Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.50.20
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
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jarā-sutaḥ
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the son of Jarā
Jarā was the rākṣasī who joined the two halves of the prince at birth. To call him jarā-sutaḥ — son of the demoness — is to remind the reader that Jarāsandha's very existence is unnatural, jointable but also separable, which Bhīma will eventually exploit.
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mādhavau
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the two descendants of Madhu
Dual. Mādhava — descendant of Madhu, of the Madhu-vaṁśa. Also a name with sweetness (madhu = honey) folded into it. Even when surrounded by an army, the dual name preserves the chapter's rasic register: the Two Sweet Ones are within the storm.
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sūrya-analau
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the sun and a fire
Compound. Two luminaries — matched to the two brothers. The simile is acintya-bhedābheda-compatible: sun and fire are both fire-natured, neither is destroyed by being temporarily covered. Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma can be apparently obscured but never extinguished.
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abhra-reṇubhiḥ
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by clouds and by dust-particles
Instrumental dual: cloud (gross/atmospheric) and dust (fine/earthly). Two registers of the same kind of covering — māyā operates on multiple scales. But the same wind that brought the cover removes it; the same Kṛṣṇa who allowed the siege ends it.
Ācārya Śrīdhara points out that clouds only seem to cover the sun: the sun remains shining in the vast sky. Nor is the potency of fire affected by a thin covering of dust. Similarly, the “covering” of Jarāsandha’s military strength was only apparent.
As the wind covers the sun with clouds , or fire with dust, Jarasandha covered the two descendents of the Madhu dynasty (madhavau) with his armies. However, this was just an appearance, just as the nothing can cover the sun.
He is called the son of Jarā to show that he had superhuman powers given by Jarā after she joined his two halves together. Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma are called descendents of Madhu to show how they enacted human pastimes. For that reason they were surrounded by Jarāsandha’s troops. The two brothers shone brightly like the sun and fire combined together at the time of pralaya.
- Where does an apparent covering of your dharma actually leave its essence shining behind?
- How does this image steady you in being temporarily 'covered'?
Like wind covering the sun with cloud or fire with dust, the son of Jarā surrounds the two Mādhavas with his flood-army — but the simile already gives the game away. Wind disperses the cover it imposes; the sun is not extinguished by cloud and a fire is not put out by dust. The enclosure is illusion.
My note
Source: vedabase.io