Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.74.43
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
-
svān nivārya
—
checking His own (devotees)
Sva (own) + nivārya (gerund of ni + √vṛ — restraining). Kṛṣṇa restrains His bhaktas before acting. Gauḍīyas: He does not need their hands; their love is enough — the doing belongs to Him.
-
ruṣā
—
angrily
Instrumental of ruṣ. Bhagavān's anger — rare in the Bhāgavatam after Vraja. Gauḍīyas: when Kṛṣṇa is angry on behalf of the dharma of His devotees, the anger is itself rasa, not vikāra (cf. Nṛsiṁha-līlā, SB 7.8).
-
kṣura - anta - cakreṇa
—
with the razor-edged disc
Compound: kṣura (razor) + anta (edge) + cakra (disc). The Sudarśana cakra under its sharpness-aspect. The disc has many names by attribute; here, it is specifically razor-edged because the verse wants us to see the head come off cleanly.
-
jahāra
—
severed
Perfect of √hṛ (to carry away). 'He carried off' the head. Same verb used elsewhere for Hari's act of removing — even the violent stroke is, lexically, a removal.
Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura explains the Lord’s action as follows: If Lord Kṛṣṇa had done nothing, there probably would have been a savage fight on the sacrificial grounds, and thus the whole ceremony would have been drenched in blood, spoiling the sanctified atmosphere. Therefore, in order to protect the Rājasūya sacrifice of Kṛṣṇa’s beloved devotee Yudhiṣṭhira, the Lord immediately severed Śiśupāla’s head with His razor-sharp disc in such a way that not a drop of blood fell within the sacrificial grounds.
Then the Lord stood up. This was his intention: "If I remain silent, then they will fight amongst each other and fill the sacrificial arena with blood. Even if I mount my chariot and with troops engage in combat with him, the place will be soaked with blood. Either way, the sacrifice of my dearmost Yudhisthira will be destroyed. Reconciliation at this point is too difficult. Therefore this must be done." Deciding this, he at that moment rose and cut off Sisupala’ss head, in such a way that even a drop of blood did not fall on the sacrificial arena.
At this time (tāvat), after three births, freeing him from the curse of the sages, the Lord found it now suitable to kill him with his own hand as he had done in previously births in order that the demon could attain his form as an associate in Vaikuṇṭha. The Pāṇḍavas had risen first to kill Śiśupāla because Kṛṣṇa was Bhagavān, full of unlimited qualities such as affection for his devotees and knowledge. Śiśupāla had suddenly come face to face with him.
The Lord restrained the Pāṇḍavas (svān). He rushed towards Śiśupāla in anger and cut off his head with the sharp edge of his cakra, quickly and easily. At this time (tāvat), after three births, freeing Śiśupāla from the curse of the sages, the Lord found it now suitable to kill him with his own hand as he had done in previously births, in order that the demon could attain his form as an associate in Vaikuṇṭha. The Pāṇḍavas had risen first to kill Śiśupāla because Kṛṣṇa was Bhagavān, full of unlimited qualities such as affection for his devotees and knowledge. Or tāvat means “before the others rose.” He rose before the others because he was endowed with all extraordinary powers (bhagavān).
- Where could one decisive act of mine protect a larger work that is unraveling?
- When is restraint of my allies as important as restraint of the opponent?
A father with grown sons may, for one decisive stroke, step out from behind them and take the weight himself. Kṛṣṇa stops the Pāṇḍavas mid-rise and lets the Sudarśana fly from His own hand — the cakra that has waited three lifetimes.
The same disc that severed Rāhu's head when he drank the amṛta, that protected Ambarīṣa from Durvāsā's fire-being (SB 9.4), that cut down innumerable asuras across Viṣṇu's līlās — now severs Śiśupāla. The instrument is one across yugas.
Gauḍīyas note: cakra carries kāla. When Kṛṣṇa releases it, it is time itself that has come for Śiśupāla — exactly the duratyaya-kāla Śiśupāla had cited in verse 31.
My note
Source: vedabase.io