Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.76.25
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
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vṛṣṇi-vīrāḥ
—
the heroes of the Vṛṣṇi clan
Contiguous join (vṛṣṇi + vīrāḥ) from synonyms. Vīra in Gauḍīya rasa-vicāra is one of the secondary rasas — vīra-rasa includes the warrior's resolve. Bhakta-vīra is the special category: vīrya from bhakti, not from ego.
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na tatyajuḥ
—
they did not abandon
Negation of √tyaj — to abandon. The same verbal root behind tyāga and sannyāsa, here negated. These devotees' tyāga is of fear and self-concern, not of post and duty.
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loka-dvaya
—
two worlds
Contiguous join (loka + dvaya). This world and the next. Gauḍīyas note: Vaiṣṇavas seek a third — Goloka — beyond loka-dvaya. The Vṛṣṇi vīras in this verse aim at iha-loka and svarga-loka; the higher motivation will be Pradyumna's own.
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jigīṣavaḥ
—
wishing to conquer
Desiderative of √ji. Jigīṣā — the wish to win. In Gītā 2.37, Kṛṣṇa promises Arjuna either svarga-jaya or pṛthivī-jaya; the same kṣatriya horizon is operative here, though Pradyumna will exceed it.
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arditāḥ
—
pained
Past participle of √ard — same root as ardyamānā (verse 12, of the city). Vocabulary echo: the city's pain (verse 12) is now distributed across her defenders. Dvārakā suffers limb-by-limb.
Śrīla Prabhupāda writes: “The heroes of the Yadu dynasty were determined to either die on the battlefield or gain victory. They were confident of the fact that if they would die in the fighting they would attain a heavenly planet, and if they would come out victorious they would enjoy the world.”
The Yadus wanted victory in this life and the next. They acted according to kṣatriya codes with desire for fame, in order to instruct kṣatriya dharma and the dharma of fame. Or they desired to control the upper and lower worlds by spreading their fame in order to benefit the universe.
- What post has the Lord placed me at that I have been quietly considering leaving?
- What would it mean to stay regardless of outcome?
Like sentries who stand at the gate even as arrows fall because the King they serve has set the post, the Vṛṣṇi heroes do not abandon their assigned places. Sva-dharma even under enemy rain — the Gītā 2.31 mood living in Dvārakā's parikara.
In Mahābhārata, Bhīṣma takes a vow of life-long brahmacarya for his father's sake and never abandons it — even when the kingdom passes to weaker hands, even when his own death is fixed by it. The Bhāgavatam (SB 1.9) shows him at last on a bed of arrows, recognized by Kṛṣṇa as a paramount devotee.
The Vṛṣṇi heroes here inherit the same śīla. They do not abandon their posts because Kṛṣṇa-sevā in the form of svadharma is not optional. Two lokas to conquer — this and the next — but only one means: stay where Bhagavān has placed you.
My note
Source: vedabase.io