Srimad Bhagavatam, Volume 3

Srimad Bhagawatam, First Canto, Volume Three
times than the human beings and they are all pious in the higher and the
highest mode of goodness. They are all devotees of the Lord and although
their goodness is not unadulterated still they are known as demigods
possessing maximum amount of good qualities possible within the material
world.
Tatra eva me viharato bhujadandayugmam
Gandiba lakshanam arati badhaya devah.
Sa indrah shrita yadnubhavitam ajamidha
Tena aham adya mushitah purusena bhumna.
Tatra—in that heavenly planet, Eva—certainly, Me—myself, Viharato—
while staying as guest, Bhujadandayugmam—the pair of my arms, Gandiba—
the bow of the name, Laksnnam—mark, Arati—a demon of the name
Nivatakavach, Badhaya—for the matter of killing, Devah—all the demigods,
Sa—along with, Indrah—the heavenly king of the name, Shrita—taken shelter
of, Yad—by whose, Anubhavitam—made it possible to be powerful,
Ajamidha—oh the descendant of king Ajamidha, Tena—by Him, Aham—
myself, Adya—at the present moment, Mushito—bereft of, Purushena—by
the personality, Bhumua—the Supreme.
When I stayed for some days as guest in the heavenly planet, at that time
all the heavenly demigods along with the King Indradeva took shelter of
my arms marked with the Gandiba bow for the matter of killing the
demon of the name Nivatakavach. Oh the king the descendant of
Ajamidha, at the present moment I am bereft ofthe Supreme Personality
of Godhead by whose infulence I was so much powerful.
The heavenly demigods are certainly more intelligent powerful beautiful and
yet they had to take help from Arjuna on account of his Gandiva bow which
was empowered by the Grace of Lord Sri Krishna.The Lord is all powerful
and by His Grace His pure devotee also can be as much powerful as He may
desire and there is no limit about it. And when the Lord withdraws His power
from any one, one is power less by the will of the Lord.
yadbandhavah kuruvalabdhim anantaparam
Eko rathena tatare' aham atarya sattwam.
Pratyahritam vahu dhanam chamaya paresham
Tejaspadam manimayam cha hritam sirobhyah.
Yadhandhavah—By those friendship only, Kuruvalbdhim—ocean of the
military strength of the Kurus, Anantaparam—which was insurmountable,
Eko—alone, Rathena—being seated on the chariot, Tatare—was able to cross
over, Aham—myself, Atarya—invincible, Sattwam—existence,
Pratyahritam—drew back, Vahu—very large quantity, Dhanam—Wealth,
Cha—Also, Maya—by me, Paresham—of the enemy, Tejaspadam—source of
brilliance, Manimayam—bedecked with jewels, Cha—also, Hritam—taken by
force.
The military strength of the Kouravas was like a ocean in which there
were many invincible existence and thus it was insurmountable. But still
on account of His friendship I could cross over the same alone being
seated on the chariot. And by His Grace only I was able to draw back (the
cows) over and above this I collected by force many helmets of the kings
that were bedecked with jewels all sources of brilliance.
On the Kourava side there were many stalwart commanders like Bhisma,
Drona, Kripa, Karna, and the military strength was insurmountable like the
great ocean. And yet it was due to Lord Krishna's Grace that Arjuna alone and
that also sitting on the chariot could manage to vanquish them one after
another without any difficulty. There were many changes of commanders on
the other side but on the Pandava's side Arjuna alone on the chariot driven by
Lord Krishna, could manage the whole responsibility of the great war.
Similarly when the Pandavas were living at the Palace of Virata incognito, the
Kouravas picked up quarrel with the King Virata and decided to take away his
large number of cows. Thus while taking away the cows Arjuna fought with
them incognito and was able to draw back the cows along with some booty
taken by force the jewel set on the turbans of the royal order. Arjuna
remembered all these were possible by the Grace of the Lord,
Yo bhisma karna guru salwya chamusu adabhra
Rajanyavarya rathamandala manditasu.
Agrecharo mama vibho rathayuthapanam
Ayur manamsi cha drisha saha ojah archhat.
Yo—It is He only, Bhisma—of the name, Karna—of the name, Guru—
Dronacharya Salya—of the name, Chamusu—in the midst of military
phalanx, Adabhra—immense Rajanyavarya—great royal orders,
Rathamandala—chain of chariots, Manditasu—being decorated with,
Agrecharo—going forward, Mama—of mine, Vibho—Oh the great king,
Rathayuthapanam—all the charioteers, Ayur—duration of life or fruitive
activities, Manamsi—mental upsurges, Cha—also, Drisha—by glance,
Saha—along with, Ojah—strength, Archhat—withdrew.
It is He only Who withdrew every one's duration of life, speculative
power and strength of enthusiasm in the battlefield of the great military
phalanx made by the Kouravas headed by Bhisma, Karana, Drona, Salya
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etc. Their arrangement was nice and more than enough but He (Lord Sri
Krishna) while going forward, did all these.
