Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.77.13
తామాపతన్తీం నభసి మహోల్కామివ రంహసా ।
భాసయన్తీం దిశ: శౌరి: సాయకై: శతధాచ్ఛినత్ ॥ ౧౩ ॥
tām āpatantīṁ nabhasi
[taam aapatanteem nabhasi]
maholkām iva raṁhasā
[maholkaam iva ramhasaa]
bhāsayantīṁ diśaḥ śauriḥ
[bhaasayanteem dishah shaurih]
sāyakaiḥ śatadhācchinat
[saayakaih shatadhaachchinat]
Word-for-word
tām
—
that
āpatantīm
—
flying toward
nabhasi
—
in the sky
mahā
—
great
ulkām
—
a meteor
iva
—
like
raṁhasā
—
swiftly
bhāsayantīm
—
illuminating
diśaḥ
—
the directions
śauriḥ
—
Lord Kṛṣṇa
sāyakaiḥ
—
with His arrows
śatadhā
—
in hundreds of pieces
acchinat
—
cut .
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
tām āpatantīṁ nabhasi
tām
that
āpatantīm
flying toward
nabhasi
in the sky
maholkām iva raṁhasā
mahā
great
ulkām
a meteor
iva
like
raṁhasā
swiftly
bhāsayantīṁ diśaḥ śauriḥ
bhāsayantīm
illuminating
diśaḥ
the directions
śauriḥ
Lord Kṛṣṇa
sāyakaiḥ śatadhācchinat
sāyakaiḥ
with His arrows
śatadhā
in hundreds of pieces
acchinat
cut .
Important Words
-
mahā-ulkām
—
like a great meteor
Compound: mahā (great) + ulkā (meteor, falling firebrand). The simile attaches to māyā's weapons across the Bhāgavatam — bright, hot, brief, and ultimately falling. Compare the gopīs' contempt for ulkā-like distractions in Vraja.
-
śauriḥ
—
Lord Śauri
Descendant of Śūra, i.e. Kṛṣṇa as the grandson of King Śūrasena. The dynastic name highlights His kṣatriya lineage; the Lord acts here through that paramparā, as one bound by the warrior's duty to His own.
-
śatadhā
—
into a hundred pieces
Adverb: in a hundred ways. The Lord's arrow does not merely deflect Śālva's spear; it splinters it. Decisive Vaiṣṇava counter: not parry, but disintegration.
Śālva’s hurtling spear lit up the whole sky like a mighty meteor, but Lord Śauri tore the great weapon into hundreds of pieces with His arrows.
Gauḍīya Ācāryas
Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura
Gauḍīya
Translation
Śālva's hurtling spear lit up the whole sky like a mighty meteor, but Lord Śauri tore the great weapon into hundreds of pieces with His arrows.
Jīva Gosvāmī
Gauḍīya
Commentary
Kṛṣṇa destroyed the spear while it was in the sky.
Śrīdhara Svāmī
Gauḍīya
Commentary
The spear was like a meteor because of its speed and lighting up all directions. Or Kṛṣṇa broke the spear in the sky like a meteor since he was directly the Lord, appearing in Śūra’s dynasty to reveal his unlimited powers.
Related values & verses
Concepts
Jiva
Personal Guidance
Analogy
The spear flares across the sky like a meteor, lighting every direction — and Kṛṣṇa cuts it into a hundred pieces with His arrows. A devotee learns that even the most dazzling display from māyā can be reduced to fragments by the steady, unimpressed shafts of nāma and śāstra.
My note
Source: vedabase.io