Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.51.12
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
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ruṣṭasya
—
of the angered one
Genitive past participle of √ruṣ. The wrath is Mucukunda's, but its trigger is Kṛṣṇa's arrangement. Gauḍīyas read the sage's anger as a śakti channel — the same ruṣ that destroys asuras is converted into vinaya by the very next darśana of Bhagavān (verse 22).
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dṛṣṭi-pātena
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by the casting of the glance
Compound: dṛṣṭi (sight) + pātena (by the falling, casting). The instrument is sight itself. In Vaiṣṇava aesthetics dṛṣṭi-pāta from Bhagavān or His devotee is unfathomably potent — Mahāprabhu's glance liberates; Mucukunda's glance, while still embedded in karma, combusts.
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deha-jena
—
generated within his own body
Compound: deha (body) + jena (born). The fire arises inside Kālayavana himself — his own un-burned aśubha (verse 8) becomes its own pyre. Gauḍīya commentators stress: Kṛṣṇa kills no one; sin destroys itself once the right glance falls.
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agninā
—
by fire
Instrumental of agni. The fire is not Mucukunda's tejas weaponized; it is the asura's pāpa ignited. The Bhāgavata's metaphysics of karma made vivid: every action accumulates its own combustible residue.
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bhasma-sāt
—
reduced to ashes
Compound: bhasma (ash) + sāt (state-of). The same phrase the chapter reuses at verse 22 to mark the moment when Bhagavān, his work done through the sage, reveals Himself. Kālayavana's ash is the threshold of Mucukunda's stuti.
The man who incinerated Kālayavana with his glance was named Mucukunda. As he will explain to Lord Kṛṣṇa, he had fought for a long time on behalf of the demigods, finally taking as his benediction the right to sleep undisturbed. The Hari-vaṁśa explains that he secured the further benediction of being able to destroy anyone who disturbed his sleep. Ācārya Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura quotes from the Śrī Hari-vaṁśa as follows: prasuptaṁ bodhayed yo māṁ taṁ daheyam ahaṁ surāḥ cakṣuṣā krodha-dīptena evam āha punaḥ punaḥ “Again and again Mucukunda said, ‘O demigods, with eyes blazing with anger, may I incinerate anyone who awakens me from sleep.’” Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī explains that Mucukunda made this rather morbid request to scare Lord Indra, who, Mucukunda thought, might otherwise wake him repeatedly to request his help in fighting Indra’s cosmic enemies. Indra’s consent to Mucukunda’s request is described in Śrī Viṣṇu Purāṇa as follows: proktaś ca devaiḥ saṁsuptaṁ yas tvām utthāpayiṣyati deha-jenāgninā sadyaḥ sa tu bhasmī-kariṣyati “The demigods declared, ‘Whoever awakens you from sleep will suddenly be burnt to ashes by a fire generated from his own body.’”
As soon as Mucucunda glanced, Kālayavana burst into flames, and immediately turned to ashes. O Parīkṣit, you were born in a great dynasty (bhārata)! You should not consider such powers astonishing. The benediction from the devatās that he could burn him up with the anger of his glance is inferred, according to Śukadeva, and thus not mentioned. Some verses after verse 20 have been interpolated. Viṣṇu Purāṇa however says this was part of the benediction: proktaś ca devaiḥ saṁsuptaṁ yas tvām utthāpayiṣyati deha-jenāgninā sadyaḥ sa tu bhasmī-kariṣyati The devatās declared, “Whoever awakens you from sleep will suddenly be burnt to ashes by a fire generated from his own body.” Hari-vaṁśa also agrees with this: prasuptaṁ bodhayed yo māṁ taṁ daheyam ahaṁ surāḥ cakṣuṣā krodha-dīptena evam āha punaḥ punaḥ evam astv iti śakras tam uvāca tridaśaiḥ saha / Again and again Mucukunda said, ‘O devatās, with eyes blazing with anger, may I incinerate anyone who awakens me from sleep.” Indra along with the devatās then agreed. Thus it is understood that he prayed that he would sleep until he saw the Lord. Until then it was better to sleep, without being awakened. The reason for awakening is described. He did not want to be awakened again even by a devotee in order to destroy the demons’ armies.
- What sustained spiritual reserve do you have that, if unleashed at the right moment, could end a problem?
- Where does waiting actually build power?
A magnifying glass left in a sunbeam — the glance is the lens, the un-burned pāpa is the tinder, and the asura is consumed in a single instant. Mucukunda does not raise a weapon; his accumulated tapas, refracted through one angry look, finishes what Kṛṣṇa's flight began.
Mahārāja Ambarīṣa, the great Vaiṣṇava king of SB 9.4, is targeted by the wrath of Durvāsā Muni — and Durvāsā's tapas-fire turns against him only because the Sudarśana cakra, summoned by Ambarīṣa's bhakti, intercedes. There the tapasvī's wrath is neutralized by Bhagavān; here it is directed by Him.
The parallel is exact in mechanism (tapas turning to fire) and opposite in target. Gauḍīyas read both as proof that Kṛṣṇa is the unseen valve — He routes tapas-fire where He wills, sparing devotees, consuming asuras.
My note
Source: vedabase.io