FolioCorpusBhagavad-gītā

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.78.1-2

శ్రీశుక ఉవాచ శిశుపాలస్య శాల్వస్య పౌణ్డ్రకస్యాపి దుర్మతి: । పరలోకగతానాం చ కుర్వన్ పారోక్ష్యసౌహృదమ్ ॥ ౧ ॥ ఏక: పదాతి: సఙ్‌క్రుద్ధో గదాపాణి: ప్రకమ్పయన్ । పద్‍భ్యామిమాం మహారాజ మహాసత్త్వో వ్యద‍ృశ్యత ॥ ౨ ॥
śrī-śuka uvāca
[shree-shuka uvaacha]
śiśupālasya śālvasya
[shishupaalasya shaalvasya]
pauṇḍrakasyāpi durmatiḥ
[paundrakasyaapi durmatih]
para-loka-gatānāṁ ca
[para-loka-gataanaam cha]
kurvan pārokṣya-sauhṛdam
[kurvan paarokshya-sauhridam]
ekaḥ padātiḥ saṅkruddho
[ekah padaatih sankruddho]
gadā-pāṇiḥ prakampayan
[gadaa-paanih prakampayan]
padbhyām imāṁ mahā-rāja
[padbhyaam imaam mahaa-raaja]
mahā-sattvo vyadṛśyata
[mahaa-sattvo vyadrishyata]
śrī - śukaḥ uvāca — Śukadeva Gosvāmī said śiśupālasya — for Śiśupāla śālvasya — Śālva pauṇḍrakasya — Pauṇḍraka api — also durmatiḥ — evil-hearted (Dantavakra) para - loka — to the next world gatānāṁ — who had gone ca — and kurvan — doing pārokṣya — for those who have passed away sauhṛdam — act of friendship ekaḥ — alone padātiḥ — on foot saṅkruddhaḥ — infuriated gadā — a club pāṇiḥ — in his hand prakampayan — making tremble padbhyām — with his feet imam — this (earth) mahā - rāja — O great King (Parīkṣit) mahā — great sattvaḥ — whose physical power vyadṛśyata — was seen .
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
śrī-śuka uvāca
śrī - śukaḥ uvāca
Śukadeva Gosvāmī said
śiśupālasya śālvasya
śiśupālasya
for Śiśupāla
śālvasya
Śālva
pauṇḍrakasyāpi durmatiḥ
pauṇḍrakasya
Pauṇḍraka
api
also
durmatiḥ
evil-hearted (Dantavakra)
para-loka-gatānāṁ ca
para - loka
to the next world
gatānāṁ
who had gone
ca
and
kurvan pārokṣya-sauhṛdam
kurvan
doing
pārokṣya
for those who have passed away
sauhṛdam
act of friendship
ekaḥ padātiḥ saṅkruddho
ekaḥ
alone
padātiḥ
on foot
saṅkruddhaḥ
infuriated
gadā-pāṇiḥ prakampayan
gadā
a club
pāṇiḥ
in his hand
prakampayan
making tremble
padbhyām imāṁ mahā-rāja
padbhyām
with his feet
imam
this (earth)
mahā - rāja
O great King (Parīkṣit)
mahā-sattvo vyadṛśyata
mahā
great
sattvaḥ
whose physical power
vyadṛśyata
was seen .
  • durmatiḥ — the evil-minded one
    Epithet of Dantavakra. Dur- (bad) + mati (intelligence). In Gauḍīya reading, the buddhi turned against Kṛṣṇa is the very engine that, by sheer attention, still drives the jīva back to Him — though through the painful gate.
  • sauhṛdam — act of friendship
    From su-hṛdaya, 'good-hearted.' Dantavakra performs sauhṛda for Śiśupāla and Pauṇḍraka — but real sauhṛda, Prabhupāda notes, is what Kṛṣṇa calls Himself in Gītā 5.29: suhṛdaṁ sarva-bhūtānām. Dantavakra inverts the term.
  • pārokṣya — for those passed beyond sight
    Parokṣa = out of view, beyond the senses. Etymologically the opposite of pratyakṣa. Dantavakra's loyalty is to the unseen dead; he cannot see the eternal Lord standing in front of him.
  • gadā-pāṇiḥ — club in hand
    Contiguous compound: gadā (club) + pāṇi (hand). Note the mirroring — Viṣṇu Himself is gadā-pāṇi in arcā-mūrti. The demon mimics the Lord's iconography just as he mimics His kinship.
  • mahā-sattvaḥ — mighty being
    Used here for Dantavakra's physical might. The same epithet (mahā-sattva) is later used for liberated devotees — the Bhāgavatam often lets a word straddle both before its true referent (Kṛṣṇa) reabsorbs it.
Śukadeva Gosvāmī said: Acting out of friendship for Śiśupāla, Śālva and Pauṇḍraka, who had all passed on to the next world, the wicked Dantavakra appeared on the battlefield in a great rage, O King. All alone, on foot and wielding a club in his hand, the mighty warrior shook the earth with his footsteps.
Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura Gauḍīya
Translation
Śukadeva Gosvāmī said: Acting out of friendship for Śiśupāla, Śālva and Pauṇḍraka, who had all passed on to the next world, the wicked Dantavakra appeared on the battlefield in a great rage, O King. All alone, on foot and wielding a club in his hand, the mighty warrior shook the earth with his footsteps.
Commentary

