Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.51.49
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
-
pramattam
—
thoroughly deluded
Past participle of pra-√mad — deeply intoxicated. The opposite term to apramattaḥ (later in the verse, applied to Bhagavān). Bhakti's polarity: bhakta apramatta, asura pramatta.
-
viṣayeṣu-lālasam
—
hankering for sense objects
Phrase: viṣayeṣu (in sense objects) + lālasam (panting, hungering). Lālasā for viṣaya — the precise direction of misdirected longing. The cure is rāga turned toward Bhagavān (rāgānuga-bhakti).
-
apramattaḥ
—
ever-alert
From a (not) + pra-√mad. Bhagavān is structurally apramatta — never inattentive. Gauḍīyas read this as the metaphysics of bhakti's reliability: He never sleeps, never forgets, even when the bhakta does.
-
ahiḥ
—
a snake
From √ah — to creep. The image is unsettling on purpose. Bhagavān-as-Time is gentle to bhaktas (gopāla, verse 19) and predatory to the unsurrendered (ahi, verse 49). Same Person, two faces.
-
antakaḥ
—
death
From anta — end, plus -ka (agent). The Ender. Gītā 10.34 — 'mṛtyuḥ sarvaharaś cāham' — I am all-snatching Death. The verse here personifies what the Gītā theoretically asserts.
We may note here the contrast between the words pramattam and apramattaḥ. Those who are trying to exploit the material world are pramatta: “deluded, bewildered, maddened by desire.” But the Lord is apramatta: “alert, sober, and unbewildered.” In our madness we may deny God or His laws, but the Lord is sober and will not fail to reward or punish us according to the quality of our activities.
The lord in the form of time devours those who do not worship him. That is the meaning of this verse. Because the person is attracted to sense objects, he ignores you (pramattah). Thinking that he must do certain actions in the world, he develops ever increasing greed. Even though his desires are frustrated, he is still eager for those objects. You are the destroyer (antakah). With great attention (apramattha), not forgetting about him, as he forgot about you, you overpower him, just as a snake licking his tongue out of hunger, overpowers a mouse.
This verse describes the ultimate condition of such thoughts. Pramattam means “devoid of attention to the Lord by remembrance etc.” Therefore attachment (lobham) to attained material objects increases and the person cannot desist from enjoying them. He has greed for objects he has not attained (lālasam). Since the Lord causes death through time, he is identified with time (antakaḥ) in the verse. One should worship you out of fear, since you are also the power of time. You approach him suddenly without giving him time to think, coming directly in front of him (abhipadyase). The descriptive terms in the example are general, not making Kṛṣṇa into a snake in all respects.
Though very proud, a man must die. This will happen suddenly. He is completely unaware. But you are aware (apramattaḥ), alert at all times in doing your job. As time you put an end to everything (antakaḥ). Suddenly or beyond logic (sahasā), you cause death (abhipadyase). An example shows the suddenness and alertness: you are like a snake waiting to devour a mouse. Or being completely inattentive to remember you (pramattam ucchaiḥ), increasing greedy for objects, longing for objects incessantly for enjoyment, the person suffers on not attaining them.
- Where are you 'licking fangs' as a snake to your own future?
- What 'need to be done' might be the very thing distracting you from preparation?
A man fixated on his to-do list, greed-driven, hungry for sense-pleasure — and Bhagavān comes from behind like a starving snake licking its fangs before a mouse. The image is the Bhāgavata's most striking death-portrait: Kṛṣṇa-as-antaka. Death is not an event; it is a Person.
At SB 10.1.34, Kaṁsa hears the asarīrī-voice predict that Devakī's eighth child will be his death. The Bhāgavata-poet describes him exactly as Mucukunda paints the materialist here — pramatta with thoughts of what he must do, greedy, hankering — and Kṛṣṇa, ever-alert, has already begun His descent.
Gauḍīyas read this parallel pointedly: Kaṁsa's death is Mucukunda's diagnostic. The Lord is, for everyone not surrendered, an antaka eventually. The only escape from the snake-form is to surrender to the snake-handler — Kṛṣṇa Himself in His vatsala-form.
My note
Source: vedabase.io