Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.37.1-2
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
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keśī
—
the horse demon, the long-maned one
From keśa (mane / hair). The name fixes the asura's most recognizable trait — the streaming mane that scatters clouds. Kṛṣṇa is later honored as Keśava (slayer of Keśī) precisely because of this kill; Gauḍīyas note that even the demon's name becomes glorification once Kṛṣṇa touches him.
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bhagavān
—
the Supreme Lord
Śuka pointedly calls the cowherd boy Bhagavān as he walks out to meet a horse-shaped tornado — the technical six-opulence title is reserved for moments when the līlā's stakes need an aiśvarya-frame. Gauḍīyas read it as Śuka's reminder that aiśvarya is always present beneath the mādhurya.
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sva-gokulam
—
His own cowherd village
Sva — His own. Gokula is not a place Kṛṣṇa visits; it is His. The possessive collapses any doubt about whose ground Keśī has just trespassed onto, and frames the killing as a householder defending His yard.
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mṛgendra-vat
—
like a lion
Mṛga-indra — king of beasts. Śuka places the simile on Keśī (he roars like a lion) but the irony lands on Kṛṣṇa: the actual mṛgendra here is the boy who answered the challenge.
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ājau
—
for battle, in the arena
From ājī — combat. The cowherd field has become a kṣatra-bhūmi. Gauḍīyas note that even when Kṛṣṇa fights, Vraja remains Vraja; the battlefield is just one more pasture.
When the Supreme Personality of Godhead saw how the demon was frightening His village of Gokula by neighing terribly and shaking the clouds with his tail, the Lord came forward to meet him. Keśī was searching for Kṛṣṇa to fight, so when the Lord stood before him and challenged him to approach, the horse responded by roaring like a lion.
The thirty seventh chapter describes the killing of Kesi, Narada praising Krsna’s future pastimes, the thieving activities of Vyomasura, and the killing of Vyomasura.
The sentence in the first verse should be completed with the word “Keśī came to Vraja.” With the hairs (satā) on his mane he scattered the clouds and airplanes. Thus he was called Keśī (possessing hairs).
The word tu indicates that Keśī is distinct from Ariṣṭa. He is described. By his nature he was extremely evil. Because of that he was sent by Kaṁsa. Constantly he crushed the earth, and ran as swift as the mind. His name is explained: his mane scattered the clouds.
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- Bhanu Sw SB 10-37-01-09 - Krsna killing ferocious kheshi his natural manifestation of opposite qualities - ISKCON Chennai
- CMS SB 10-37-01-06 - Advaita Acharya Symbol of Compassion - 2014-02-06 ISKCON Chowpatty
- GuruPrasad Sw SB 10-37-01-02 - 2022-11-03 ISKCON Juhu
- 03 - RGS SB 10-37-01-08 - Akrura Manoratha Part-03 - Vrindavan
- Where do you wait for problems to grow before facing them?
- How might 'stepping forward' change a fear you've been letting circle and neigh?
Keśī arrives as a hurricane in horse-form — hooves tearing the earth, mane whipping aside the demigods' airplanes, neighing rattling Gokula. Kṛṣṇa, the cowherd boy, steps forward like the calm eye of the storm and calls the storm by name. The world's loudest terror finds itself summoned by a smiling village child.
Ever since Akrūra was dispatched to fetch Kṛṣṇa for the bow-sacrifice (SB 10.36), Kaṁsa has been hedging — sending one more assassin in case the boy somehow eludes the trap in Mathurā. Keśī is that hedge: a demigod-frightener loosed at Vraja so that even if the invitation fails, the threat will end Kṛṣṇa in His own pastures.
The Bhāgavatam frames the whole horse-līlā as Kaṁsa's last reach into Vraja. After this, Vraja-līlā closes; Mathurā-līlā opens.
My note
Source: vedabase.io