FolioCorpusŚrīmad-Bhāgavatam

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.51.17

नरलोकं परित्यज्य राज्यं निहतकण्टकम् । अस्मान् पालयतो वीर कामास्ते सर्व उज्झिता: ॥ १७ ॥
nara-lokaṁ parityajya
[nara-lokam parityajya]
rājyaṁ nihata-kaṇṭakam
[raajyam nihata-kantakam]
asmān pālayato vīra
[asmaan paalayato veera]
kāmās te sarva ujjhitāḥ
[kaamaas te sarva ujjhitaah]
nara - lokam — in the world of men parityajya — abandoning rājyam — a kingdom nihata — removed kaṇṭakam — whose thorns asmān — us pālayataḥ — who was protecting vīra — O hero kāmaḥ — desires te — your sarve — all ujjhitāḥ — thrown away .
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
nara-lokaṁ parityajya
nara - lokam
in the world of men
parityajya
abandoning
rājyaṁ nihata-kaṇṭakam
rājyam
a kingdom
nihata
removed
kaṇṭakam
whose thorns
asmān pālayato vīra
asmān
us
pālayataḥ
who was protecting
vīra
O hero
kāmās te sarva ujjhitāḥ
kāmaḥ
desires
te
your
sarve
all
ujjhitāḥ
thrown away .
  • nara-lokam — the world of men
    Compound: nara (man) + lokam (world). The human plane he gave up. Vaiṣṇava texts distinguish nara-loka (limited, mortal) from Vaikuṇṭha (unlimited, eternal). The demigods are offering him return to the first; only Kṛṣṇa, in this chapter, can offer the second.
  • rājyam — kingdom
    From √rāj — to rule. The very thing he will later (verse 54) thank Kṛṣṇa for having stripped from him by 'spontaneous detachment.' The Bhāgavata sets up the contrast carefully: rājya served as duty is one thing; rājya clung to as identity is bondage.
  • nihata-kaṇṭakam — whose thorns are removed
    Compound: nihata (struck down) + kaṇṭakam (thorn, enemy). His earthly kingdom was pacified before he left. The demigods stress this so he knows he is owed nothing — he had given up an easy possession to render hard service.
  • vīra — O hero
    Vocative — the demigods name him as the kṣatriya-vīra. The same word will be re-spent in verse 31 when he calls Kṛṣṇa puruṣa-vyāghra — true vīratva, by the chapter's end, belongs to Bhagavān, and the bhakta's vīratva is to recognize Him.
  • kāmaḥ — desires
    Plural — the personal kāmas he set aside for sevā. Gauḍīyas note: setting aside kāma for demigod-service is dharma; but kāma can return, as the next verses warn. Only fixing the mind on Bhagavān (verse 61) finally exhausts it.
“Abandoning an unopposed kingdom in the world of men, O valiant one, you neglected all your personal desires while engaged in protecting us.
Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura Gauḍīya
Translation
"Abandoning an unopposed kingdom in the world of men, O valiant one, you neglected all your personal desires while engaged in protecting us.
Jīva Gosvāmī Gauḍīya
Commentary

Kāma means objects of the senses. Instead of rājyam sometimes rājyāni is seen.

Śrīdhara Svāmī Gauḍīya
Commentary

Kāma means objects of the senses. O valiant one! You are capable of doing this. They use the word te (your or by you) to show affection.

Related values
Dana (Charity / Generosity)Kshama (Forgiveness / Patience)Shraddha (Faith / Reverence)Aparigraha (Non-possessiveness)Hrih (Modesty / Sense of Shame)
Related verses
Concepts
Jiva
Abandoning an unopposed kingdom, you neglected personal desires while protecting us. Some service costs the worker his own life; the work is named honestly by the served.
Reflection Questions
  • What personal life have you set aside in service that deserves explicit naming?
  • Where could you honor someone whose service is currently invisible?

A king who left his garden untended to fight on someone else's frontier — Mucukunda walked away from a thornless earthly kingdom because the demigods asked. The verse asks: what does a kṣatriya do with an empty throne behind him? Bhagavān, in chapter's end, will answer.

📝 My note

← Read full Chapter 51