. Every appearance of danger in Vraja is a setup for the līlā of rescue.
My note
Source: vedabase.io