Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.6.22-23
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
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avyāt
—
may (the Lord) protect
Optative of av (to protect). The opening verb of every line — a benediction, not a description. Each name of Bhagavān is grammatically asked to act; this is sevā as petition.
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cakrī
—
the carrier of the disc
From cakra (Sudarśana). The disc-bearing Viṣṇu protects in front because frontal attack is most direct; the disc itself is famously protective (recall Ambarīṣa). Gauḍīya note: cakra is named in the gopīs' prayer over the very person who wields it — līlā layered in līlā.
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hariḥ
—
Lord Hari
Nominative — 'the One who takes away.' Standard Bhāgavata name. In this kavaca, Hari guards the back — the direction most easily forgotten by the protected one.
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haladharaḥ
—
Lord Haladhara
Compound — hala (plow) + dhara (bearer). Balarāma, Kṛṣṇa's elder brother, the plow-wielder. The mantra ends with Haladhara because protection is finally familial, brotherly — Vraja's Kṛṣṇa is never without His Daujī behind Him.
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samantāt
—
on all sides
Indeclinable — closes the kavaca's geography. The protection has now covered every limb, every direction, every action. Nothing of Kṛṣṇa remains exposed — a 360-degree mantra-cocoon, modeled for every devotee household.
Even in the houses of the cultivators, who were not very advanced in the modern ways of civilization, the ladies used to know how to chant mantras to give protection to children with the help of cow dung and cow urine. This was a simple and practical way to give the greatest protection from the greatest dangers. People should know how to do this, for this is a part of Vedic civilization.
They protected Krsna’s limbs using this verse. Anghri stands for the two feet (anghri). Maniman is a particular avatara of the Lord. Janu stands for both knees. Hrt refers to the lotus holding the jiva in the heart region. Uro means chest. In this verse the directions around Krsna are protected. May the holder of the cakra protect you in front. May Sahagada, the holder of the club, protect you behind. May Madhusudana holding the bow and aja holding a sword protect your sides. May Sankha urugaya, holding the conch, protect you in the four corners (north east, northwest, south east south west). May Upendra protect you above and Tarska (garuda) protect you below. May Haladhara protect you in all directions.
May Cakrī protect you from the front; may Hari, the carrier of the club, protect you from the back; and may the carrier of the bow, who is known as the enemy of Madhu, protect one side and may Ajana, the carrier of the sword, protect your other side. May Urugāya, the carrier of the conchshell, protect you from all corners; may Upendra with Garuḍa protect you from above; may Haladhara protect you on the ground; and may Puruṣottama protect you on all sides. Tākrṣyaḥ should be grouped with Upendra. Puruṣaḥ means puruṣottamaḥ.
May Cakrī protect you from the front; may Hari, the carrier of the club, protect you from the back; and may the carrier of the bow, who is known as the enemy of Madhu, protect one side and may Ajana, the carrier of the sword, protect your other side. May Urugāya, the carrier of the conchshell, protect you from all corners; may Upendra with Garuḍa protect you from above; may Haladhara protect you on the ground; and may Puruṣottama protect you on all sides. They call the names of the Lord like Ajita. Maṇimān is he who wears the Kaustubha jewel. Though all the names are suitable to protect all the limbs, and described in the Bhagavan-nāma-kaumudī, the particular forms should manifest quickly with their power since the forms are present in the names used as mantras. Or in Viṣṇu-dharmottara there is a prescription for chanting particular names for particular purposes. The heart is lower and chest is higher than that. Purusaḥ means purusottaḥ.
- Revati Raman Pr SB 10-06-22-23 - 2009-05-17 ISKCON Tirupati
- SDAP SB 10-06-22-23 Lithuanian Translation - 2016-05-19 Kaunas Lithuania
- Sesa Pr SB 10-06-22-26 - 2012-03-06 ISKCON Alachua
- PrahladAnS SB 10-06-22-29 - How to remember Krishna - 2023-09-01 ISKCON Slovenia
- PrahladAnS SB 10-06-22-29 Slovenian Translation - Kako se spomniti na Kri%C5%A1no - 2023-09-01 ISKCON Slovenia
- 03 - RGS SB 10-06-22-29 Hindi - Putana Vadh-03 - 2005
- Radha Raman Sw SB 10-06-22-23 - 2016-09-02 Bhaktivedanta Manor
- Begin your morning by mentally offering each part of your body — feet, knees, heart, head — to Kṛṣṇa's protection before stepping into the day's work.
- When sending a child or loved one out, pause and audibly invoke Kṛṣṇa's names over them rather than relying solely on locks, helmets, and apps.
- Refuse the modern conceit that safety is engineered alone; treat the Vedic mantra-shelter as the first line of defense, not a quaint supplement.
The gopīs invoking Aja, Maṇimān, Yajña, Acyuta, Hayagrīva, Keśava, Viṣṇu, Urukrama, Cakrī, Gadādharī, Madhuhā, Śaṅkhī, Upendra, Garuḍa, and Haladhara over each limb of Kṛṣṇa is the master jeweler setting one diamond after another into every facet of a single crown — every form of Bhagavān fits, because every form is His own. The body in their lap is the very source of these names, yet they crown Him with His own light so that none of His limbs goes uncovered.
When Indra fled before Vṛtra and the demigods feared all was lost, Viśvarūpa gave Indra the Nārāyaṇa-kavaca (SB 6.8) — a limb-by-limb invocation of the Lord's many forms (Hari guard the head, Keśava the throat, Viṣṇu the heart, Acyuta the loins, etc.). Wearing it, Indra was untouchable.
The rakṣā-mantra over baby Kṛṣṇa in 10.6.22–23 is the same kavaca-style — explicitly modeled on the Nārāyaṇa-kavaca structure. The gopīs are extending to the source Himself a defense that the demigods received from Him in earlier ages.
My note
Source: vedabase.io