Śrīmad Bhāgavata 1.7.18

Synonyms

vilakṣya — seeing [(dṛṣṭvā);⁷⁵ or recognizing (pratyabhijñāya)⁷⁶]; tam — him [Arjuna⁷⁷]; āpatantam — rushing toward him [ādhāvantam]; dūrāt — from afar; saḥ — he [Aśvatthāmā]; kumāra-hā — the child murderer [bālaghāti]; udvigna-manāḥ — became terrified at heart [meaning that his heart trembled with fear (kampita-hṛdayaḥ san)]; prāṇa-parīpsuḥ — [and] being anxious to save his own life [(prāṇān labdhum icchuḥ), but not his reputation (na tu kīrtim)]; parādravat — he fled [apalāyata]; rathena — by chariot; yāvat-gamam — as fast as possible [yāvad-gantuṁ śakyaṁ tāvat]; urvyām — across the land [bhūmau⁷⁸]; yathā — just as; arkaḥ⁷⁹ — the sun god; [fled (parādravat)]; rudra-bhayāt — out of fear of Rudra.

Seeing Arjuna rushing toward him from afar, Aśvatthāmā, the child murderer, became terrified at heart and, being anxious to save his own life, he fled by chariot as fast as possible across the land, just as the sun god fled out of fear of Rudra.

Notes

75Giridhara.↩

76Vīrarāghava.↩

77Unless otherwise indicated, this and the remaining bracketed inserts in verse 18 are Śrīdhara Svāmī’s comments.↩

78Vīrarāghava.↩

79There is an alternate reading here with the word kaḥ found in place of arkaḥ. The former means “Brahmā,” whereas the latter means “the sun god.” According to the reading with kaḥ, Brahmā once took the form of a stag and ran after his own daughter in the form of a deer, overcome by a desire for sexual intercourse. Seeing Brahmā’s unlawful intent, Rudra became enraged, and Brahmā fled out of fear of him. The reading with the word arkaḥ refers to a story from the Vāmana Purāṇa. There was a rākṣasa named Vidyunmālī, who was a great devotee of Śiva and who was given a golden aerial vehicle by him. Thereafter, the rākṣasa followed behind the path of the sun and dispelled the night by the effulgence of his golden ship. The sun god became angry at this, and, by his own radiance, caused Vidyunmālī’s ship to flee and fall from the sky. Hearing of this, Rudra was angered, and the sun god fled out of fear of him. Then, chastened merely by Rudra’s angry glance, the sun god fell down to earth at Vārāṇasī. On this account, the sun is celebrated by the name lolārka, “the wayward sun.” The two readings and their corresponding stories are related in the commentaries of Śrīdhara Svāmī and Viśvanātha Cakravartī.↩

SB 1.7.18

Synonyms

Translation

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