FolioCorpusBhagavad-gītā

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.76.24

శరైరగ్‍న్యర్కసంస్పర్శైరాశీవిషదురాసదై: । పీడ్యమానపురానీక: శాల్వోఽముహ్యత్పరేరితై: ॥ ౨౪ ॥
śarair agny-arka-saṁsparśair
[sharair agny-arka-samsparshair]
āśī-viṣa-durāsadaiḥ
[aashee-visha-duraasadaih]
pīḍyamāna-purānīkaḥ
[peedyamaana-puraaneekah]
śālvo ’muhyat pareritaiḥ
[shaalvo ’muhyat pareritaih]
śaraiḥ — by the arrows agni — like fire arka — and like the sun saṁsparśaiḥ — whose contact āśī — of a snake viṣa — like the poison durāsadaiḥ — intolerable pīḍyamāna — distressed pura — whose aerial city anīkaḥ — and whose army śālvaḥ — Śālva amuhyat — became bewildered para — by the enemy īritaiḥ — shot .
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
śarair agny-arka-saṁsparśair
śaraiḥ
by the arrows
agni
like fire
arka
and like the sun
saṁsparśaiḥ
whose contact
āśī-viṣa-durāsadaiḥ
āśī
of a snake
viṣa
like the poison
durāsadaiḥ
intolerable
pīḍyamāna-purānīkaḥ
pīḍyamāna
distressed
pura
whose aerial city
anīkaḥ
and whose army
śālvo ’muhyat pareritaiḥ
śālvaḥ
Śālva
amuhyat
became bewildered
para
by the enemy
īritaiḥ
shot .
  • amuhyat — became bewildered
    Imperfect of √muh. Same root as mūḍha (verse 4). The asura who was already mūḍha at the start of the chapter now becomes amuhyat in the middle — moha intensifies under bhakta-pressure rather than dissolving.
  • agni-arka-saṁsparśaiḥ — whose contact was like fire and the sun
    Contiguous join (agni + arka + saṁsparśaiḥ). Two of the Bhāgavata's stock images for Bhagavān — agni and sūrya. Pradyumna's arrows literally carry the divine taijasa: fire to the touch, sun to the eye.
  • āśī-viṣa — of the venom of a snake
    Contiguous join (āśī + viṣa). Āśī-viṣa — 'fanged-poison,' a venomous serpent. Recall Kāliya in SB 10.16: serpents serve the Lord. Even snake-venom is, in Bhāgavata economy, a tool Bhagavān can wield.
  • durāsadaiḥ — intolerable
    duḥ + ā + √sad (same word used for Saubha itself in verse 8). The asura who built durāsada now meets durāsada — what he weaponized is now weaponized against him. Karmic mirroring at the level of vocabulary.
  • pura-anīkaḥ — whose aerial city and army
    Contiguous join (pura + anīkaḥ). Anīka — army. Pura — city. Śālva is named here by his two extensions; the verse refuses to grant him a self apart from his hardware.
Śālva became bewildered upon seeing his army and aerial city thus harassed by his enemy’s arrows, which struck like fire and the sun and were as intolerable as snake venom.

Śrīla Śrīdhara Svāmī explains that the arrows of the Yadu commanders burned like fire, struck simultaneously from all sides like the sun’s rays, and, like snake venom, were lethal by a single touch.

— A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda
Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura Gauḍīya
Translation
Śālva became bewildered upon seeing his army and aerial city thus harassed by his enemy's arrows, which struck like fire and the sun and were as intolerable as snake venom.
Commentary

Both the flying city of saubha and the troops of Salva were afflicted by arrows which had the touch of fire and the sun, and were intolerable like snake venom, shot by the Yadavas. Thus he became bewildered.

Jīva Gosvāmī Gauḍīya
Commentary

The arrows were like fire because they burned like fire. They were like the sun because they heated everywhere like the sun’s rays.

Śrīdhara Svāmī Gauḍīya
Commentary

The arrows seemed to touch everything at once, like rays of the sun.

Related values
Adambhitva (Non-hypocrisy / Authenticity)Vairagya (Detachment / Dispassion)Tejas (Inner Radiance / Vigour)Discriminative Wisdom
Related verses
Concepts
Jiva

Like a thief who feels the householder's stick for the first time and realizes the courtyard has a master after all, Śālva is bewildered when the Yadu arrows actually find him. Asuric confidence collapses at first solid contact with bhakta-tejas.

📝 My note

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