HV 112.1
भक्तानाम् अभयंकरम् वासुदेवं महात्मानं । ततस् ते सहिताः सर्वे त्रयस्त्रय इवाग्नयः । वैनतेयं समारुह्य युध्यमाना रणे स्थिताः ॥
bhaktānām abhayaṃkaram vāsudevaṃ mahātmānaṃ | tatas te sahitāḥ sarve trayas-traya ivāgnayaḥ | vainateyaṃ samāruhya yudhyamānā raṇe sthitāḥ
Vāsudeva, the great-souled, giver-of-fearlessness to devotees; then the three together — like the three fires — mounted on Garuḍa, fought in combat.
The Living Words
*Bhaktānām abhayaṃkaram*, 'giver-of-fearlessness to devotees'. *Vāsudevaṃ mahātmānam*, 'the great-souled Vāsudeva'. *Trayas-traya ivāgnayaḥ*, 'three-by-three like the fires'. *Vainateyaṃ samāruhya*, 'mounted on Garuḍa'.
The Heart of It
The verse's opening epithet is the chapter's key: *bhaktānām abhayaṃkaram* — 'giver-of-fearlessness to devotees'. The Varkari tradition's entire understanding of the Name is condensed: the Name makes its bhaktas *abhaya*. Jñāneśvar's Haripāṭh's opening and closing formula — that the Name removes fear — has HV 112.1 as its Sanskrit opening. And the three-fold image: Kṛṣṇa, Balarāma, Pradyumna on Garuḍa together, like the three Vedic fires, is the iconographic ideal of the warrior-for-bhaktas.