Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.51.13
శ్రీరాజోవాచ
కో నామ స పుమాన్ బ్రహ్మన్ కస్య కింవీర్య ఏవ చ ।
కస్మాద్ గుహాం గత: శిష్యే కింతేజో యవనార్దన: ॥ ౧౩ ॥
śrī-rājovāca
[shree-raajovaacha]
ko nāma sa pumān brahman
[ko naama sa pumaan brahman]
kasya kiṁ-vīrya eva ca
[kasya kim-veerya eva cha]
kasmād guhāṁ gataḥ śiṣye
[kasmaad guhaam gatah shishye]
kiṁ-tejo yavanārdanaḥ
[kim-tejo yavanaardanah]
Word-for-word
śrī - rājā uvāca
—
the King (Parīkṣit) said
kaḥ
—
who
nāma
—
in particular
saḥ
—
that
pumān
—
person
brahman
—
O brāhmaṇa (Śukadeva)
kasya
—
of which (family)
kim
—
having what
vīryaḥ
—
powers
eva ca
—
as also
kasmāt
—
why
guhām
—
in the cave
gataḥ
—
having gone
śiṣye
—
lay down to sleep
kim
—
whose
tejaḥ
—
semen (offspring)
yavana
—
of the Yavana
ardanaḥ
—
the destroyer .
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
śrī-rājovāca
śrī - rājā uvāca
the King (Parīkṣit) said
ko nāma sa pumān brahman
kasya kiṁ-vīrya eva ca
kaḥ
who
kasmād guhāṁ gataḥ śiṣye
kiṁ-tejo yavanārdanaḥ
nāma
in particular
saḥ
that
pumān
person
brahman
O brāhmaṇa (Śukadeva)
kasya
of which (family)
kim
having what
vīryaḥ
powers
eva ca
as also
kasmāt
why
guhām
in the cave
gataḥ
having gone
śiṣye
lay down to sleep
kim
whose
tejaḥ
semen (offspring)
yavana
of the Yavana
ardanaḥ
the destroyer .
Important Words
-
brahman
—
O brāhmaṇa
Vocative — Parīkṣit addresses Śukadeva. The king under death-sentence is, again and again, the model śravaṇa-practitioner: he asks, the brāhmaṇa speaks, the seven days of the Bhāgavata unfold. Bhakti is sustained by exactly this circuit.
-
vīryaḥ
—
powers
From vīrya — heroic potency. Mucukunda has vīrya enough to incinerate an asura with a glance, but the rest of the chapter will show that his real vīrya is the strength to refuse all boons except service. Two senses of vīrya laid side by side.
-
guhām
—
in the cave
Accusative of guhā. The cave will keep returning — it is geography, refuge, and tomb, but most importantly the temple of Mucukunda-stuti. Bhāgavata caves often house transformations (Jaḍa Bharata's, Mārkaṇḍeya's, Mucukunda's).
-
yavana-ardanaḥ
—
the destroyer of the Yavana
Compound: yavana + ardanaḥ (afflicter, killer). Parīkṣit already names Mucukunda by what he did, before knowing who he is. In Bhāgavata pedagogy, action precedes identity in the storytelling — fitting for a tradition whose central category is līlā.
King Parīkṣit said: Who was that person, O brāhmaṇa? To which family did he belong, and what were his powers? Why did that destroyer of the barbarian lie down to sleep in the cave, and whose son was he?
Gauḍīya Ācāryas
Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura
Gauḍīya
Translation
King Parīkṣit said: Who was that person, O brāhmaṇa? To which family did he belong, and what were his powers? Why did that destroyer of the barbarian lie down to sleep in the cave, and whose son was he?
Commentary
Whose family did he belong to (kasya)? Where did he get his power from (kim viryah)? Whose son was he (kim tejah)?
Jīva Gosvāmī
Gauḍīya
Commentary
Ko nāma should correctly be kim nāma (which name). Or it can mean “Who is this clearly (nāma)?” Who is this person by lineage and what is his name?
Related values & verses
Related values
Anahankarah (Freedom from False Ego)Asteya (Non-stealing / Honesty)Aparigraha (Non-possessiveness)
Related verses
Personal Guidance
Analogy
A child watching a thunderbolt strike across a field, then turning to the grandfather: 'Who was that man, what was his lineage, why was he asleep?' Parīkṣit's questions are not idle — they are the Bhāgavata's pedagogy. Every great līlā opens out into a back-story so that the devotee can learn the chain of causes.
My note
Source: vedabase.io