FolioCorpusŚrīmad-Bhāgavatam

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.6.12

तस्या: स्वनेनातिगभीररंहसा साद्रिर्मही द्यौश्च चचाल सग्रहा । रसा दिशश्च प्रतिनेदिरे जना: पेतु: क्षितौ वज्रनिपातशङ्कया ॥ १२ ॥
tasyāḥ svanenātigabhīra-raṁhasā
[tasyaah svanenaatigabheera-ramhasaa]
sādrir mahī dyauś ca cacāla sa-grahā
[saadrir mahee dyaush cha chachaala sa-grahaa]
rasā diśaś ca pratinedire janāḥ
[rasaa dishash cha pratinedire janaah]
petuḥ kṣitau vajra-nipāta-śaṅkayā
[petuh kshitau vajra-nipaata-shankayaa]
Word-for-word
tasyāḥ — of the great Rākṣasī Pūtanā svanena — by the vibration of the sound ati — very gabhīra — deep raṁhasā — forceful sa - adriḥ — with the mountains mahī — the surface of the world dyauḥ ca — and outer space cacāla — trembled sa - grahā — with the stars rasā — below the planet earth diśaḥ ca — and all directions pratinedire — vibrated janāḥ — people in general petuḥ — fell down kṣitau — on the surface of the world vajra - nipāta - śaṅkayā — by suspecting that thunderbolts were falling .
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
tasyāḥ svanenātigabhīra-raṁhasā
tasyāḥ
of the great Rākṣasī Pūtanā
svanena
by the vibration of the sound
ati
very
gabhīra
deep
raṁhasā
forceful
sādrir mahī dyauś ca cacāla sa-grahā
sa - adriḥ
with the mountains
mahī
the surface of the world
dyauḥ ca
and outer space
cacāla
trembled
sa - grahā
with the stars
rasā
below the planet earth
rasā diśaś ca pratinedire janāḥ
diśaḥ ca
and all directions
pratinedire
vibrated
janāḥ
people in general
petuḥ kṣitau vajra-nipāta-śaṅkayā
petuḥ
fell down
kṣitau
on the surface of the world
vajra - nipāta - śaṅkayā
by suspecting that thunderbolts were falling .
Important Words
  • svanena — by the vibration of the sound
    Instrumental of svana (sound). Sound is the primary disturber and the primary protector in Bhāgavata — the demon's svana shakes the worlds; the Lord's nāma-svana (verse 28) calms them. Two sounds, opposite effects.
  • vajra - nipāta - śaṅkayā — by the fear that thunderbolts were falling
    Compound — vajra (thunderbolt) + nipāta (falling) + śaṅkā (suspicion). The cosmic register: even Indra's weapon-sound is the closest analogue people can find for a Rākṣasī's death-howl. The verse silently signals what is coming — by 10.6.13, she will fall 'like Vṛtrāsura struck by vajra.'
  • ati gabhīra raṁhasā — very deep and forceful
    These adjacent modifiers — ati (very) + gabhīra (deep) + raṁhasā (with force) — stack to convey scale. Bhāgavata likes to set up cosmic disturbance in one verse only to set Kṛṣṇa's quiet unconcern against it in the next.
  • cacāla — trembled
    Perfect of cal (to move, shake). The earth's trembling is the standard Purāṇic signature of a demon's death — used for Hiraṇyakaśipu, Vṛtra, Kaṁsa. The verse situates Pūtanā in that line.
  • pratinedire — (the directions) vibrated
    Perfect middle plural of prati-nad (to resound). Directions themselves echo back the death-cry. In Gauḍīya cosmography, dik (direction) and grahas (planets) are personalities; they too are 'witnessing' the Lord's first public act in Vraja.
As Pūtanā screamed loudly and forcefully, the earth with its mountains, and outer space with its planets, trembled. The lower planets and all directions vibrated, and people fell down, fearing that thunderbolts were falling upon them.
Purport

Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura remarks that in this verse the word rasā refers to the planetary systems below the earth, such as Rasātala, Atala, Vitala, Sutala and Talātala.

— A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda
Gauḍīya Ācāryas
Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura Gauḍīya
Translation
As Pūtanā screamed loudly and forcefully, the earth with its mountains, and outer space with its planets, trembled. The lower planets and all directions vibrated, and people fell down, fearing that thunderbolts were falling upon them.
Commentary

Rasa means rasatala and other lower planets.

Jīva Gosvāmī Gauḍīya
Commentary

The earth and lower planets trembled and echoed the sound, and the directions echoed the sound. The people had never heard such a loud sound and thus fell to the ground.

Related values & verses
Related values
Bhakti (Devotion)Prema (Divine Love)
Related verses
SB 10.6.9 SB 10.6.10 SB 10.6.11 SB 10.6.13 SB 10.6.14 SB 10.6.15
Concepts
RasaJiva
Related lectures
Personal Guidance
Pūtanā's scream shakes the three worlds, yet baby Kṛṣṇa is unmoved — surrender to Him is the one shelter when reality itself seems to tremble.
Practical Applications
  • When today's news or a personal crisis makes the ground feel like it's shaking, pause and chant Kṛṣṇa's names before reacting.
  • Notice where you give cosmic weight to a 'scream' — a boss's anger, a market drop, a diagnosis — and consciously place that fear at Kṛṣṇa's feet instead.
  • Refuse to mistake loud disturbances for ultimate reality; return to one fixed sādhana (japa, reading, offering) that does not bend to the noise.
Analogy

Pūtanā's death-cry shaking the three worlds while baby Kṛṣṇa rests on her chest is like a thunderclap rolling across a kitchen courtyard where a lamp is still burning steadily on the windowsill — the room is full of noise, but the flame does not even bend. Saraṇāgati is that flame.

Stories
Hanumān at the burning of Laṅkā

When Hanumān torched Rāvaṇa's city (Rāmāyaṇa, Sundara-kāṇḍa), the heavens roared, citizens screamed, monsters ran. Sītā, in the Aśoka-vana, kept Her mind on Rāma alone. The thunder of the worlds did not move Her one breath because Her shelter was elsewhere.

The baby Kṛṣṇa unmoved on Pūtanā's chest in 10.6.12 is the cosmic-scale form of the same shelter: when one is fixed in Bhagavān, the screams of māyā remain mere weather.

📝 My note

Source: vedabase.io

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