Srimad Bhagavatam Canto 10 Chapter 59 Verses 2-3

Canto 10: The Summum Bonum | Chapter 59: The Killing of the Demon Naraka

Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 10.59.2-3

śrī-śuka uvāca

indreṇa hṛta-chatreṇa

hṛta-kuṇḍala-bandhunā

hṛtāmarādri-sthānena

jñāpito bhauma-ceṣṭitam

sa-bhāryo garuḍārūḍhaḥ

prāg-jyotiṣa-puraḿ yayau

giri-durgaiḥ śastra-durgair

jalāgny-anila-durgamam

mura-pāśāyutair ghorair

dṛḍhaiḥ sarvata āvṛtam

SYNONYMS

śrī-śukaḥ uvāca — Śukadeva Gosvāmī said; indreṇa — by Lord Indra; hṛta-chatreṇa — who had suffered the theft of (Varuṇa's) umbrella; hṛta-kuṇḍala — the theft of the earrings; bandhunā — of his relative (his mother Aditi); hṛta — and the theft; amara-adri — on the mountain of the demigods (Mandara); sthānena — of the special location (the recreational area at its peak, known as Maṇi-parvata); jñāpitaḥ — informed; bhauma-ceṣṭitam — of the activities of Bhauma; sa — together with; bhāryaḥ — His wife (Satyabhāmā); garuḍa-ārūḍhaḥ — riding on the giant bird Garuḍa; prāg-jyotiṣa-puram — to the city of Prāgjyotiṣa-pura, Bhauma's capital (still existing today as Tejpur in Assam); yayau — He went; giri — consisting of mountains; durgaiḥ — by fortifications; śastra — consisting of weapons; durgaiḥ — by fortifications; jala — of water; agni — fire; anila — and wind; durgamam — made inaccessible by fortifications; mura-pāśa — by a dangerous wall of cables; ayutaiḥ — tens of thousands; ghoraiḥ — fearsome; dṛḍhaiḥ — and strong; sarvataḥ — on all sides; āvṛtam — surrounded.

TRANSLATION

Śukadeva Gosvāmī said: After Bhauma had stolen the earrings belonging to Indra's mother, along with Varuṇa's umbrella and the demigods' playground at the peak of Mandara mountain, Indra went to Lord Kṛṣṇa and informed Him of these misdeeds. The Lord, taking His wife Satyabhāmā with Him, then rode on Garuḍa to Prāgyotiṣa-pura, which was surrounded on all sides by fortifications consisting of hills, unmanned weapons, water, fire and wind, and by obstructions of mura-pāśa wire.

PURPORT

The ācāryas have explained in various plausible ways why Lord Kṛṣṇa took His wife Satyabhāmā with Him. Śrīla Śrīdhara Svāmī begins by saying that the Lord wanted to give His adventurous wife a novel experience and thus took her to the scene of this extraordinary battle. Also, Lord Kṛṣṇa had once granted the blessing to Bhūmi, the earth-goddess, that He would not kill her demoniac son without her permission. Since Bhūmi is an expansion of Satyabhāmā, the latter could authorize Kṛṣṇa to do the needful with the unusually nasty Bhaumāsura.

Finally, Satyabhāmā had been miffed when Nārada Muni brought a celestial pārijāta flower to Queen Rukmiṇī. To pacify Satyabhāmā, Lord Kṛṣṇa had promised her, "I'll give you a whole tree of these flowers," and thus the Lord scheduled this procurement of a heavenly tree within His itinerary.

Even nowadays devoted husbands take their wives shopping, and thus Lord Kṛṣṇa took Satyabhāmā to the heavenly planets to get a heavenly tree, as well as to retrieve the goods Bhaumāsura had stolen and return them to their rightful owners.

Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī notes that in the heat of battle Queen Satyabhāmā would naturally become anxious for Lord Kṛṣṇa's safety and pray for the battle to end. Thus she would readily give permission to Kṛṣṇa to kill the son of her expansion, Bhūmi.

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