• rūkṣaiḥ — with harsh (words)
  Instrumental plural of rūkṣa — dry, rough, abrasive. The Bhāgavatam's standard adjective for asuric speech. Opposite of snigdha (affectionate, moistened) — the speech of devotees and Vraja-vāsīs.
• totraiḥ — with goads
  Plural instrumental of totra. Mahouts' tools for guiding elephants. The verse implicitly identifies Kṛṣṇa as the gaja-rāja, king of elephants — an iconography continuous with Gajendra-mokṣa (SB 8.2-4).
• dvipam — elephant
  Dvi-pa = 'drinking with two' (trunk + mouth). The Lord is repeatedly compared to a great elephant — strong, slow to anger, unmoved by minor weapons. Vraja calls Him gaja-rāja-gāmī, walking like the king of elephants.
• mūrdhni — on the head
  Locative of mūrdhan (crown, top). Dantavakra strikes the very seat of the Lord's crown — the part of the body where devotees keep the dust of His feet. He inverts even posture.
• siṁha-vat — lion-like
  Siṁha + vat (suffix 'like'). Dantavakra roars like a lion but stands before Narasiṁha's own source. The mock-lion meets the Lord of lions.

Sharp words are like the elephant-goads of the mahout — they prick but do not wound a being whose flesh has long been beyond such weapons. Dantavakra's club lands on Kṛṣṇa's head as on Mount Govardhana: the lifter of the hill does not flinch at a falling stone.