SB 11.4.21 — FolioCorpus

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 11.4.21

नि:क्षत्रियामकृत गां च त्रि:सप्तकृत्वो रामस्तु हैहयकुलाप्ययभार्गवाग्नि: । सोऽब्धिं बबन्ध दशवक्त्रमहन् सलङ्कं सीतापतिर्जयति लोकमलघ्नकीर्ति: ॥ २१ ॥

niḥkṣatriyām akṛta gāṁ ca triḥ-sapta-kṛtvo

[nihkshatriyaam akrita gaam cha trih-sapta-kritvo]

rāmas tu haihaya-kulāpyaya-bhārgavāgniḥ

[raamas tu haihaya-kulaapyaya-bhaargavaagnih]

so ’bdhiṁ babandha daśa-vaktram ahan sa-laṅkaṁ

[so ’bdhim babandha dasha-vaktram ahan sa-lankam]

sītā-patir jayati loka-mala-ghna-kīṛtiḥ

[seetaa-patir jayati loka-mala-ghna-keeritih]

Word-for-word

niḥkṣatriyām — devoid of members of the warrior class akṛta — He made gām — the earth ca — and triḥ-sapta-kṛtvaḥ — three times seven (twenty-one) times rāmaḥ — Lord Paraśurāma tu — indeed haihaya-kula — of the dynasty of Haihaya apyaya — the destruction bhārgava — descending from Bhṛgu Muni agniḥ — the fire saḥ — He abdhim — the ocean babandha — brought under subjection daśa-vaktram — the ten-headed Rāvaṇa ahan — killed sa-laṅkam — along with all the soldiers of his kingdom, Laṅkā sītā-patiḥ — Lord Rāmacandra, the husband of Sītā jayati — is always victorious loka — of the entire world mala — the contamination ghna — which destroys kīrtiḥ — the recounting of whose glories.

Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)

niḥkṣatriyām akṛta gāṁ ca triḥ-sapta-kṛtvo

niḥkṣatriyām

devoid of members of the warrior class

akṛta

He made

gām

the earth

and

triḥ-sapta-kṛtvaḥ

three times seven (twenty-one) times

rāmas tu haihaya-kulāpyaya-bhārgavāgniḥ

rāmaḥ

Lord Paraśurāma

indeed

haihaya-kula

of the dynasty of Haihaya

apyaya

the destruction

bhārgava

descending from Bhṛgu Muni

agniḥ

the fire

so ’bdhiṁ babandha daśa-vaktram ahan sa-laṅkaṁ

saḥ

abdhim

the ocean

babandha

brought under subjection

daśa-vaktram

the ten-headed Rāvaṇa

ahan

killed

sa-laṅkam

along with all the soldiers of his kingdom, Laṅkā

sītā-patir jayati loka-mala-ghna-kīṛtiḥ

sītā-patiḥ

Lord Rāmacandra, the husband of Sītā

jayati

is always victorious

loka

of the entire world

mala

the contamination

ghna

which destroys

kīrtiḥ

the recounting of whose glories.

Lord Paraśurāma appeared in the family of Bhṛgu as a fire that burned to ashes the dynasty of Haihaya. Thus Lord Paraśurāma rid the earth of all kṣatriyas twenty-one times. The same Lord appeared as Rāmacandra, the husband of Sītādevī, and thus He killed the ten-headed Rāvaṇa, along with all the soldiers of Laṅkā. May that Śrī Rāma, whose glories destroy the contamination of the world, be always victorious.

Purport

According to Śrīla Śrīdhara Svāmī, Lord Rāmacandra was more or less a contemporary incarnation for the nine Yogendras. Thus they have offered particular respect to Lord Rāmacandra, as indicated by the word jayati.

