FolioCorpusBhagavad-gītā

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.44.45

హా నాథ ప్రియ ధర్మజ్ఞ కరుణానాథవత్సల । త్వయా హతేన నిహతా వయం తే సగృహప్రజా: ॥ ౪౫ ॥
hā nātha priya dharma-jña
[haa naatha priya dharma-jna]
karuṇānātha-vatsala
[karunaanaatha-vatsala]
tvayā hatena nihatā
[tvayaa hatena nihataa]
vayaṁ te sa-gṛha-prajāḥ
[vayam te sa-griha-prajaah]
ha — alas nātha — O master priya — O dear one dharma - jña — O knower of religious principles karuṇa — O kind one anātha — to those who have no protector vatsala — O you who are compassionate tvayā — by you hatena — being killed nihatāḥ — are killed vayam — we te — your sa — together with gṛha — the home prajāḥ — and offspring .
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
hā nātha priya dharma-jña
ha
alas
nātha
O master
priya
O dear one
dharma - jña
O knower of religious principles
karuṇānātha-vatsala
karuṇa
O kind one
anātha
to those who have no protector
vatsala
O you who are compassionate
tvayā hatena nihatā
tvayā
by you
hatena
being killed
nihatāḥ
are killed
vayaṁ te sa-gṛha-prajāḥ
vayam
we
te
your
sa
together with
gṛha
the home
prajāḥ
and offspring .
  • anātha - vatsala — affectionate to the shelterless
    Compound: anātha (shelterless) + vatsala (affectionate). The exact epithet that the Bhāgavatam more truly applies to Kṛṣṇa Himself (cf. dīna-anātha-vatsala). The wives praise Kaṁsa with words that belong to Bhagavān; bhakti's vocabulary travels even into demoniac eulogy.
  • dharma - jña — knower of dharma
    Compound: dharma + jña (knower). Spoken of Kaṁsa. The Bhāgavatam preserves the elegiac convention; it does not editorialize. The reader is left to register the irony — Kaṁsa was famously not dharma-jña.
  • nihatāḥ vayam — we have been slain
    Compound clause: ni + √han (passive participle) + vayam (we). The wives identify themselves with the husbands' death — 'we too are dead'. Cf. SB 1.9 — the inversion-of-self that grief produces.
  • sa gṛha prajāḥ — along with household and children
    Compound: sa (with) + gṛha (house) + prajā (offspring). The complete unit. The Bhāgavatam shows demoniac kin-extinction as total — the violence does not stop at the husband; it absorbs the household. Asuric dynasties have a way of falling whole.
[The women cried out:] Alas, O master, O dear one, O knower of religious principles! O kind and compassionate protector of the shelterless! By your being slain we have also been slain, together with your household and offspring.
Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura Gauḍīya
Translation
[The women cried out:] Alas, O master, O dear one, O knower of religious principles! O kind and compassionate protector of the shelterless! By your being slain we have also been slain, together with your household and offspring.
Commentary

The daughter of Jarasandha and others who were married speak in two verses. "Along with our houses and offspring we also have been killed."

Jīva Gosvāmī Gauḍīya
Commentary

Each wife lamented in this way, or the wives of Kaṁsa lamented as in the verse, since they were the chief women lamenting. You were so compassionate (karuṇa). We have been slain along with our houses and children, by your dying. They say this out of great grief. Another version has tvayi āprahṛte ‘pi nihatāḥ: though you were hit only slightly, we are now dying.

Śrīdhara Svāmī Gauḍīya
Commentary

They each addressed their dead husband, each among all of the lamented. Or the chief wives, those of Kaṁsa lamented. Hā indicates great difficulty. O most compassionate (karuṇā-natha)! O affectionate one (vatsala)! Or o compassionate one (karuṇa)! O affectionate to persons without shelter (anatha-vatsala). The addresses are progressively more excellent. By your complete death (āhate) we die. Or even slightly wounded, we, along with our children, die completely (nihatāḥ). What to speak of your dying.

Related values
Shaucha (Cleanliness / Purity)Kshama (Forgiveness / Patience)Nyaya (Justice / Righteous Judgment)Samata (Equanimity / Even-mindedness)Arjava (Simplicity / Straightforwardness)Aparigraha (Non-possessiveness)Seva (Service / Selfless Action)Kritajnata (Gratitude)Karuna (Kindness / Compassion)
Related verses
Concepts
JivaDharma

'O kind one, protector of the helpless — by your being killed we too are killed.' The widows' lament uses the dharma-vocabulary that, if Kaṁsa had been worthy of it, would have prevented this scene. The vocabulary outlives the man.

📝 My note

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