FolioCorpusBhagavad-gītā

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.40.20

నమో భృగుణాం పతయే ద‍ృప్తక్షత్రవనచ్ఛిదే । నమస్తే రఘువర్యాయ రావణాన్తకరాయ చ ॥ ౨౦ ॥
namo bhṛguṇāṁ pataye
[namo bhrigunaam pataye]
dṛpta-kṣatra-vana-cchide
[dripta-kshatra-vana-chchide]
namas te raghu-varyāya
[namas te raghu-varyaaya]
rāvaṇānta-karāya ca
[raavanaanta-karaaya cha]
namaḥ — obeisances bhṛgūṇām — of the descendants of Bhṛgu pataye — to the chief (Lord Paraśurāma) dṛpta — conceited kṣatra — of the members of the royal order vana — the forest chide — who cut down namaḥ — obeisances te — to You raghu - varyāya — the best of the descendants of Raghu rāvaṇa — of Rāvaṇa anta - karāya — who put an end ca — and .
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
namo bhṛguṇāṁ pataye
namaḥ
obeisances
bhṛgūṇām
of the descendants of Bhṛgu
pataye
to the chief (Lord Paraśurāma)
dṛpta-kṣatra-vana-cchide
dṛpta
conceited
kṣatra
of the members of the royal order
vana
the forest
chide
who cut down
namas te raghu-varyāya
namaḥ
obeisances
te
to You
raghu - varyāya
the best of the descendants of Raghu
rāvaṇānta-karāya ca
rāvaṇa
of Rāvaṇa
anta - karāya
who put an end
ca
and .
  • bhṛgūṇām pataye — to the Lord of the Bhṛgus
    Compound: bhṛgu (the Bhṛgu line) + pati (lord). Paraśurāma born in the Bhṛgu dynasty. Gauḍīyas treat Paraśurāma as a śaktyāveśa-avatāra — empowered with the Lord's kṣatra-destroying śakti.
  • dṛpta-kṣatra-vana-chide — to the cutter of the forest of arrogant kṣatriyas
    Compound: dṛpta (arrogant) + kṣatra (warrior order) + vana (forest) + chid (cutter). Vivid metaphor: corrupt kings as overgrowth needing the axe. Reads political reform as forestry.
  • raghu-varyāya — to the best of the Raghus
    Compound: raghu (Raghu dynasty) + varya (best). Rāmacandra — sūrya-vaṁśī prince. Gauḍīyas read Rāma's perfection as the Lord's maryādā-mūrti — the form of bounded propriety, distinct from Kṛṣṇa's mādhurya-without-limits.
  • rāvaṇa-anta-karāya — to the ender of Rāvaṇa
    Compound: rāvaṇa + anta (end) + kara (maker). The ten-headed rākṣasa who had bound the worlds. His end is the Lord's mercy on dharma itself.
Obeisances to You, Lord of the Bhṛgus, who cut down the forest of the conceited royal order, and to Lord Rāma, the best of the Raghu dynasty, who put an end to the demon Rāvaṇa.
Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura Gauḍīya
Translation
Obeisances to You, Lord of the Bhṛgus, who cut down the forest of the conceited royal order, and to Lord Rāma, the best of the Raghu dynasty, who put an end to the demon Rāvaṇa.
Jīva Gosvāmī Gauḍīya
Commentary

The kings are compared to a forest because Parāśurāma killed them with his axe and they could do nothing about it, just as trees can do nothing when cut by an axe.

Śrīdhara Svāmī Gauḍīya
Commentary

Parāśurāma was born in Bhṛgus dynasty. He cut down the forest which was too dense with kṣatriyas who were out of control, harassing the brāhmaṇas, because of pride. Many times he killed all kṣatriyas, using his axe. Rāma killed Rāvaṇa and his followers like Kumbakarṇa, and also showed correct dharma.

Related values
Satya (Truthfulness)Ahimsa (Non-violence / Compassion)
Concepts
DharmaJivaGuna

When a forest of trees grows so tangled and overgrown that it chokes the soil and threatens every living thing under its branches, an axe-bearing forester clears it root and stump so the field can breathe again. Paraśurāma the Lord-of-the-Bhṛgus did exactly this with twenty-one rounds of degraded kṣatriyas, and Rāmacandra did it once with a single demon-king who threatened all dharma.

Rāma at Laṅkā

Rāvaṇa, ten-headed king of Laṅkā, kidnapped Sītā and built an empire on fear. Rāma — son of Daśaratha, prince of the Raghu dynasty — crossed the ocean with Hanumān and an army of vānaras and slew Rāvaṇa in single combat (Rāmāyaṇa, Yuddha-kāṇḍa).

Gauḍīyas honor Rāma's role precisely as verse 20 frames it: rāvaṇa-anta-karāya — the ender of Rāvaṇa. But more deeply, He is Sītā-pati, and the rasa Caitanya tradition seeks in Rāma is His mādhurya with His consort, which Hanumān's sakhya serves.

Paraśurāma's twenty-one campaigns

When Kārtavīryārjuna's army killed Paraśurāma's father Jamadagni for a wish-fulfilling cow, Paraśurāma — though born brāhmaṇa — took up an axe and cleared the earth of corrupt kṣatriyas twenty-one times (SB 9.15–16).

Akrūra calls Him dṛpta-kṣatra-vana-chide — cutter of the forest of conceited kṣatriyas. Bhṛgu's Lord is fierce in defense of the brahminical order, and the Bhāgavatam keeps a place for that fierceness inside the Person of Kṛṣṇa.

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