FolioCorpusŚrīmad-Bhāgavatam

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.70.29

तन्नो भवान् प्रणतशोकहराङ्‍‍घ्रियुग्मो बद्धान् वियुङ्‍क्ष्व मगधाह्वयकर्मपाशात् । यो भूभुजोऽयुतमतङ्गजवीर्यमेको बिभ्रद् रुरोध भवने मृगराडिवावी: ॥ २९ ॥
tan no bhavān praṇata-śoka-harāṅghri-yugmo
[tan no bhavaan pranata-shoka-haraanghri-yugmo]
baddhān viyuṅkṣva magadhāhvaya-karma-pāśāt
[baddhaan viyunkshva magadhaahvaya-karma-paashaat]
yo bhū-bhujo ’yuta-mataṅgaja-vīryam eko
[yo bhoo-bhujo ’yuta-matangaja-veeryam eko]
bibhrad rurodha bhavane mṛga-rāḍ ivāvīḥ
[bibhrad rurodha bhavane mriga-raad ivaaveeh]
tat — therefore naḥ — us bhavān — Your good self praṇata — of those who have surrendered śoka — the sorrow hara — which remove aṅghri — of feet yugmaḥ — whose pair baddhān — bound viyuṅkṣva — please release magadha - āhvaya — going by the name Magadha (Jarāsandha) karma — of fruitive work pāśāt — from the fetters yaḥ — who bhū - bhujaḥ — kings ayuta — ten thousand matam — maddened gaja — of elephants vīryam — the prowess ekaḥ — alone bibhrat — wielding rurodha — imprisoned bhavane — in His residence mṛga - rāṭ — the lion, king of the animals iva — just as avīḥ — sheep .
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
tan no bhavān praṇata-śoka-harāṅghri-yugmo
tat
therefore
naḥ
us
baddhān viyuṅkṣva magadhāhvaya-karma-pāśāt
yo bhū-bhujo ’yuta-mataṅgaja-vīryam eko
bhavān
Your good self
praṇata
of those who have surrendered
śoka
the sorrow
bibhrad rurodha bhavane mṛga-rāḍ ivāvīḥ
hara
which remove
aṅghri
of feet
yugmaḥ
whose pair
baddhān
bound
viyuṅkṣva
please release
magadha - āhvaya
going by the name Magadha (Jarāsandha)
karma
of fruitive work
pāśāt
from the fetters
yaḥ
who
bhū - bhujaḥ
kings
ayuta
ten thousand
matam
maddened
gaja
of elephants
vīryam
the prowess
ekaḥ
alone
bibhrat
wielding
rurodha
imprisoned
bhavane
in His residence
mṛga - rāṭ
the lion, king of the animals
iva
just as
avīḥ
sheep .
  • praṇata-śoka-hara — remover of the sorrow of the surrendered
    Triple compound: praṇata (the bowed-down), śoka (grief), hara (remover). One of Bhagavān's most precise epithets — He removes the sorrow specifically of those who bow. Bowing is the door.
  • karma-pāśāt — from the fetters of karma
    Karma-pāśa — the rope of karma. The kings' physical chains are doubled by metaphysical chains, and both are loosened together. Bhagavān's grace cuts both kinds of bondage at once.
  • mṛga-rāṭ — lion (king of beasts)
    The lion-image is doubled in the chapter: Jarāsandha is the false lion that has caged the kings; Kṛṣṇa among the Yadus was just called nr-siṁha (18). The true Lion will displace the false one.
  • viyuṅkṣva — please separate (us from the bondage)
    From vi + yuj — to unjoin, to release. The verbal imperative carries the entire request: separate us from our fetters. Bhakti often takes the form of begging Bhagavān to unjoin what should not be joined.
Therefore, since Your feet relieve the sorrow of those who surrender to them, please release us prisoners from the shackles of karma, manifest as the King of Magadha. Wielding alone the prowess of ten thousand maddened elephants, he has locked us up in his house just as a lion captures sheep.

The kings here pray for the Lord to release them from the bondage of karma created by the Lord’s material potency. The kings make it clear that Jarāsandha is so powerful that there is no hope for them to escape by their own power.

— A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda
Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura Gauḍīya
Translation
Therefore, since Your feet relieve the sorrow of those who surrender to them, please release us prisoners from the shackles of karma, manifest as the King of Magadha. Wielding alone the prowess of ten thousand maddened elephants, he has locked us up in his house just as a lion captures sheep.
Commentary

In this verse they pray that Krsna release them from the bondage of karma created by his maya. "Please release (viyuksva) us from the bondage of karma in the form of Jarasandha." "But you can get out of this bondage of Jarasandha by yourselves." "Having the power of a hundred thousand elephants he alone has imprisoned all of us kings, as lion catches sheep."

Jīva Gosvāmī Gauḍīya
Commentary

Since we foolish persons are not free of desires, please free us from this bondage, an obstacle to having you manifest yourself, so that we can achieve the happiness in the ātmā. Seeing that we have lost our intelligence because of your māyā (tat), please free us from prison, since your feet can destroy suffering of those who surrender to you. Bhavān can also be taken as abhavān: those who do not have auspiciousness, who are suffering greatly. Free us from the bondage of karma in the form of Jarāsandha. If it were not for our karma, he would not have the power to lock us up.

Śrīdhara Svāmī Gauḍīya
Commentary

Because of suffering caused by māyā (tat), free us from the chains of karma, because your feet destroy the suffering of surrendered persons. Or free us who have no auspiciousness (abhavān), who are suffering intensely from the ropes of our karma personified as Jarāsandha. He is only the pretext for our karmas. Or he could not have such power unless karma was involved.

Related values
Vairagya (Detachment / Dispassion)Discriminative WisdomShanti (Peace / Tranquility)Abhaya (Fearlessness)Seva (Service / Selfless Action)Samata (Equanimity / Even-mindedness)Ishvara Pranidhana (Surrender to God)Anahankarah (Freedom from False Ego)
Related verses
Concepts
Karma
'Please release us prisoners from the shackles of karma, manifest as the King of Magadha.' The kings saw Jarāsandha as karma made personal. When freedom is impossible by our own power, prayer is the right answer.
Reflection Questions
  • What in my life looks like a person but is really my karma manifest?
  • Where can I stop trying to outwit the situation and simply ask for release?

Jarāsandha caging twenty thousand kings as a lion captures sheep — the image is exact: those who lived as kings have been reduced to flock-animals. Only the king of kings, Kṛṣṇa, can break the lion's grip, because He is the lion-master Himself (Nṛsiṁha).

Bhīma killing Jarāsandha

In SB 10.71-72, Kṛṣṇa will bring Bhīma to Girivraja, and Bhīma — wrestling for fourteen days — will kill Jarāsandha by tearing him in two along the original join. The kings here, praying for release, do not yet know the means Kṛṣṇa will use; they only know Him.

The Gauḍīya reading: bhakti's prayer does not stipulate the method, only the deliverer. Bhagavān then chooses His instruments — here, Bhīma's strength — to fulfil what the prayer requested.

📝 My note

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