Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.42.17
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
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kareṇa-vāmena
—
with His left hand
Instrumental: kara (hand) + vāma (left). Kṛṣṇa uses the left, lesser hand. Gauḍīya commentary: the dominant right hand is reserved for the flute and for Rādhā's hand — the bow merits only the left.
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sa-līlam
—
playfully
Compound: sa (with) + līlā (play). The Bhāgavata's signature word inserted at the climactic act. Kṛṣṇa's most decisive interventions are līlā, not labor. Gauḍīya: even the killing of Kaṁsa's bow is part of nitya-līlā.
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nimiṣeṇa
—
in the wink of an eye
Instrumental of nimiṣa — the blinking of an eyelid, a unit of time. The Bhāgavata measures the deed in the smallest visible duration. Gauḍīya: aiśvarya operates in instants; sādhana operates in lifetimes; only kṛpā bridges the difference.
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ikṣu-daṇḍam
—
a stalk of sugarcane
Compound: ikṣu (sugarcane) + daṇḍa (stick). The simile. Sugarcane is sweet — and Gauḍīya commentators (Viśvanātha) note: even Kṛṣṇa's destruction is sweet. The image He breaks is not a sword or a club; it is sugar.
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mada-karī
—
an excited elephant
Compound: mada (rut, intoxication) + karin (elephant — 'doer-with-hand,' i.e., trunk). The image: Kṛṣṇa is the elephant, intoxicated with His own youth and purpose. Bhāgavata pairs aiśvarya with playfulness — the elephant is not malicious, only effortless.
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urukramaḥ
—
wide-striding Lord
Compound: uru (wide) + krama (stride). The Vāmana epithet — He who took the universe in three strides. The Bhāgavata invokes it here: the same wide-strider is now snapping a bow. Vāmana-līlā and Kṛṣṇa-līlā are interleaved at the level of name.
In front of the onlookers Krsna broke the bow, as if calling out to them, " O people, your king was worshipping this famous bow. But just by the touch of my hand it has broken, as if eaten away by termites."
He took the bow carelessly or without effort in this left hand. The word ca means that without attention he strung and broke the bow. In a moment, he grabbed the bow, strung it and broke it while the angry guards and others such as the wrestlers watched, since it was impossible for them to do. The genitive case is used to show disrespect to them. The phrase can also be read animiṣeṇa paśyatām: while the guards watched with unblinking eyes.
He took the bow carelessly or without effort in this left hand. The word ca means that without attention he strung and broke the bow. In a moment, he grabbed the bow, strung it and broke it while the angry guards and others such as the wrestlers or people in general watched, since it was impossible for them to do. The genitive case is used to show disrespect to them. Or they watched in amazement. Or they watched with unblinking eyes (animeṣeṇa). The phrase can also be read animiṣeṇa paśyatām: while the guards watched with unblinking eyes. He broke the bow completely in two (prababhuñja) because he had great power (urukraṁaḥ). Ānamyamānaṁ kṛṣṇena prakarṣād uragopamam Dvidhā-bhūtam abhūn madhye dhanur āyoga-bhūṣitam Bending the jewelled bow completely Kṛṣṇa broke it into two pieces and used it as an ornament. Hari-vaṁśa Āyoga-bhūṣitam means decorated with jewels or a string, or worthy of being used by Kaṁsa. He broke it like a mad elephant breaks sugar cane.
- Where might Kṛṣṇa be intentionally signaling power that you have read as accident?
- What 'sugar cane' in your inner armament is He casually snapping?
An elephant idly bites through a stalk of sugarcane between meals — no effort, no triumph, only an absent-minded snap. The bow that hundreds of men had worshiped is, to Kṛṣṇa's left hand, a piece of cane on the path. The Lord's mighty deeds are His indifferent ones.
In the Rāmāyaṇa (Bāla-kāṇḍa), Rāma lifts Śiva's bow at Janaka's court and snaps it while stringing — winning Sītā. The whole assembly is stunned.
Gauḍīya commentators (Sanātana, Jīva, Viśvanātha) routinely pair the two bows: Rāma's at Mithilā and Kṛṣṇa's at Mathurā. Both are svayaṁvara-style: one wins the bride Sītā, the other initiates the killing of Kaṁsa and the eventual reunion with the Yādavas. Same līlā-grammar in two avatāras.
My note
Source: vedabase.io