FolioCorpusŚrīmad-Bhāgavatam

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.51.41

कालनेमिर्हत: कंस: प्रलम्बाद्याश्च सद्‌‌द्विष: । अयं च यवनो दग्धो राजंस्ते तिग्मचक्षुषा ॥ ४१ ॥
kālanemir hataḥ kaṁsaḥ
[kaalanemir hatah kamsah]
pralambādyāś ca sad-dviṣaḥ
[pralambaadyaash cha sad-dvishah]
ayaṁ ca yavano dagdho
[ayam cha yavano dagdho]
rājaṁs te tigma-cakṣuṣā
[raajams te tigma-chakshushaa]
kālanemiḥ — the demon Kālanemi hataḥ — killed kaṁsaḥ — Kaṁsa pralamba — Pralamba ādyāḥ — and others ca — also sat — of those who are pious dviṣaḥ — envious ayam — this ca — and yavanaḥ — barbarian dagdhaḥ — burned rājan — O King te — your tigma — sharp cakṣuṣā — by the glance .
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
kālanemir hataḥ kaṁsaḥ
kālanemiḥ
the demon Kālanemi
hataḥ
killed
kaṁsaḥ
Kaṁsa
pralambādyāś ca sad-dviṣaḥ
pralamba
Pralamba
ādyāḥ
and others
ca
also
sat
of those who are pious
dviṣaḥ
envious
ayaṁ ca yavano dagdho
ayam
this
ca
and
yavanaḥ
barbarian
dagdhaḥ
burned
rājaṁs te tigma-cakṣuṣā
rājan
O King
te
your
tigma
sharp
cakṣuṣā
by the glance .
  • kālanemiḥ — the demon Kālanemi
    The previous incarnation of Kaṁsa. Bhāgavatam's view of asuric continuity: demons return until they are released by Bhagavān's direct action. The chapter's whole metaphysics of birth (verses 36-40) is in service of explaining such reincarnations.
  • kaṁsaḥ — Kaṁsa
    Devakī's brother, the central asura of Canto 10. Kṛṣṇa names him by name as a 'past completed action.' The book is recursive — Mucukunda is in the same canto whose protagonists Kṛṣṇa is summarizing.
  • pralamba — Pralamba
    The asura killed by Balarāma (SB 10.18). Mentioning him here folds Balarāma's deeds into Kṛṣṇa's own account — the two are non-different in mission, and Kṛṣṇa speaks for both.
  • sat-dviṣaḥ — envious of the pious
    Compound: sat (the saintly) + dviṣaḥ (haters). The Vaiṣṇava category for asura — not 'evil' abstractly but specifically 'devotee-haters.' Bhagavān's mission targets those who target His devotees.
  • tigma-cakṣuṣā — by the piercing glance
    Compound: tigma (sharp, fiery) + cakṣuṣā (by the eye). Mucukunda's glance is credited inside Bhagavān's own deeds-list. Gauḍīyas treasure this: the bhakta's instrument is the Lord's instrument; Mucukunda's eye-fire is Kṛṣṇa's action accomplished through him.
I have killed Kālanemi, reborn as Kaṁsa, as well as Pralamba and other enemies of the pious. And now, O King, this barbarian has been burnt to ashes by your piercing glance.
Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura Gauḍīya
Translation
I have killed Kālanemi, reborn as Kaṁsa, as well as Pralamba and other enemies of the pious. And now, O King, this barbarian has been burnt to ashes by your piercing glance.
Jīva Gosvāmī Gauḍīya
Commentary

He describes his activities. Kālameni and Kaṁsa were killed by me.

Śrīdhara Svāmī Gauḍīya
Commentary

He describes his activities. Kālameni and Kaṁsa were killed by me because they hated devotees (sad-dviṣaḥ). O king, shining with intelligence (rājan), you can understand this. Or o king shining with the benedictions of the devatās like Śiva! You cannot be killed.

Concepts
Jiva
I have killed Kālanemi reborn as Kaṁsa, Pralamba, and other enemies of the pious; and now this barbarian was burnt by your piercing glance. The Lord credits Mucukunda for the latest deed; collaboration is acknowledged.
Reflection Questions
  • Where do you take credit alone for what was collaboration with the Lord?
  • How does Kṛṣṇa's crediting His devotee model your own credit-sharing?

Kṛṣṇa lists His current births' work like a soldier reading a brief: Kālanemi reborn as Kaṁsa, Pralamba, others, and now this Yavana — burnt to ash by your glance. He acknowledges Mucukunda's role; the sage's tapas is enrolled into the avatāra's mission.

Kālanemi to Kaṁsa

Kālanemi was the asura killed by Viṣṇu in an earlier age (referenced in Hari-vaṁśa and the Bhāgavata itself at SB 10.51.41). His soul, untransformed, reincarnated as Kaṁsa — the same enmity, the same Lord, a new birth.

Gauḍīyas read this as the Vaiṣṇava metaphysics of asura-rebirth: hatred toward Bhagavān is itself a form of remembrance, sustained across lives, until finally consumed by direct contact with His person. Even the demon's bondage to Bhagavān is a kind of bond.

📝 My note

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