In the seventy eighth chapter, Krsna kills Dantavakra and Viduratha. Balarama kills the son of Romaharsana while going on pilgrimage. Two verses describe how Dantavakra went about taking revenge for the death of his friends. Though they were not present, out of friendship he wanted to complete their death rites by killing Krsna.

Jīva Gosvāmī Gauḍīya
Commentary

Śukadeva Gosvāmī said: Acting out of friendship for Śiśupāla, Śālva and Pauṇḍraka, who had all passed on to the next world, the wicked Dantavakra appeared on the battlefield in a great rage, O King. All alone, on foot and wielding a club in his hand, the mighty warrior shook the earth with his footsteps. With great strength or huge body (mahā-sattvaḥ) he shook the earth (imam) with his footsteps. He was seen (vyadṛśyata) by the Lord.

Śrīdhara Svāmī Gauḍīya
Commentary

Though they had died (ca), Dantavarka acted out of friendship to them because he was a fool (durmatiḥ). He made the earth (imam) tremble greatly, because he had great strength or a huge body (mahā-sattvaḥ). He was seen by Kṛṣṇa or by everyone.

Related values
Discriminative WisdomBhakti (Devotion)Ahimsa (Non-violence / Compassion)Maitri (Friendship / Goodwill)Shaucha (Cleanliness / Purity)Guru Bhakti (Reverence for Teacher)Karuna (Kindness / Compassion)Kshama (Forgiveness / Patience)
Related verses
Concepts
SattvaJiva

Dantavakra walks alone onto the field like a moth flying straight into the lamp it cannot stop staring at. Friendship with Śiśupāla and Śālva pulled him forward, but the lamp is Kṛṣṇa — and the moth's whole life had been waiting to land in that flame.

The last of the Jaya-Vijaya trio

Jaya and Vijaya, gatekeepers of Vaikuṇṭha, were cursed by the four Kumāras to take three demonic births. As Hiraṇyākṣa-Hiraṇyakaśipu, then Rāvaṇa-Kumbhakarṇa, then Śiśupāla-Dantavakra, they returned to the Lord through enmity (SB 7.1.35-46).

Dantavakra here closes that arc. His club, his rage, his loyalty to dead friends — all of it is the last residue of two gatekeepers trying to come home. The Bhāgavatam frames hate-of-Kṛṣṇa as a slow, intense form of meditation: dveṣa-yoga that still ends at His chest.

📝 My note

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