राम

Viṣṇu-parva

Harivaṃśa · Adhyāya 101

18 versesRescuing the Brahmin's Son

Synopsis

A questioner's devotion is renewed: "Today we are born, brahmin, just by hearing this tale." The chapter's middle gives Kṛṣṇa's charge to a distressed father whose sons keep disappearing at birth: "Protection is now your charge; guard me, Lord. Whoever is the fourth guardian of dharma shares the fruit of the guarded." The chapter closes with Kṛṣṇa setting out at the head of a great Vṛṣṇi army, with the brahmin in front, to rescue the newborn.

First-pass synopsis; pending review by a Sanskritist.

Verse commentary below

Arjuna Narrates Kṛṣṇa's Māhātmya: The Brahmin's Son: Verses 2, 3, 4, 11, 12, 13, 18: Janamejaya's ever-deeper thirst to hear, the declaration that a hundred years cannot tell the Lord's extent, Arjuna on the bed of arrows with Bhīṣma narrating the greatness of Keśava, the Brahmin's lament that three sons have already been taken and this is the fourth, the birthing-hour of the Brahmin's wife 'today', Kṛṣṇa in yajña-dīkṣā delegating protection of the Brahmin to Arjuna, and Arjuna setting out with a great Vṛṣṇi-army placing the Brahmin in front. Template commentary, pending Editorial Council review.

Verse 1

पुनर् एव महाबाहो कृष्णस्य जगतीपतेः कृतार्थाः सर्वथा विप्र नारायणसमाश्रयात् जाता हि वयम् अद्यैव तत्कथाश्रवणाद् द्विज इत्य् उक्तः स स्मितं कृत्वा प्रणम्य मुनिपुंगवम् माहात्म्यं श्रोतुम् इच्छामि परमं द्विजसत्तम

punar eva mahābāho kṛṣṇasya jagatīpateḥ kṛtārthāḥ sarvathā vipra nārāyaṇasamāśrayāt jātā hi vayam adyaiva tatkathāśravaṇād dvija ity uktaḥ sa smitaṃ kṛtvā praṇamya munipuṃgavam māhātmyaṃ śrotum icchāmi paramaṃ dvijasattama

'Again and again, great-armed one, we are fulfilled in every way by refuge in Kṛṣṇa, the Lord of the earth, Nārāyaṇa himself. We are born this very day — from the hearing of that story, O twice-born.' So addressed, he smiled, bowed to the chief sage, and said: 'I wish to hear the greatness.'

Verse 2

न हि मे तृप्तिर् अस्तीह शृण्वतस् तस्य धीमतः कर्मणाम् अनुसंधानं पुराणस्य महात्मनः

na hi me tṛptir astīha śṛṇvatas tasya dhīmataḥ karmaṇām anusaṃdhānaṃ purāṇasya mahātmanaḥ

Verse 3

नान्तः शक्यं प्रभावस्य वक्तुं वर्षशतैर् अपि गोविन्दस्य महाराज श्रूयताम् इदम् उत्तमम्

nāntaḥ śakyaṃ prabhāvasya vaktuṃ varṣaśatair api govindasya mahārāja śrūyatām idam uttamam

Verse 4

शरतल्पे शयानेन भीष्मेण परिचोदितः गाण्डीवधन्वा बीभत्सुर् माहात्म्यं केशवस्य यत्

śaratalpe śayānena bhīṣmeṇa paricoditaḥ gāṇḍīvadhanvā bībhatsur māhātmyaṃ keśavasya yat

Verse 5

राज्ञां मध्ये महाराज ज्येष्ठं भ्रातरम् अब्रवीत् युधिष्ठिरं जितामित्रम् इति तच् छृणु कौरव

rājñāṃ madhye mahārāja jyeṣṭhaṃ bhrātaram abravīt yudhiṣṭhiraṃ jitāmitram iti tac chṛṇu kaurava

Verse 6

पुराहं द्वारकां यातः संबन्धीन् अवलोककः न्यवसं पूजितस् तत्र भोजवृष्ण्यन्धकोत्तमैः

purāhaṃ dvārakāṃ yātaḥ saṃbandhīn avalokakaḥ nyavasaṃ pūjitas tatra bhojavṛṣṇyandhakottamaiḥ

Verse 7

ततः कदाचिद् धर्मात्मा दीक्षितो मधुसूदनः एकाहेन महाबाहुः शास्त्रदृष्टेन कर्मणा

tataḥ kadācid dharmātmā dīkṣito madhusūdanaḥ ekāhena mahābāhuḥ śāstradṛṣṭena karmaṇā

