Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.70.30
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
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dvi-nava-kṛtvaḥ
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eighteen times (two-times-nine)
Bhāgavata commentators traditionally read this as seventeen victories and one strategic 'defeat' — the eighteenth as the Mucukunda-trick. The number-grammar carries the entire history.
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nr-loka-niratam
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absorbed in human affairs
Bhagavān 'absorbed in human affairs' — a doctrinally weighty phrase. He chooses to act as if bound by human limits, hiding His full sovereignty. Gauḍīya: this is His narottama-līlā, His human-pastime; never a real diminution.
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ananta-vīryam
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of unlimited prowess
Ananta — endless. The kings explicitly affirm Bhagavān's unbounded strength even while reporting His apparent loss. Faith outruns appearance — the basic bhakti operation.
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ajita
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O unconquerable one
Ajita — never-conquered. Kṛṣṇa's epithet, used precisely when He has 'allowed' Himself to be conquered. The contradiction is theological: He is ajita in essence even when līlā shows otherwise.
The word nṛ-loka-niratam indicates that the Lord was absorbed in playing within the world of human beings. Thus, while acting like a human king He allowed Jarāsandha to be victorious in a single battle after the Lord had crushed him seventeen times. The kings here imply that Jarāsandha is especially harassing them because they are souls surrendered to Lord Kṛṣṇa. Therefore they beg the Lord, “O You who hold the cakra weapon high, please make the proper arrangement.” Śrīla Prabhupāda expresses the kings’ feelings as follows: “My dear Lord, You have already fought with Jarāsandha eighteen times consecutively, out of which You have defeated him seventeen times by surpassing his extraordinary powerful position. But in Your eighteenth fight You exhibited Your human behavior, and thus it appeared that You were defeated. My dear Lord, we know very well that Jarāsandha cannot defeat You at any time, because Your power, strength, resources and authority are all unlimited. No one can equal You or surpass You. The appearance of defeat by Jarāsandha in the eighteenth engagement is nothing but an exhibition of human behavior. Unfortunately, foolish Jarāsandha could not understand Your tricks, and he has since then become puffed up over his material power and prestige. Specifically, he has arrested us and imprisoned us, knowing fully that as Your devotees, we are subordinate to Your sovereignty.”
Your enemy, knowing that we have surrendered to you, now persecutes us even more day by day. That is expressed in this verse. "O you who hold the cakra high, in the eighteen times he fought with you, he was defeated seventeen times. Only once defeating you, who desire to take up the pastimes of fleeing away like an ordinary man, he swelled with pride, and persecuted us, your subjects. Do what is proper in this case (tat)."
Just by holding up your cakra you can defeat him! Absorbed in your human pastimes, you allowed him to defeat you once.
Just by holding up your cakra you can defeat him! It is well known (vai) that even though (khalu) he was defeated by you seventeen times, one time he defeated you, who have unlimited power and play a human role Or he defeated you once, though (khalu) you have unlimited power. Or he defeated you once, though you know that you should protect your citizens (khalu). The plural is used (yuṣmat) to indicate that the citizens belong to Balarāma and others as well as Kṛṣṇa. Or they indicate that all the devotees should protect them, out of extreme misery. O unconquered one, even now you have not been actually defeated by Jarāsandh. He defeated you once, of unlimited power, though you teach humans how to act (nṛloka-niratam) and should never flee from other warriors. Or he defeated you once, since you are absorbed in human behavior. Jarāsandha became very proud. Please do something so that he does not torment us.
- Where am I reading a 'defeat' in my life as final when it may be intentional in a larger plan?
- What helps me trust the Lord's overall pattern even when one round seems lost?
Kṛṣṇa has defeated Jarāsandha seventeen times and once allowed Himself to lose — like a teacher who scores his pupil's pride and then deliberately fails an exam to let the pupil swell. The kings, having watched the swelling become a torment, now ask Him to end the game.
In SB 10.50-51, Kṛṣṇa's eighteenth encounter with Jarāsandha: He pretended to flee, leading Kālayavana to the cave of the sleeping king Mucukunda, who incinerated Kālayavana with a glance. Kṛṣṇa's apparent 'defeat' was the staged setting of a deeper victory.
The kings here do not yet know that the 'defeat' was lila. They only see Jarāsandha's inflated pride. Bhagavān's losses are always strategic; bhakti trusts the strategy even when it is opaque.
My note
Source: vedabase.io