FolioCorpusBhagavad-gītā

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.70.24

యే చ దిగ్విజయే తస్య సన్నతిం న యయుర్నృపా: । ప్రసహ్య రుద్ధాస్తేనాసన్నయుతే ద్వే గిరివ్రజే ॥ ౨౪ ॥
ye ca dig-vijaye tasya
[ye cha dig-vijaye tasya]
sannatiṁ na yayur nṛpāḥ
[sannatim na yayur nripaah]
prasahya ruddhās tenāsann
[prasahya ruddhaas tenaasann]
ayute dve girivraje
[ayute dve girivraje]
ye — those who ca — and dik - vijaye — during the conquest of all directions tasya — by him (Jarāsandha) sannatim — complete subservience na yayuḥ — did not accept nṛpāḥ — kings prasahya — by force ruddhāḥ — made captive tena — by him āsan — they were ayute — ten thousands dve — two giri - vraje — in the fortress known as Girivraja .
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
ye ca dig-vijaye tasya
ye
those who
ca
and
dik - vijaye
during the conquest of all directions
tasya
by him (Jarāsandha)
sannatiṁ na yayur nṛpāḥ
sannatim
complete subservience
na yayuḥ
did not accept
nṛpāḥ
kings
prasahya ruddhās tenāsann
prasahya
by force
ruddhāḥ
made captive
tena
by him
āsan
they were
ayute dve girivraje
ayute
ten thousands
dve
two
giri - vraje
in the fortress known as Girivraja .
  • sannatim — complete subservience
    Saṁ-nati — full bowing, total submission. The kings refused to bow to Jarāsandha and were imprisoned for it. The Gauḍīya reading: refusal to bow to any but Bhagavān may bring worldly imprisonment, but it is the only correct refusal.
  • giri-vraje — in the fortress (city) of Girivraja
    Girivraja, Jarāsandha's capital in Magadha (modern Rajgir), is the geography of bondage in this chapter. Kṛṣṇa will eventually enter it with Bhīma and Arjuna (SB 10.71-72) to undo it from inside.
  • ayute dve — twenty thousand
    Twenty thousand kings, each with his own retinue — the scale shows Jarāsandha's reach. Bhagavān's intervention, when it comes, will not be small either; the magnitude of bondage measures the magnitude of mercy needed.
  • prasahya ruddhāḥ — forcibly imprisoned
    Prasahya — by force. Saṁsāra too holds the jīva by force: the body, the mind, the karma-pāśa. The kings' imprisonment is a literalization of every jīva's predicament.
Twenty thousand kings who had refused to submit absolutely to Jarāsandha during his world conquest had been forcibly imprisoned by him in the fortress named Girivraja.

Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī points out that these kings refused the payment of tribute and other forms of submission to Jarāsandha. Also, there is a well-known account in the Mahābhārata and other literatures that Jarāsandha desired to worship Mahā-bhairava by offering him the lives of one hundred thousand kings in sacrifice.

— A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda
Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura Gauḍīya
Translation
Twenty thousand kings who had refused to submit absolutely to Jarāsandha during his world conquest had been forcibly imprisoned by him in the fortress named Girivraja.
Commentary

How did Jarasandha imprison the kings? This verse answers. They did not accept subservience to him (sannatim) by paying taxes etc. Therefore he imprisoned them in Girivraja fort. How many? Twenty thousand (dve ayute) were imprisoned. It is learned from Mahabharata and other sources that he had the desire to perform a sacrifice to Mahabhairava by offering one hundred thousand kings.

Jīva Gosvāmī Gauḍīya
Commentary

The kings are described. They did not become very submissive (sannatim) to him and were thus imprisoned by Jarāsandha. The reason is described to the Lord to Yudhiṣṭhira: sa hi rājā jarāsandho yiyakṣur vasudhādhipaih Mahādevaṁ mahātmānam umāpatim arindama Jarāsandha wanted to perform a sacrifice to Śiva, using all the kings. Mahābhārata

Śrīdhara Svāmī Gauḍīya
Commentary

The kings, because they did not become submissive (sannatim) to Jarāsandha, had been imprisoned by him. Or “Who were the kings?” They were those who had did not submit. The reason is described by the Lord to Yudhiṣṭhira: sa hi rājā jarāsandho yiyakṣur vasudhādhipaih Mahādevaṁ mahātmānam umāpatim arindama Jarāsandha wanted to perform a sacrifice to Śiva, using all the kings. Mahābhārata

Related values
Vairagya (Detachment / Dispassion)Discriminative WisdomAbhaya (Fearlessness)Seva (Service / Selfless Action)Aparigraha (Non-possessiveness)Anahankarah (Freedom from False Ego)Daksya (Resourcefulness / Skill)Adambhitva (Non-hypocrisy / Authenticity)
Related verses

Twenty thousand kings packed inside the fortress of Girivraja are the human race in saṁsāra in miniature — each a sovereign in his own mind, yet collectively a prisoner. Jarāsandha is the principle of bondage; Kṛṣṇa, the principle of release.

Jarāsandha's birth and curse

In SB 9.22 and the Mahābhārata Sabhā-parva, Jarāsandha was born in two halves to two queens, joined together by the demoness Jarā — hence his name 'one who is joined by Jarā.' Cursed by Yavanarāja's lineage, he becomes Kṛṣṇa's sworn enemy and the kṣatriya-haṁsa-killer of his age.

He represents bound-together-by-Jarā — the very name suggests how saṁsāra holds together by old-age and death. His twenty-thousand prisoners await release the way conditioned souls await mokṣa.

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