Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.76.3
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
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pratijñām
—
a promise
Accusative of pratijñā — formal vow before witnesses. In dharma-śāstra a pratijñā binds the kṣatriya; here it binds Śālva only to his death. Vows untethered from dharma are ropes that hang the swearer.
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ayādavām
—
devoid of Yādavas
Negative compound (a + yādava). Since Kṛṣṇa Himself is a Yādava (yadu-pati), to make the earth ayādava is to make it akṛṣṇa — an explicit declaration of war against Bhagavān, however ignorantly framed.
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kṣmām
—
the earth
Accusative of kṣmā — Bhū-devī, who in SB 10.1.17 had prayed to Brahmā precisely for relief from such kings. Śālva imagines himself the earth's saviour while being one of the burdens the earth begged to be freed from.
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pauruṣam
—
prowess
From puruṣa. Pauruṣa is manly valor; the Bhāgavatam consistently contrasts asuric pauruṣa (self-derived, soon-broken) with the daiva pauruṣa of devotees who fight knowing Bhagavān is the doer (cf. Arjuna at Kurukṣetra).
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paśyata
—
just see
Imperative plural of √paś. The asura always demands an audience: see my power. The devotee instead asks the Lord to see him (paśya mām, Gītā 11.7). The grammar of the eye reverses across the asura/devotee line.
He made a promise to kill all the Yādavas while the kings listened. The possessive case is used to suggest that they listened, but did not respect his oath, since it was impossible to fulfill. Or the possessive case can stand for the locative. Then the meaning is that they supported his promise.
- What vow am I quietly carrying that pride won't let me revisit?
- Where could releasing a wounded vow be more freeing than fulfilling it?
Like a man who, stung by a wasp, vows aloud to empty the air of insects — the vow announces only the depth of his sting. Śālva's promise to make the earth ayādava is the cry of a wound, not the speech of a hero.
In SB 7.3, Hiraṇyakaśipu, brother of Hiraṇyākṣa, vows in the same way before his court to make the world devoid of Viṣṇu-devotees, and goes off to perform austerities for a boon. Śālva's pattern is identical: public oath, then tapasya aimed at a weapon.
The Bhāgavatam repeats the structure to teach that vows born from envy of Bhagavān curve back on the vow-maker. Hiraṇyakaśipu's own son Prahlāda becomes the instrument; Śālva's chosen vehicle Saubha will likewise prove no shelter.
My note
Source: vedabase.io