FolioCorpusŚrīmad-Bhāgavatam

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.36.35

ततश्चैषा मही मित्र भवित्री नष्टकण्टका ॥ ३५ ॥
tataś caiṣā mahī mitra
[tatash chaishaa mahee mitra]
bhavitrī naṣṭa-kaṇṭakā
[bhavitree nashta-kantakaa]
tataḥ — then ca — and eṣā — this mahī — earth mitra — O friend bhavitrī — will be naṣṭa — destroyed kaṇṭakā — her thorns .
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
tataś caiṣā mahī mitra
tataḥ
then
ca
and
eṣā
this
mahī
earth
mitra
O friend
bhavitrī naṣṭa-kaṇṭakā
bhavitrī
will be
naṣṭa
destroyed
kaṇṭakā
her thorns .
  • mahī — the earth
    Mahī — the earth, also bhū-devī. The same earth-goddess prayed to Brahmā in SB 10.1 for relief from demonic kings; Kaṁsa unknowingly names the very being whose petition started the whole avatāra-mission.
  • mitra — O friend
    Address to Akrūra. Kaṁsa uses friendship-vocabulary; for Gauḍīyas the irony lands hard — true friendship is Kṛṣṇa-sakhya, which Akrūra is about to enter; Kaṁsa's mitra-bhāva is the simulacrum.
  • naṣṭa - kaṇṭakā — free of thorns
    Naṣṭa (destroyed) + kaṇṭaka (thorn). Bhāgavatam's stock idiom for a peaceful realm. Kaṁsa imagines the thorns are Kṛṣṇa-Balarāma-Ugrasena-Vasudeva — exactly inverted from reality, where the thorn is himself.
Then, my friend, this earth will be free of thorns.
Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura Gauḍīya
Translation
Then, my friend, this earth will be free of thorns.
Jīva Gosvāmī Gauḍīya
Commentary

“But I am a Bhoja. Am I not their friends?” No, you are my friend. You are my benefactor. I will give part of my kingdom to you.

Concepts
Jiva
Then, Kaṁsa says, this earth will be free of thorns. The wicked believe a world cleared of opponents will finally be comfortable — but the thorn is in the heart that lists them.
Reflection Questions
  • What 'thornless world' do you secretly imagine that depends on others being removed?
  • Where might the real thorn actually be inside your own attitudes?

'Then the earth will be free of thorns.' One half-line — the asura's vision of utopia. The Bhāgavatam pairs his line with its silent rebuttal: the earth is freed of thorns precisely when Bhagavān removes Kaṁsa Himself, six chapters from now.

📝 My note

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