Verse 8

ततो दीक्षितम् आसीनम् अभिगम्य द्विजोत्तमः कृष्णं विज्ञापयाम् आस परित्राहीति चाब्रवीत्

tato dīkṣitam āsīnam abhigamya dvijottamaḥ kṛṣṇaṃ vijñāpayām āsa paritrāhīti cābravīt

Verse 9

रक्षाधिकारो भवतः परिरक्षस्व मां विभो चतुर्थांशं हि धर्मस्य रक्षिता लभते फलम्

rakṣādhikāro bhavataḥ parirakṣasva māṃ vibho caturthāṃśaṃ hi dharmasya rakṣitā labhate phalam

'Protection is now your charge: guard me, Lord. Whoever keeps the fourth share of dharma obtains the fruit of the guarded.'

Verse 10

न भेतव्यं द्विजश्रेष्ठ रक्षामि त्वां कुतो ऽनघ ब्रूहि तत्त्वेन भद्रं ते यद्य् अपि स्यात् सुदुष्करम्

na bhetavyaṃ dvijaśreṣṭha rakṣāmi tvāṃ kuto 'nagha brūhi tattvena bhadraṃ te yady api syāt suduṣkaram

Verse 11

जातो जातो महाबाहो पुत्रो मे ह्रियते विभो त्रयो हृताश् चतुर्थं त्वं कृष्ण रक्षितुम् अर्हसि

jāto jāto mahābāho putro me hriyate vibho trayo hṛtāś caturthaṃ tvaṃ kṛṣṇa rakṣitum arhasi

Verse 12

ब्राह्मण्याः सूतिकालो ऽद्य तत्र रक्षा विधीयताम् यथा ध्रियेद् अपत्यं मे तथा कुरु जनार्दन

brāhmaṇyāḥ sūtikālo 'dya tatra rakṣā vidhīyatām yathā dhriyed apatyaṃ me tathā kuru janārdana

Verse 13

ततो माम् आह गोविन्दो दीक्षितो ऽस्मि क्रताव् इति रक्षा च ब्राह्मणे कार्या सर्वावस्थागतैर् अपि

tato mām āha govindo dīkṣito 'smi kratāv iti rakṣā ca brāhmaṇe kāryā sarvāvasthāgatair api

Verse 14

श्रुत्वाहम् एवं कृष्णस्य ततो ऽवोचं नरोत्तम मां नियोजय गोविन्द रक्षिष्यामि द्विजं भयात्

śrutvāham evaṃ kṛṣṇasya tato 'vocaṃ narottama māṃ niyojaya govinda rakṣiṣyāmi dvijaṃ bhayāt

Verse 15

इत्य् उक्तः स स्मितं कृत्वा माम् उवाच जनार्दनः रक्ष्यसीत्य् एवम् उक्तस् तु व्रीडितो ऽस्मि नराधिप

ity uktaḥ sa smitaṃ kṛtvā mām uvāca janārdanaḥ rakṣyasīty evam uktas tu vrīḍito 'smi narādhipa

Verse 16

ततो मां व्रीडितं ज्ञात्वा पुनर् आह जनार्दनः गम्यतां कौरवश्रेष्ठ शक्यते यदि रक्षितुम्

tato māṃ vrīḍitaṃ jñātvā punar āha janārdanaḥ gamyatāṃ kauravaśreṣṭha śakyate yadi rakṣitum

Verse 17

त्वत्पुरोगाश् च गच्छन्तु वृष्ण्यन्धकमहारथाः ऋते रामं महाबाहुः प्रद्युम्नं च महाबलम्

tvatpurogāś ca gacchantu vṛṣṇyandhakamahārathāḥ ṛte rāmaṃ mahābāhuḥ pradyumnaṃ ca mahābalam

Verse 18

ततो ऽहं वृष्णिसैन्येन महता परिवारितः तम् अग्रतो द्विजं कृत्वा प्रयातः सह सेनया

tato 'haṃ vṛṣṇisainyena mahatā parivāritaḥ tam agrato dvijaṃ kṛtvā prayātaḥ saha senayā

Then I, surrounded by a great Vṛṣṇi army, with the brahmin in front, set out together with the troops.

