FolioCorpusŚrīmad-Bhāgavatam

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.77.14

तं च षोडशभिर्विद्ध्वा बाणै: सौभं च खे भ्रमत् । अविध्यच्छरसन्दोहै: खं सूर्य इव रश्मिभि: ॥ १४ ॥
taṁ ca ṣoḍaśabhir viddhvā
[tam cha shodashabhir viddhvaa]
bānaiḥ saubhaṁ ca khe bhramat
[baanaih saubham cha khe bhramat]
avidhyac chara-sandohaiḥ
[avidhyach chara-sandohaih]
khaṁ sūrya iva raśmibhiḥ
[kham soorya iva rashmibhih]
tam — him, Śālva ca — and ṣoḍaśabhiḥ — with sixteen viddhvā — piercing bāṇaiḥ — arrows saubham — Saubha ca — also khe — in the sky bhramat — wandering avidhyat — He struck śara — of arrows sandohaiḥ — with torrents kham — the sky sūryaḥ — the sun iva — as raśmibhiḥ — with its rays .
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
taṁ ca ṣoḍaśabhir viddhvā
tam
him, Śālva
ca
and
ṣoḍaśabhiḥ
with sixteen
viddhvā
piercing
bānaiḥ saubhaṁ ca khe bhramat
bāṇaiḥ
arrows
saubham
Saubha
ca
also
khe
in the sky
bhramat
wandering
avidhyac chara-sandohaiḥ
avidhyat
He struck
śara
of arrows
sandohaiḥ
with torrents
khaṁ sūrya iva raśmibhiḥ
kham
the sky
sūryaḥ
the sun
iva
as
raśmibhiḥ
with its rays .
  • ṣoḍaśabhiḥ — with sixteen
    Instrumental plural — sixteen. A number traditionally associated with completeness (sixteen kalās of the Lord, sixteen names of the mahā-mantra). The count signals fullness of response, not haste.
  • śara-sandohaiḥ — with showers of arrows
    Compound: śara (arrow) + sandoha (multitude, milking). Sandoha literally means "milking together" — the arrows flow from the bow as milk flows from the cow's udder, an image dear to Vraja, here transposed into Dvārakā's warfare.
  • sūryaḥ iva raśmibhiḥ — like the sun with its rays
    The verse's central simile. Gauḍīyas connect this to Caitanya-caritāmṛta's repeated description of Kṛṣṇa as the sun and the jīvas as His rays — acintya-bhedābheda's classical image. Even in battle the Lord shines as that same sun.
Lord Kṛṣṇa then pierced Śālva with sixteen arrows and struck the Saubha airship with a deluge of arrows as it darted about the sky. Firing His arrows, the Lord appeared like the sun flooding the heavens with its rays.
Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura Gauḍīya
Translation
Lord Kṛṣṇa then pierced Śālva with sixteen arrows and struck the Saubha airship with a deluge of arrows as it darted about the sky. Firing His arrows, the Lord appeared like the sun flooding the heavens with its rays.
Commentary

The saubha aircraft was like the akasa, dark in color and quick in movement. Krsna is compared to the sun, whose power can defeat everything else, and whose arrows were countless and painful like the rays of the sun.

Jīva Gosvāmī Gauḍīya
Commentary

Though the vehicle moved in the sky, Kṛṣṇa struck it.

Related values
Bhakti (Devotion)Prema (Divine Love)
Concepts
RasaJiva
Kṛṣṇa pierced Śālva with sixteen arrows and flooded the Saubha airship like the sun flooding heaven with rays. The Lord's response is generous in measure — overwhelming, not stingy.
Reflection Questions
  • Do I respond to problems with enough force, or hold back trying to be 'reasonable'?
  • Where is sun-like generosity in response the right scale?

Sixteen arrows into Śālva, a flood of shafts into the Saubha as it darts about the sky — Kṛṣṇa firing arrows resembles the sun flooding the heavens with rays. The Lord's response to a moving, hovering, mocking enemy is not concentrated rage but a sun-broad, even illumination of arrows from every direction.

📝 My note

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