FolioCorpusŚrīmad-Bhāgavatam

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 4.5.21

पूष्णो ह्यपातयद्दन्तान् कालिङ्गस्य यथा बल: । शप्यमाने गरिमणि योऽहसद्दर्शयन्दत: ॥ २१ ॥
pūṣṇo hy apātayad dantān
[pooshno hy apaatayad dantaan]
kāliṅgasya yathā balaḥ
[kaalingasya yathaa balah]
śapyamāne garimaṇi
[shapyamaane garimani]
yo ’hasad darśayan dataḥ
[yo ’hasad darshayan datah]
pūṣṇaḥ — of Pūṣā hi — since apātayat — extracted dantān — the teeth kāliṅgasya — of the King of Kaliṅga yathā — as balaḥ — Baladeva śapyamāne — while being cursed garimaṇi — Lord Śiva yaḥ — who (Pūṣā) ahasat — smiled darśayan — showing dataḥ — his teeth.
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
pūṣṇo hy apātayad dantān
pūṣṇaḥ
of Pūṣā
hi
since
apātayat
extracted
dantān
the teeth
kāliṅgasya yathā balaḥ
kāliṅgasya
of the King of Kaliṅga
yathā
as
balaḥ
Baladeva
śapyamāne garimaṇi
śapyamāne
while being cursed
garimaṇi
Lord Śiva
yo ’hasad darśayan dataḥ
yaḥ
who (Pūṣā)
ahasat
smiled
darśayan
showing
dataḥ
his teeth.
Just as Baladeva knocked out the teeth of Dantavakra, the King of Kaliṅga, during the gambling match at the marriage ceremony of Aniruddha, Vīrabhadra knocked out the teeth of both Dakṣa, who had shown them while cursing Lord Śiva, and Pūṣā, who by smiling sympathetically had also shown his teeth.

Here a reference is made to the marriage of Aniruddha, a grandson of Lord Kṛṣṇa’s. He kidnapped the daughter of Dantavakra, and thereafter he was arrested. Just as he was to be punished for the kidnapping, the soldiers from Dvārakā arrived, headed by Balarāma, and a fight ensued amongst the kṣatriyas. This sort of fight was very common, especially during marriage ceremonies, when everyone was in a challenging spirit. In that challenging spirit, a fight was sure to occur, and in such fights there was commonly killing and misfortune. After finishing such fighting, the parties would come to a compromise, and everything would be settled. This Dakṣa yajña was similar to such events. Now all of them — Dakṣa and the demigods Bhaga and Pūṣā and Bhṛgu Muni — were punished by the soldiers of Lord Śiva, but later everything would come to a peaceful end. So this spirit of fighting between one another was not exactly inimical. Because everyone was so powerful and wanted to show his strength by Vedic mantra or mystic power, all these fighting skills were very elaborately exhibited by the different parties at the Dakṣa yajña.

— A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda
Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura Gauḍīya
Translation
Vīrabhadra made Pūṣā’s teeth fall out, just as Balarāma made the King of Kaliṅga’s teeth fall out. Pūṣā had smiled, showing his teeth, when Śiva was being rebuked by Dakṣa. Just Balarāma, at the time of Aniruddha’s marriage, during a game of dice, made the teeth of the King of Kaliṅga fall out, so Vīrabhadra made Pūṣā’s teeth fall out. Garimaṇi refers to Śiva. Dataḥ stands for dantān (teeth). Another version has puṣnoḥ in the dual form. Sometimes Indra and Pūṣā are grouped together as in the phrase aindrāpauṣṇaṁ carum: the rice offering of Indra and Pūṣā. (Black Yayur Veda, Taittirīya-bṛahmaṇa 1.7.2.4.5) Thus Vīrabhadra made the teeth of both Indra and Pūṣā fall out.
Dakṣa and Pūṣā lost their teeth — the very teeth that had cursed and the smile that had agreed. The organ of offense is the organ of correction. Notice which of your faculties are most active in offense.
Reflection Questions
  • Which of my faculties am I most often using to offend, and what does it owe me to retrain?
  • Where am I smiling along with what I should be naming as wrong?
📝 My note

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