Srimad Bhagavatam Canto 4 Chapter 27 Verse 16

Canto 4: Creation of the Fourth Order | Chapter 27: Attack by Caṇḍavega on the City of King Purañjana: the Character of Kālakanyā

Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.27.16

sa saptabhiḥ śatair eko

viḿśatyā ca śataḿ samāḥ

purañjana-purādhyakṣo

gandharvair yuyudhe balī

SYNONYMS

saḥ — he; saptabhiḥ — with seven; śataiḥ — hundred; ekaḥ — alone; viḿśatyā — with twenty; ca — also; śatam — hundred; samāḥ — years; purañjana — of King Purañjana; pura-adhyakṣaḥ — superintendent of the city; gandharvaiḥ — with the Gandharvas; yuyudhe — fought; balī — very valiant.

TRANSLATION

The five-hooded serpent, the superintendent and protector of the city of King Purañjana, fought with the Gandharvas for one hundred years. He fought alone, with all of them, although they numbered 720.

PURPORT

The 360 days and 360 nights combine to become the 720 soldiers of Caṇḍavega (time). One has to fight these soldiers throughout one's lifespan, beginning with birth and ending with death. This fight is called the struggle for existence. Despite this struggle, however, the living entity does not die. As confirmed in Bhagavad-gītā (2.20), the living entity is eternal:

na jāyate mriyate vā kadācin

nāyaḿ bhūtvā bhavitā vā na bhūyaḥ

ajo nityaḥ śāśvato 'yaḿ purāṇo

na hanyate hanyamāne śarīre

"For the soul there is never birth nor death. Nor, having once been, does he ever cease to be. He is unborn, eternal, ever-existing, undying and primeval. He is not slain when the body is slain." Actually the living entity does not take birth nor does he die, but he has to fight with the stringent laws of material nature throughout the entire span of his lifetime. He must also face different kinds of miserable conditions. Despite all this, the living entity, due to illusion, thinks that he is well situated in sense gratification.

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His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, Founder Ācārya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness