Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.76.7
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
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giri-śa
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by Lord Śiva
Compound from synonyms (giri + śa). Śiva as the lord of Mount Kailāsa — a name that locates him within creation, beneath Bhagavān. Even his 'tathā iti' is a delegated word; the real iti must come from Viṣṇu.
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para-puram-jayaḥ
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who conquers the cities of the enemy
Contiguous join from synonyms (para + puram + jayaḥ). Maya's epithet — the conqueror of enemy cities. Bhāgavata irony: the city-conqueror builds the city that Kṛṣṇa will conquer. The architect's own title rebounds on his patron.
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saubham
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named Saubha
From su + bhū — 'well-being.' The flying city's name claims auspiciousness; the verse will steadily empty the claim. Names in the Bhāgavatam mean what bhakti makes them mean: Saubha in Kṛṣṇa-virodha becomes durbhāgya.
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ayaḥ-mayam
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made of iron
Contiguous join (ayaḥ + mayam). Iron — heavy, dark, sub-lustrous. Gauḍīyas read material kāma-vehicles as ayaḥ-maya: heavy with karma, however fast they fly. The mantra-mūrti of Kṛṣṇa is hema-maya (golden); the asura's craft is iron.
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mayaḥ
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Maya Dānava
The asuric architect — namesake of māyā in its illusory sense. The Bhāgavatam quietly puns: Maya builds māyā-mayam saubham (cf. verse 21). The architect is the illusion is the city; one mistake-cluster, three names.
Maya made a city of iron called Saubha and gave it to Salva.
The vehicle or huge chariot had a form similar to the city called Saubha. Maya gave the vehicle to him with glee (pra—adāt), since he was also a demon.
Giriśa means “he who resides without moving (śa) on Kailāsa Mountain (giri).” Through a message from the sky, ordered by Śiva, Maya, who conquers cities of his enemies (para-purām jayaḥ), who favored the demons, using demonic skills, built a vehicle similar to the city named Saubha, which could hold armies. He gave it with excellence (pra adāt), by the order of Śiva, to Sālva.
- What instruments in my life are powerful — and what am I using them for?
- Where does the misuse of capability begin even before the act?
Like the master architect of a hostile court who builds dazzling halls for a doomed king, Maya Dānava fashions Saubha — wondrous iron in the sky, yet only a longer corridor toward the inevitable meeting with Kṛṣṇa.
In SB 10.75 (the very previous chapter) and Mahābhārata Sabhā-parva, Maya Dānava — rescued by Kṛṣṇa from the Khāṇḍava fire — builds the wondrous assembly hall for Yudhiṣṭhira at Indraprastha. The same architect builds for both sides; what differs is the heart of the patron.
For Yudhiṣṭhira the hall hosts Kṛṣṇa Himself and the Rājasūya. For Śālva the iron city hosts only his own vow and its destruction. Maya's craft is neutral; bhakti or dveṣa decides what the craft becomes.
My note
Source: vedabase.io