SB 10.77.15 — FolioCorpus

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.77.15

शाल्व: शौरेस्तु दो: सव्यं सशार्ङ्गं शार्ङ्गधन्वन: । बिभेद न्यपतद्धस्ताच्छार्ङ्गमासीत्तदद्भ‍ुतम् ॥ १५ ॥

śālvaḥ śaures tu doḥ savyaṁ

[shaalvah shaures tu doh savyam]

sa-śārṅgaṁ śārṅga-dhanvanaḥ

[sa-shaarngam shaarnga-dhanvanah]

bibheda nyapatad dhastāc

[bibheda nyapatad dhastaach]

chārṅgam āsīt tad adbhutam

[chaarngam aaseet tad adbhutam]

Word-for-word

śālvaḥ — Śālva śaureḥ — of Lord Kṛṣṇa tu — but doḥ — the arm savyam — left sa — with śārṅgam — the Lord’s bow, called Śārṅga śārṅga - dhanvanaḥ — of Him who is called Śārṅga-dhanvā bibheda — struck nyapatat — fell hastāt — from His hand śārṅgam — the Śārṅga bow asīt — was tat — this adbhutam — amazing .

Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)

śālvaḥ śaures tu doḥ savyaṁ

śālvaḥ

Śālva

śaureḥ

of Lord Kṛṣṇa

but

doḥ

the arm

savyam

left

sa-śārṅgaṁ śārṅga-dhanvanaḥ

with

śārṅgam

the Lord’s bow, called Śārṅga

śārṅga - dhanvanaḥ

of Him who is called Śārṅga-dhanvā

bibheda nyapatad dhastāc

bibheda

struck

nyapatat

fell

hastāt

from His hand

śārṅgam

the Śārṅga bow

chārṅgam āsīt tad adbhutam

asīt

was

tat

this

adbhutam

amazing .

Important Words

śārṅgam — the bow Śārṅga
Kṛṣṇa's celebrated bow, made of horn (śṛṅga). Just as Arjuna has Gāṇḍīva, Kṛṣṇa as Lord of Dvārakā wields Śārṅga. Gauḍīyas treat the temporary fall of Śārṅga as līlā, never as defeat — Bhagavān's weapons obey His mood, not gravity.
śārṅga-dhanvanaḥ — of the wielder of Śārṅga
Compound: śārṅga + dhanvan (bow-wielder). One of Kṛṣṇa's standard epithets. The Bhāgavatam pointedly uses the title in the very verse where the bow slips — a quiet reminder that the wielder is greater than the weapon.
adbhutam — wonderful, astonishing
The narrator's own word for the event. Vyāsa marks this as adbhuta-rasa — wonder. Gauḍīyas read such asides as authorial pointers: do not naturalize this fall; it is meant to provoke awe, not analysis.

Śālva then managed to strike Lord Kṛṣṇa’s left arm, which held His bow Śārṅga, and, amazingly, Śārṅga fell from His hand.

Gauḍīya Ācāryas

Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura Gauḍīya

Translation

Śālva then managed to strike Lord Kṛṣṇa's left arm, which held His bow Śārṅga, and, amazingly, Śārṅga fell from His hand.

Commentary

This and the next verse are not the opinion of Sukadeva. Doh (Arm) in the neutral form is sometimes seen, as in Raghu Kavya. That the bow fell from Lord’ s hand was astonishing because the Lord’s arm has unlimited strength.

Jīva Gosvāmī Gauḍīya

Commentary

Doḥ is neuter. Śālva struck Kṛṣṇa’s left arm. According to Raghu-kāvya he struck his bow.

Śrīdhara Svāmī Gauḍīya

Commentary

As if laughing at other, completely contrary opinions Śukadeva speaks in order to demolish this ideas with logic later. Śālva struck Kṛṣṇa’s left arm though he held his Sārṅga bow. This is completely wrong since it is impossible to injure the Lord having a form of eternity, knowledge and bliss. Though there is another hidden meaning, that is not explained here, as it would destroy this other opinion. Śrīdhara Svāmī also does not mention it.

Related values & verses

Related values

Adambhitva (Non-hypocrisy / Authenticity)Vairagya (Detachment / Dispassion)Tejas (Inner Radiance / Vigour)Discriminative Wisdom

Concepts

Jiva

Personal Guidance

Śālva struck Kṛṣṇa's left arm; amazingly, Śārṅga fell from His hand. The Lord allows even apparent setbacks to occur in His pastimes; what looks like failure may be the next move in a larger plan.

Reflection Questions

What recent 'setback' might be staged for a larger purpose I don't yet see?
How does this reframe my response to my own dropped bows?

Analogy

Śālva manages to strike Kṛṣṇa's left arm, and astonishingly, Śārṅga falls from His hand. The Bhāgavatam reports the wonder without explanation — the Lord allows the bow to slip so that the spectators may agonize, the demon may swell, and the next stroke may be all the more decisive.

📝 My note

Source: vedabase.io