• rakta-dhārayā — with a downpour of blood
  Compound: rakta (blood) + dhārā (stream). The asura's blood is described in the same idiom śāstra uses for cascading water from peaks — Vyāsa's poet's eye sees beauty where moralism would only see horror.
• gairikayā — with red oxide (ochre)
  Gairika — the red mineral that streaks mountains in Vraja and elsewhere. Gauḍīyas treasure Govardhana's gairika as Bhagavān's own pigment. The simile is intimate to the Vraja landscape.
• na-anucintayan — not considering, ignoring
  Anu- + √cint with negation: not registering, refusing to reckon. The asura's hallmark — never anucintana of consequence. Compare the bhakta's anucintana, which is constant remembrance of Hari.
• su-saṅkruddhaḥ — totally enraged
  Su- (intensive) + saṅkruddhaḥ. Same root as Bhagavān's līlā-krodha (v.16), but here amplified for the asura. The same word, used of devotee and demon, separates only by the qualifier su- — language tracks the soul's direction.
• śatadhā-acchinat — He shattered into a hundred pieces
  Compound: śatadhā (a hundredfold) + acchinat (imperfect of √chid, to cut). Bhagavān's response is repeatedly described in śatadhā — Balarāma is not deflecting but disintegrating each weapon. Total reply.

A mountain streaked with gairika — red ochre — looks beautiful from a distance; the demon's bloodied skull is the same view at close range. The poet refuses to soften the violence and refuses to make it ugly. The Lord's judgment is dreadful, but it is also exact, almost ornamental.