The Absolute Personality of Godhead Lord Sri Krishna by His plenary
Paramatma portion expands Himself in every one's heart and as such He
directs every one in the matter of recollection, forgetfulness, knowledge and
absence of intelligence and all psychological activities (Bg. 5.15) As the
Supreme Lord He can increase or decrease the duration of life of a living
being. As such the Lord conducted the battlefield of Kurukshetra according to
His own plan. He wanted that battlefield of Kurukshetra must be owned for
the sake of establishing Yudhisthir as the Emperor of this planet and to
facilitate this transcendental business He withdrew the duration of life of all
who were on the opposite party by His omnipotent will. The other party was
equipped with all military strength supported by big generals like Bhisma,
Drona, Salya etc and it would have been physically impossible for Arjuna to
win over the battle had the Lord not have helped him by every kind of tactics
required to win over a great battle. Such tactics are generally followed by
every statesman even in the modern warfares but they are all done materially
by powerful espionages, military tactics and diplomatic manoeuvres of
modern politicians and because Arjuna was the Lord's devotee of great
affection, the Lord did them all Himself without personal anxiety by Arjuna.
That is the way of devotional service of the Lord.
Yad dohsu ma pranihitam guru bhisma karna
Naptri trigartar sal saindhava balhika adayih.
Astrani amogha mahimani nirupitani
Na upaspisur nriharidasam iva asurani.
Yad—under whose, Dohsu—protectlon of arms, Ma Pranihitam—myself
being situated, Guru—Dronacharya, Bhisma—of the name, Karna—of the
name, Naptri—Bhurisrava, Trigartar—king Susarma, Sal—Salya,
Saindhava—king Jaidrath, Bahlika—brother of Maharaj Santanu (Bhisma's
father) Adaih—Etcetra, Astrani—weapons, Amogha—invincible,
Mahimani—very powerful, Nirupitani—applied, Upaprisu—touch,
Nriharidasam—Servitor of Nrisinghadeva (Prahlada) Iva—like, Asurani—
weapons applied by the demons.
Great generals like Bhisma, Drona, Karna, Bhurisrava, Susarma, Salya,
Jaidratha, Bahlika, etc all applied their invincible weapons upon me. But
by His (Lord Krishna's) grace they could not even touch my hair just as
Prahlad Maharaj the supreme devotee of Lord Nrisinghadeva was the
least affected by the weapons used by the demons upon him.
The history of Prahlad Maharaj the great devotee of Nrisingha deva is
narrated in the seventh canto of Srimad Bhagwatam. Prahlad Maharaj a small
child of five years only became the object of enviousness of his great father
Hiranya Kashipu for his only fault of becoming a pure devotee of the Lord.
The demon father applied all his weapons for killing the devotee son Prahalad
but by the Grace of the Lord he was saved from all sorts of dangerous actions
by his father. He was thrown in the fire, in boiling oil, from top of the hill
underneath the legs of an elephant. administered poison and at last the father
himself took up a chopper to kill his son and thus Nrisinghadeva appeared and
killed the heinous father before the son. Thus no body can kill the devotee of
Lord and similarly Arjuna was also saved by the Lord although all dangerous
weapons were applied on him by his great opponents like Bhisma etc.
Karna:—Born of Kunti by Sun-god prior to her marriage with Maharaj
Pandu. Karna took his birth with bangles and ear rings extraordinary signs for
undaunted hero. In the beginning his name was Vasusena but when he grew
up he presented his natural bangles and earrings to Indradeva and thence
forward his name became famous as Vaikartan. After his birth from maiden
Kunti, he was thrown in the Ganges water and later he was picked up by
Adhirat and he and his wife Radha brought up him as their own offspring.
Karna was very much munificent in charity and specially for the Brahmins
there was nothing which he could not spare for a Brahmin. In the same spirit
of charitable disposition he gave in charity his natural bangles and earrings to
Indradeva who being very much satisfied with him gave him in return a great
weapon of the name Shakti. He was admitted as one of the students of
Dronacharya and from the very beginning there was some rivalry between
him and Arjuna. Seeing his constant rivalry with Arjuna, Duryodhone picked
him up as his companion which gradually grew into greater intimacy. He was
also present in the great assembly of Droupadi's Saymvara function and when
he attempted to exhibit his talent in that meeting, Droupadi's brother declared
in the meeting that Karna could not take part in the competition on account of
his becoming the son of Sudra carpenter. Although he was refused in the
competition still when Arjuna was successful in pierching the target of fish
and wheel on the ceiling and Droupadi bestowed her garland to Arjuna, Karna
and others disappointed princes offered an unusual stumbling block to Arjuna
while he was taking with him Droupadi. Specifically Karna fought with him
very valiantly but all of them were defeated by him. Duryodhone was very
much pleased with Karna on account of his constant rivalry with Arjuna and
when he was in power of the earthly kingdom, he enthroned Karna in the state
of Anga. Being baffled in his attempt to win over Droupadi, he advised
Duryodhone to attack King Drupad and after defeating him both Arjuna and