Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.50.17
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
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puruṣa-adhama
—
lowest of men
Adhama-puruṣa, the demonic mirror-image of Kṛṣṇa's actual title puruṣottama (supreme person). The demon's epithet is the inversion of the devotee's; Gauḍīyas use this to illustrate how kṛṣṇa-tattva is occluded for those in tāmasic vision.
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bandhu-han
—
O killer of relatives
Compound: bandhu (kinsman) + han (killer). Refers to Kaṁsa, Kṛṣṇa's maternal uncle. The accusation that troubles Arjuna at Gītā 1.36 (svajanaṁ hi kathaṁ hatvā) is hurled at Kṛṣṇa Himself here — but in Kṛṣṇa's case the killing is bhū-bhāra-haraṇa, not sin.
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manda
—
O fool
Manda — dull, slow-witted. Asuric insult, identical to the language Hiraṇyakaśipu uses for Prahlāda. The pattern recurs: demons consistently call the Lord and His devotees fools, exactly inverting the actual jñāna-distribution.
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guptena
—
hidden
Instrumental of gupta — concealed. Jarāsandha mistakes Kṛṣṇa's tactical reserve for cowardice; lajjayā guptena, 'hidden by shame.' The demon cannot read aiśvarya concealed inside mānuṣa-līlā — he sees only the surface, never the kāraṇa-mānuṣa beneath.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Svāmī has interpreted Jarāsandha’s words as follows. Puruṣādhama can be understood as puruṣā adhamā yasmāt, meaning “Kṛṣṇa, to whom all men are inferior.” In other words, here Lord Kṛṣṇa is being addressed as “O Puruṣottama, best of living beings.” Similarly, the word guptena, “hidden,” indicates Lord Kṛṣṇa’s aspect of being in everyone’s heart and invisible to material vision. The words tvayā manda can also be divided, according to Sanskrit grammar, as tvayā amanda. In this case Jarāsandha is indicating that Kṛṣṇa is not foolish but rather most alert. The word bandhu was used by Jarāsandha in the sense of “relative,” since Lord Kṛṣṇa killed His maternal uncle, Kaṁsa. However, bandhu comes from the verb bandh, “to bind,” and therefore bandhu-han can be understood as “one who destroys the bondage of ignorance.” Similarly, the word yāhi, “please go,” indicates that Lord Kṛṣṇa should approach the living beings and bless them to become Kṛṣṇa conscious.
The external meaning is "O lowest of men (purusa adhama), I am ashamed to fight with you, a mere boy (balena) , who hides yourself in Gokula as a vaisya (guptena). O fool (manda)! O killer of your uncle (bandu han)! I will not fight with you. Go away!" The other meaning skilfully contained in the same words is as follows: "O great personality to whom all others are inferior (purusadhama)! I will not fight with you for, in comparison to you Brahma is a child (bala ka) (there are two versions of this : balakenaiva and balenaikena), and you are the lord of all lords. I am ashamed to fight with you because I am not qualified. I do not desire to fight with you because you cannot be seen, being hidden within everyone (guptena). Oh most important one (amanda)! O destroyer of the bondage of the jiva (bandhu han)! "
Seeing Kṛṣṇa as death, Jarāsandha tried to avoid fighting him. Instead of bālenaikena sometimes bālakenaiva is seen. I do not want to fight with a boy. “But fighting depends only on strength not age.” I will not fight with a person who hid himself in Gokula out of fear of Kaṁsa. “It is suitable to hide at times to fool the enemy.” O inauspicious person (manda)! Why? You are murderer of your relatives! Therefore go away—flee from dharma. Another meaning is “Go to your house, because it is not necessary for you to labor in fighting (since you accomplish everything by your will.)”
- Whose insults are actually fear-management dressed as bravado?
- How do you stay unfazed by name-calling intended to provoke you?
Jarāsandha snarls at Kṛṣṇa as a small dog snarls at the sun — 'puruṣādhama!' he calls the Supreme Person. Demonic vision exactly inverts devotional vision; what the gopīs see as adhama-uddhāra, the lifter-of-the-fallen, the demon sees as adhama, the lowest.
My note
Source: vedabase.io