FolioCorpusBhagavad-gītā

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.77.17-18

యత్త్వయా మూఢ న: సఖ్యుర్భ్రాతుర్భార్యా హృతేక్షతామ్ । ప్రమత్త: స సభామధ్యే త్వయా వ్యాపాదిత: సఖా ॥ ౧౭ ॥ తం త్వాద్య నిశితైర్బాణైరపరాజితమానినమ్ । నయామ్యపునరావృత్తిం యది తిష్ఠేర్మమాగ్రత: ॥ ౧౮ ॥
yat tvayā mūḍha naḥ sakhyur
[yat tvayaa moodha nah sakhyur]
bhrātur bhāryā hṛtekṣatām
[bhraatur bhaaryaa hritekshataam]
pramattaḥ sa sabhā-madhye
[pramattah sa sabhaa-madhye]
tvayā vyāpāditaḥ sakhā
[tvayaa vyaapaaditah sakhaa]
taṁ tvādya niśitair bāṇair
[tam tvaadya nishitair baanair]
aparājita-māninam
[aparaajita-maaninam]
nayāmy apunar-āvṛttiṁ
[nayaamy apunar-aavrittim]
yadi tiṣṭher mamāgrataḥ
[yadi tishther mamaagratah]
yat — since tvayā — by You mūḍha — O fool naḥ — our sakhyuḥ — of the friend (Śiśupāla) bhrātuḥ — of (Your) brother (or more exactly, cousin) bhāryā — the bride hṛtā — taken away īkṣatām — as (we) looked on pramattaḥ — inattentive saḥ — he, Śiśupāla sabhā — the assembly (of the Rājasūya sacrifice) madhye — within tvayā — by You vyāpāditaḥ — killed sakhā — my friend tam tvā — You Yourself adya — today niśitaiḥ — sharp bāṇaiḥ — with arrows aparājita — invincible māninam — who presume Yourself nayāmi — I will send apunaḥ - āvṛttim — to the realm of no return yadi — if tiṣṭheḥ — You will stand mama — of me agrataḥ — in front .
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
yat tvayā mūḍha naḥ sakhyur
yat
since
tvayā
by You
mūḍha
O fool
naḥ
our
sakhyuḥ
of the friend (Śiśupāla)
bhrātur bhāryā hṛtekṣatām
bhrātuḥ
of (Your) brother (or more exactly, cousin)
bhāryā
the bride
hṛtā
taken away
īkṣatām
as (we) looked on
pramattaḥ sa sabhā-madhye
pramattaḥ
inattentive
saḥ
he, Śiśupāla
sabhā
the assembly (of the Rājasūya sacrifice)
madhye
within
tvayā vyāpāditaḥ sakhā
tvayā
by You
vyāpāditaḥ
killed
sakhā
my friend
taṁ tvādya niśitair bāṇair
tam tvā
You Yourself
adya
today
niśitaiḥ
sharp
bāṇaiḥ
with arrows
aparājita-māninam
aparājita
invincible
māninam
who presume Yourself
nayāmy apunar-āvṛttiṁ
nayāmi
I will send
apunaḥ - āvṛttim
to the realm of no return
yadi tiṣṭher mamāgrataḥ
yadi
if
tiṣṭheḥ
You will stand
mama
of me
agrataḥ
in front .
  • mūḍha — fool
    Vocative — the demon's standard insult against Bhagavān, repeated by Hiraṇyakaśipu, Kaṁsa, Rāvaṇa. Gauḍīyas note the pattern: he who calls Bhagavān "fool" is the one who has just identified his own future.
  • apunaḥ-āvṛttim — to the state of no return
    Compound: a (not) + punaḥ (again) + āvṛtti (return). Literally the term for liberation — Śālva, intending to threaten Kṛṣṇa with death, accidentally uses the technical word for mokṣa. The Bhāgavatam laughs quietly at the demon's slip.
  • aparājita-māninam — thinking Yourself invincible
    Compound: aparājita (unconquered) + mānin (one who imagines oneself). The demon accuses the Lord of māna — but the Bhāgavatam, in the very next verse, has Kṛṣṇa quietly turn the accusation back: real warriors do not boast.
  • tvayā mūḍha — by You, fool
    Repeated address — "by you, fool, the bride was kidnapped." The demon piles up the past as grievance. Gauḍīyas read this list of "crimes" inversely: each item Śālva names — Rukmiṇī-haraṇa, Śiśupāla-vadha — is in fact a glory of Kṛṣṇa's līlā.
[Śālva said:] You fool! Because in our presence You kidnapped the bride of our friend Śiśupāla, Your own cousin, and because You later murdered him in the sacred assembly while he was inattentive, today with my sharp arrows I will send You to the land of no return! Though You think Yourself invincible, I will kill You now if You dare stand before me.
Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura Gauḍīya
Translation
[Śālva said:] You fool! Because in our presence You kidnapped the bride of our friend Śiśupāla, Your own cousin, and because You later murdered him in the sacred assembly while he was inattentive, today with my sharp arrows I will send You to the land of no return! Though You think Yourself invincible, I will kill You now if You dare stand before me.
Commentary

"O fool I will make you die." However the other meaning is: "because there is no confusion for you (yat tvaya amudha) , you took your rightful wife who is actually Laksmi, while we and our friend and paternal cousin Sisupala looked on (and you ignored us. Genitive case implies disregard.) Today I let you, the object of adoration for being invincible to sharp arrows, give me liberation." Or "I attain you who gives liberation ( tvam apunar avrttim) and therefore will not take rebirth."

Jīva Gosvāmī Gauḍīya
Commentary

Because you stole the bride of your brother and our friend, and in the assembly, not the battlefield, you killed him while he was inattentive, I will kill you today. Tvayā is repeated to indicate Śālva’s hatred of Kṛṣṇa. Since he is my friend (sakhā), I must take revenge. I will kill you if you stand before me. By this he indicates that Kṛṣṇa will flee in fear. Sarasvatī gives another meaning O wise one (amūḍha)! Śiśupāla was our friend and brother. You took your own wife, since she is Lakṣmī, while we watched with indifference. You killed our friend who was acting wildly and using bad words like a drunkard.

Śrīdhara Svāmī Gauḍīya
Commentary

He was a brother because he was a friend, or because he was your cousin. He was killed in an assembly, not in battle, and while he was inattentive. Otherwise you could not have killed him. He repeats the word tvayā (by you), to emphasize that Kṛṣṇa alone was the killer. This shows his intense hatred for Kṛṣṇa. Since he was a friend, I lament for him and must take revenge. If you stand before me I will kill you. Actually you will flee from me in fear.

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

Śālva's taunt is a catalog of grudges — Rukmiṇī's marriage, Śiśupāla's killing, Kṛṣṇa's supposed pride — laid out as legal charges before execution. Demons love to deliver verdicts before they have any power to enforce them; bhakti, by contrast, speaks little and acts when the moment is ripe.

Why Śālva hated Kṛṣṇa

Śālva was Śiśupāla's close friend and Rukmiṇī's would-be brother-in-law's ally; he had attended the failed wedding at which Kṛṣṇa carried Rukmiṇī away (SB 10.54). He was wounded and humiliated there, and vowed publicly to make the earth Yādava-less.

He then performed austerities to Lord Śiva for the gift of an aerial city impervious to gods, asuras, and Yakṣas — Maya Dānava built him the Saubha. Every word of this taunt is rooted in a wound he received in his friend's wedding hall and never let close.

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