Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.55.19
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
-
āvidhya
—
whirling
Gerund of ā-√vyadh — to wind, twirl. The pre-throw motion of the club — Śambara generates centrifugal force to maximize the hurl. Detail-faithful Bhāgavata combat description.
-
mahā-ātmane
—
to the wise one, the great soul
Compound: mahā + ātmane (dat.). Same epithet applied to Pradyumna at v.16; the poet keeps reminding us that even when struck at by Śambara's club, Pradyumna's stature is that of mahā-ātmā — the contest is asymmetric in essence even before it is in outcome.
-
vajra-niṣpeṣa-niṣṭhuram
—
as harsh as the striking of lightning
Compound: vajra (thunderbolt) + niṣpeṣa (collision, striking) + niṣṭhuram (harsh, cruel). Vajra is Indra's weapon; Śambara's club is compared to the highest-tier divine missile. The Bhāgavatam grants the asura full literary stature before its hero unmakes him.
Throwing the club, he produced sound as sharp as thunder striking. Nadam vyanadat (he sounded a sound) is a valid statement in the same way as vacanam avocat (he made a statement).
He whirled his club and threw it at Pradyumna, who remained composed (mahātmane). The club made a special sound (vy—anadan), harsh like the sound (word is omitted in the compound) of grinding thunder. All roots have included in their meaning the sense of “doing.” Thus the meaning is “like the harshness made by the grinding of thunder.” Or the word niṣpeṣa can mean a rattling sound.
Whirling the club he threw it with strength at Pradyumna who had great forbearance (mahātmane), who was fearless. The club made a great sound like thunder or greater than thunder.
- Where does an inner adversary intimidate by sound more than substance?
- How do you stay steady when noise precedes contact?
Śambara whirls his club and hurls it with a thunder-crack sound — the asura announces his force by noise. Bhagavān's enemies are loud; His own potency works quietly through Mahā-māyā. The decibel of an attack is no measure of its outcome.
My note
Source: vedabase.io