Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.78.29
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
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hā-hā iti
—
exclaiming 'alas, alas'
Hā is the standard Sanskrit lament-particle. Doubled, it marks the strongest grief. The sages register the killing not with approval but with mourning — even when its target deserved it.
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khinna-mānasāḥ
—
with distressed minds
Khinna (dejected, from √khid) + mānasa (mind). The sages' minds are bent. Gauḍīyas note: a sage's khinnatā is itself a teaching — even right action carries cost when it disturbs ritual.
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saṅkarṣaṇam
—
Saṅkarṣaṇa
From sam- + √kṛṣ ('to draw together'). One of Balarāma's tattva-names — the One who draws together. The sages address Him by His viṣṇu-tattva name to remind Him of the responsibilities that name carries.
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adharmaḥ
—
irreligion
A- + dharma. The sages name the killing as a-dharma. The Lord does not contradict them — He will perform atonement. The Bhāgavatam allows two true descriptions to coexist: necessary daṇḍa, and ritual a-dharma.
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prabho
—
O master
Vocative of prabhu. Even while accusing Him of a-dharma, the sages address Him as Lord. The Vaiṣṇava form of complaint never abandons the relation.
In distress the sages cried out, not in anger but with politeness. O Lord of all beings (prabho)! You have committed adharma. But this is because you are the second member of Svayam Bhagavān’s caturvyūha, Saṅkarṣaṇa and worshipped by all (devam). The real meaning of their words is “You have done something beyond which there is no dharma (adharma). It is the highest dharma.”
They spoke to Saṅkarṣaṇa, the second member of the caturvyuha, directly the Lord, worshipped by the world (devam), or who was non-different from Kṛṣna, being his elder brother. O master (prabho)!
- Where have I been shocked by what looked like the Lord's wrong action?
- How does He receive my protest, and what conversation might follow?
The same sages who rose to greet Him now cry hā-hā, lamenting that their guest has killed their reciter. The Lord's act has split the assembly into two truths at once — the breach of śīla was real, the killing of a brāhmaṇa-by-association is also real. The Bhāgavatam refuses to resolve the tension cheaply.
My note
Source: vedabase.io