Verse commentary

Arjuna Narrates Kṛṣṇa's Māhātmya: The Brahmin's Son

शरतल्पगते भीष्मेऽर्जुनस्य कृष्णमाहात्म्यवर्णनम्

Verses 2, 3, 4, 11, 12, 13, 18: Janamejaya's ever-deeper thirst to hear, the declaration that a hundred years cannot tell the Lord's extent, Arjuna on the bed of arrows with Bhīṣma narrating the greatness of Keśava, the Brahmin's lament that three sons have already been taken and this is the fourth, the birthing-hour of the Brahmin's wife 'today', Kṛṣṇa in yajña-dīkṣā delegating protection of the Brahmin to Arjuna, and Arjuna setting out with a great Vṛṣṇi-army placing the Brahmin in front. Template commentary, pending Editorial Council review.

HV 101 is a chapter of extraordinary narrative architecture. Janamejaya asks for more of Kṛṣṇa's greatness; the sage tells him that Arjuna, on the *śara-talpa* (the bed of arrows, after the Kurukṣetra war — a Mahābhārata frame), was once prompted by the dying Bhīṣma to speak Kṛṣṇa's *māhātmya*. Arjuna's answer is the story of a Brahmin whose three sons were already taken (by some unknown agency) and whose fourth is due to be born that very day. Kṛṣṇa — in *yajña-dīkṣā* and therefore bound to the sacrifice — cannot himself go; he delegates the Brahmin's protection to Arjuna. Arjuna, with a great Vṛṣṇi-army, places the Brahmin in front and sets out. The chapter's theological beauty is the frame itself: a dying Bhīṣma asks about the Lord, Arjuna answers, and within that answer the Lord delegates his own cosmic work to his friend.

HV 101.2

न हि मे तृप्तिर् अस्तीह शृण्वतस् तस्य धीमतः । कर्मणाम् अनुसंधानं पुराणस्य महात्मनः ॥

na hi me tṛptir astīha śṛṇvatas tasya dhīmataḥ | karmaṇām anusaṃdhānaṃ purāṇasya mahātmanaḥ

'I have no satisfaction, indeed, in hearing — the tracking of that wise, great-souled ancient-one's deeds.'

The Living Words

*Na hi me tṛptir asti*, 'I have no satisfaction'. *Śṛṇvataḥ*, 'of the one listening'. *Karmaṇām anusaṃdhānaṃ*, 'the tracking of deeds'. *Purāṇasya mahātmanaḥ*, 'of the ancient great-souled one'.

The Heart of It

The verse is the listener's confession. *Na hi me tṛptir asti* — 'I have no satisfaction'. The Varkari tradition's deepest teaching about kathā-rati: the listener who is truly listening never reaches *tṛpti*, satisfaction. Jñāneśvar's Haripāṭh returns again and again to the same Names because *tṛpti* is the sign that the listening has stopped. HV 101.2's *a-tṛpti* is the bhakta's proper posture — ever-hungry for the next word of the Lord's deeds.

HV 101.3

नान्तः शक्यं प्रभावस्य वक्तुं वर्षशतैर् अपि । गोविन्दस्य महाराज श्रूयताम् इदम् उत्तमम् ॥

nāntaḥ śakyaṃ prabhāvasya vaktuṃ varṣa-śatair api | govindasya mahārāja śrūyatām idam uttamam

'No end of Govinda's majesty can be told even in a hundred years, great king. Listen to this excellent [story].'

The Living Words

*Nāntaḥ śakyaṃ prabhāvasya vaktum*, 'no end of the majesty can be told'. *Varṣa-śatair api*, 'even in a hundred years'. *Govindasya*, 'of Govinda'. *Śrūyatām idam uttamam*, 'listen to this excellent [story]'.

The Heart of It

The verse makes a striking pedagogical move. *Varṣa-śatair api* — 'even in a hundred years' the Lord's extent cannot be told; and yet — *śrūyatām idam uttamam* — 'listen to this excellent one'. The infinite is not dismissed as incompressible; one particular story is offered as adequate for now. The Varkari tradition's teaching: the bhakta must accept that the Lord is beyond full narration, and then attentively receive the one story offered. Jñāneśvar's Haripāṭh's modest self-positioning — 'not the whole Name, but today's line' — has HV 101.3 as its Sanskrit model.

