FolioCorpusŚrīmad-Bhāgavatam

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 4.28.11

भयनाम्नोऽग्रजो भ्राता प्रज्वार: प्रत्युपस्थित: । ददाह तां पुरीं कृत्‍स्‍नां भ्रातु: प्रियचिकीर्षया ॥ ११ ॥
bhaya-nāmno ’grajo bhrātā
[bhaya-naamno ’grajo bhraataa]
prajvāraḥ pratyupasthitaḥ
[prajvaarah pratyupasthitah]
dadāha tāṁ purīṁ kṛtsnāṁ
[dadaaha taam pureem kritsnaam]
bhrātuḥ priya-cikīrṣayā
[bhraatuh priya-chikeershayaa]
Word-for-word
bhaya-nāmnaḥ — of Bhaya (Fear) agra-jaḥ — elder bhrātā — brother prajvāraḥ — named Prajvāra pratyupasthitaḥ — being present there dadāha — set fire tām — to that purīm — city kṛtsnām — wholesale bhrātuḥ — his brother priya-cikīrṣayā — in order to please.
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
bhaya-nāmno ’grajo bhrātā
bhaya-nāmnaḥ
of Bhaya (Fear)
agra-jaḥ
elder
bhrātā
brother
prajvāraḥ pratyupasthitaḥ
prajvāraḥ
named Prajvāra
pratyupasthitaḥ
being present there
dadāha tāṁ purīṁ kṛtsnāṁ
dadāha
set fire
tām
to that
purīm
city
kṛtsnām
wholesale
bhrātuḥ priya-cikīrṣayā
bhrātuḥ
his brother
priya-cikīrṣayā
in order to please.
Under the circumstances, the elder brother of Yavana-rāja, known as Prajvāra, set fire to the city to please his younger brother, whose other name is fear itself.
Purport

According to the Vedic system, a dead body is set on fire, but before death there is another fire, or fever, which is called prajvāra, or viṣṇu-jvāra. Medical science verifies that when one’s temperature is raised to 107 degrees, a man immediately dies. This prajvāra , or high fever, at the last stage of life places the living entity in the midst of a blazing fire.

— A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda
Gauḍīya Ācāryas
Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura Gauḍīya
Translation
Fear’s elder brother Prajvāra arrived and burned the city completely, desiring to please his brother. Pravāraḥ is Viṣṇuvjāra.
Related lectures
Personal Guidance
Prajvāra (final fever) set fire to the city to please his younger brother (fear). The final illness is itself an offering to fear; the deathbed-fire is a recognized stage.
Reflection Questions
  • Where do I imagine illness as random when scripture treats it as part of the structured ending?
  • What would prepared receiving of one's final illness look like?
📝 My note

Source: vedabase.io

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