— A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda

Gauḍīya Ācāryas

Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura Gauḍīya

Translation

Paraśurāma appeared in the family of Bhṛgu as a fire that burned to ashes the dynasty of Haihaya and rid the earth of all kṣatriyas twenty-one times. The same Lord appeared as Rāmacandra, the husband of Sītādevī, subdued the ocean and killed the ten-headed Rāvaṇa, along with all the soldiers of Laṅkā. May that Rāma, whose glories destroy the contamination of the world, be always victorious! Salaṅkam means “with all the warriors residing in Laṅkā.” Since Rāma has already passed when Nārada spoke, the present tense is used with jayati to indicate special respect.

Personal Guidance

The same Lord who annihilates adharma as Paraśurāma and Rāma is the shelter whose glories alone wash away the world's contamination.

Practical Applications

Chant or recite one name of Rāma today as a deliberate act of taking shelter, not as background sound.
Notice one place where you tolerate adharma in yourself and resolve to cut it cleanly, the way Paraśurāma cuts kṣatriya pride.
Refuse to treat Kṛṣṇa's avatāras as separate gods — hold Paraśurāma, Rāma, and Kṛṣṇa as one Person in your remembrance.

Reflection Questions

Which 'ten-headed' attachment in me keeps regenerating after I cut one head, and what is its real Laṅkā?
When I read of the Lord destroying evil, do I quietly exempt my own adharma from that fire?

For Each Age Group

youth

Cut one habit on your phone today the way Paraśurāma cuts — clean, decisive, without negotiating with it for another week.
When peers mock devotion as soft, remember Rāma is also the warrior who killed Rāvaṇa; surrender is not weakness.
Before an exam or interview, say jayati to Śrī Rāma once with attention instead of borrowing slogans from social media.

householder

Identify one 'haihaya' in your household — a recurring injustice you have tolerated for the family's comfort — and address it this week.
Lead one short kīrtana or reading of Rāma's glories with your children so they learn that the Lord destroys contamination, not that morality is private opinion.
In a money or career decision this month, ask whether you are protecting dharma like Rāma or protecting status like the kṣatriyas Paraśurāma had to remove.

senior

Make remembering Rāma's name your final 'work' of the day, trusting the verse's promise that His glories destroy the world's contamination.
When mentoring, transmit the personalist line — Paraśurāma, Rāma, Kṛṣṇa as one Person — so younger devotees are not lost to vague spirituality.
Loosen one long-held grievance by offering it into the fire of Paraśurāma's axe rather than carrying it into the next stage of life.

Common Pitfalls

Reading Paraśurāma's violence as historical curiosity rather than a mirror of how adharma must be cut within oneself.
Admiring Rāma's heroism while skipping the surrender that makes Him our shelter and not merely our hero.
Treating jayati as a poetic flourish instead of a living cry of allegiance the nine Yogendras actually voiced.

Discussion Prompts

Where in modern life does 'real compassion' require the Paraśurāma-stroke rather than the soothing word, and who decides?
Rāma rules as a king and Paraśurāma destroys kings — what does this tell us about the Lord's relationship to varṇāśrama?
Share one 'contamination of the world' you have personally felt lifted by hearing or chanting the Lord's glories.

Role Play

A student tells you they admire Rāma's character but feel uncomfortable with Paraśurāma exterminating kṣatriyas twenty-one times and call it divinely sanctioned violence. As a fellow practitioner, walk them through how both acts come from the same Person and what that asks of their own life.

Objections & Responses

Killing all kṣatriyas twenty-one times sounds like genocide dressed in scripture — how can a loving God do this?
The Lord's compassion is to the soul, not to the bodily tyrant; when a warrior class becomes the very source of the earth's burden, removing them is mercy to everyone they would have crushed, and Paraśurāma performs it without personal hatred, as fire burns fuel.
These are old myths — why should Rāma's victory over Rāvaṇa matter to me in a secular working life?
The verse does not ask you to relocate to Laṅkā; it asks you to notice that the same Person who once bound the ocean now binds the contamination of your mind through His name and glories, and that shelter is available today.

📝 My note

Source: vedabase.io