HV 101.4

शरतल्पे शयानेन भीष्मेण परिचोदितः । गाण्डीवधन्वा बीभत्सुर् माहात्म्यं केशवस्य यत् ॥

śara-talpe śayānena bhīṣmeṇa paricoditaḥ | gāṇḍīva-dhanvā bībhatsur māhātmyaṃ keśavasya yat

Prompted by Bhīṣma — lying on the bed of arrows — Gāṇḍīva-archer Bībhatsu [told] the greatness of Keśava.

The Living Words

*Śara-talpe śayānena*, 'lying on the bed of arrows' — Bhīṣma's Mahābhārata-final state. *Bhīṣmeṇa paricoditaḥ*, 'prompted by Bhīṣma'. *Gāṇḍīva-dhanvā bībhatsuḥ*, 'Gāṇḍīva-archer Bībhatsu (Arjuna)'. *Māhātmyaṃ keśavasya yat*, 'the greatness of Keśava'.

The Heart of It

The verse is the Harivaṃśa's audacious framing: the dying Bhīṣma, at the end of the Mahābhārata, prompts Arjuna to narrate *kṛṣṇa-māhātmya*. The Varkari tradition's love of this frame: even at the end of the warrior-life, the last thing to speak of is the Lord's greatness. Jñāneśvar's Haripāṭh is sung by the bhakta at every end-point of life — at dying, at beginning, at midday, at vespers — on the same principle. *Śara-talpa* is not an obstacle to *kīrtana*; it is one of its proper places.

HV 101.11

जातो जातो महाबाहो पुत्रो मे ह्रियते विभो । त्रयो हृताश् चतुर्थं त्वं कृष्ण रक्षितुम् अर्हसि ॥

jāto jāto mahā-bāho putro me hriyate vibho | trayo hṛtāś caturthaṃ tvaṃ kṛṣṇa rakṣitum arhasi

'Born and born again, my son is carried off, O great-armed lord. Three have been taken; the fourth, Kṛṣṇa, you must protect.'

The Living Words

*Jāto jāto putraḥ me hriyate*, 'born and born again, my son is carried off'. *Trayo hṛtāḥ*, 'three have been taken'. *Caturthaṃ tvaṃ kṛṣṇa rakṣitum arhasi*, 'the fourth, Kṛṣṇa, you must protect'.

The Heart of It

The verse is the Brahmin's lament. *Jāto jāto... hriyate* — 'born and born again, he is carried off'. The Varkari tradition's attention to the father's repeated grief: the same sentence, three times over, spoken to a Lord who can stop it. Jñāneśvar's Haripāṭh understands: the bhakta's pleas to the Lord often have this repetitive shape — each time my mind bears an intention toward the good, something takes it; this time, Kṛṣṇa, please protect. HV 101.11 is the Sanskrit father of many a bhajan's heart.

HV 101.12

ब्राह्मण्याः सूतिकालो ऽद्य तत्र रक्षा विधीयताम् । यथा ध्रियेद् अपत्यं मे तथा कुरु जनार्दन ॥

brāhmaṇyāḥ sūtikālo 'dya tatra rakṣā vidhīyatām | yathā dhriyed apatyaṃ me tathā kuru janārdana

'The birthing-time of the Brahmin-wife is today; let the protection be arranged there. Do, Janārdana, in such a way that my child may live.'

The Living Words

*Brāhmaṇyāḥ sūtikālaḥ adya*, 'the Brahmin-wife's birthing-time is today'. *Rakṣā vidhīyatām*, 'let protection be arranged'. *Yathā dhriyed apatyaṃ me tathā kuru*, 'do in such a way that my child may live'.

The Heart of It

The verse names the urgency. *Sūtikālaḥ adya* — 'the birthing-time is today'. The Varkari tradition's recognition that the bhakta's prayer is always *adya*, today: the hour of grief is always now; the intervention of grace cannot be scheduled for tomorrow. Jñāneśvar's Haripāṭh's insistence that the Name must be taken *adya*, today, immediately, because the soul's birthing-time is always happening — has HV 101.12 as its Sanskrit prototype. The Lord is asked not merely for protection, but for *today's* protection.

HV 101.13

ततो माम् आह गोविन्दो दीक्षितो ऽस्मि क्रतौ इति । रक्षा च ब्राह्मणे कार्या सर्वावस्थागतैर् अपि ॥

tato mām āha govindo dīkṣito 'smi kratau iti | rakṣā ca brāhmaṇe kāryā sarvāvasthā-gatair api

Then Govinda said to me: 'I am consecrated in a sacrifice. And the protection of a Brahmin must be done — in all conditions.'

The Living Words

*Dīkṣito 'smi kratau*, 'I am consecrated in the sacrifice'. *Rakṣā ca brāhmaṇe kāryā*, 'and the Brahmin's protection must be done'. *Sarvāvasthā-gatair api*, 'even by those in all conditions (= always, under any circumstance)'.

The Heart of It

The verse is the Lord's delegation. *Dīkṣito 'smi kratau; rakṣā ca brāhmaṇe kāryā sarvāvasthā-gatair api* — 'I am in dīkṣā; nevertheless, the Brahmin's protection must be done always'. The Varkari tradition's teaching: the Lord's *dīkṣā*, his self-binding to a particular sacrifice, does not exempt the community from the duty of protection. The Lord is delegating, not dismissing. Jñāneśvar's Haripāṭh's long reading: when the Lord is 'occupied', the bhakta must do the work; the delegation is itself bhakti's call-to-action. *Sarvāvasthā-gataiḥ* — 'in all conditions' — is the unconditionality of the duty.

HV 101.18

ततो ऽहं वृष्णिसैन्येन महता परिवारितः । तम् अग्रतो द्विजं कृत्वा प्रयातः सह सेनया ॥

tato 'haṃ vṛṣṇi-sainyena mahatā parivāritaḥ | tam agrato dvijaṃ kṛtvā prayātaḥ saha senayā

Then I, surrounded by a great Vṛṣṇi army, placing that Brahmin in front, set out with the army.

The Living Words

*Vṛṣṇi-sainyena mahatā parivāritaḥ*, 'surrounded by a great Vṛṣṇi-army'. *Tam agrato dvijaṃ kṛtvā*, 'placing that Brahmin in front'. *Prayātaḥ saha senayā*, 'set out with the army'.

The Heart of It

The verse names a remarkable ethical posture. *Agrato dvijaṃ kṛtvā* — 'placing the Brahmin in front'. The protector does not lead; he *follows*, placing the one being protected at the head. The Varkari tradition's teaching: the true sevaka places the one he serves in front of himself. Jñāneśvar's Haripāṭh's style with elders, children, the afflicted — always *agrato-kṛtvā*, placed-in-front — is HV 101.18's ethical model. Arjuna leads the army but walks behind the Brahmin.

Thread

The seven verses trace the chapter's frame and action: the listener's insatiable hunger for Kṛṣṇa's stories (101.2), the confession that a hundred years cannot tell the Lord's extent (101.3), the Mahābhārata-frame of Arjuna narrating from the śara-talpa (101.4), the Brahmin's lament that three sons are already lost (101.11), the today-urgency of the fourth birthing (101.12), Kṛṣṇa's delegation to Arjuna as he is bound to dīkṣā (101.13), and Arjuna setting out with the Brahmin placed in front (101.18). The Harivaṃśa's narrative embedding at its richest.

Echo in the saints

HV 101's frame has been read by Warkari commentators as a model of transmission: the Lord's greatness is told by Arjuna to dying Bhīṣma, by the sage to Janamejaya, and by each Warkari teacher to the next generation. The *śara-talpa* is the place where stories must be told, and the *a-tṛpti* of the listener is the ethic of the tradition. And HV 101.18's *agrato dvijaṃ kṛtvā* is the Warkari image of the *sevaka* — placing the one served always at the head, walking behind with the guarding arms. Jñāneśvar's Haripāṭh's tender imagining of the Lord's bhakta as the walker-behind has HV 101.18 as its Sanskrit template.

Scripture references

EchoesBhagavad Gītā 3.22

Delegation as the sattvic form of action.

न मे पार्थास्ति कर्तव्यं त्रिषु लोकेषु किंचन । नानवाप्तमवाप्तव्यं वर्त एव च कर्मणि ॥

na me pārthāsti kartavyaṃ triṣu lokeṣu kiṃcana | nānavāptam avāptavyaṃ varta eva ca karmaṇi

There is nothing in the three worlds, O Pārtha, that I must do; nothing unobtained that I need obtain; yet I engage in action.

HV 101.13's Kṛṣṇa, bound to dīkṣā, delegating the Brahmin-rakṣā to Arjuna, is the Gītā 3.22 narrated: the Lord has no duty that remains, yet he binds himself to sacrifice, and others' duties are still to be done. The delegation is the sattvic form of divine action.

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BORI critical edition, ed. P. L. Vaidya (1969). Digital text from the GRETIL Zurich constituted text. Distributed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0.