Harivaṃśa · Adhyāya 72

HV 72.1

स चिन्तयित्वा धनुषो भङ्गं भोजविवर्धनः । बभूव विमना राजा चिन्तयन् भृशदुःखितः ॥ कथं बालो विगतभीर् अवमत्य महाबलम् । प्रेक्षमाणस् तु पुरुषैर् धनुर् भङ्क्त्वा विनिर्गतः ॥

sa cintayitvā dhanuṣo bhaṅgaṃ bhoja-vivardhanaḥ | babhūva vimanā rājā cintayan bhṛśa-duḥkhitaḥ || kathaṃ bālo vigata-bhīr avamatya mahā-balam | prekṣamāṇas tu puruṣair dhanur bhaṅktvā vinirgataḥ

Reflecting on the breaking of the bow, the Bhoja-enhancer — the king — became dispirited, pondering, deeply pained: 'How did the boy, fearless, having despised my great force, break the bow in full view of men and walk out?'

The Living Words

*Cintayitvā dhanuṣo bhaṅgam*, 'having reflected on the breaking of the bow'. *Vimanā rājā*, 'the dispirited king'. *Bhṛśa-duḥkhitaḥ*, 'deeply pained'. *Kathaṃ bālo vigata-bhīḥ*, 'how did the boy, fearless'. *Avamatya mahā-balam*, 'despising the great force'. *Prekṣamāṇas tu puruṣaiḥ*, 'being watched by the men'. *Dhanur bhaṅktvā vinirgataḥ*, 'having broken the bow, walked out'.

The Heart of It

The verse is a window into the tyrant's interior. *Vigata-bhīḥ*, 'fearless' — Kaṃsa cannot forgive the boy for being without fear. And the detail *prekṣamāṇas tu puruṣaiḥ*, 'watched by men', names the wound: the act was public. The tyrant's authority has been broken in front of witnesses. The Varkari tradition's reading of this verse sees the saintly fearlessness — the *abhaya* of the bhakta — as the single thing that tyranny can neither counter nor forgive. Jñāneśvar's Haripāṭh repeatedly names fearlessness as the bhakta's mark; the Harivaṃśa here names fearlessness as the tyrant's unbearable irritation.

HV 72.12

एवम् आज्ञाप्य राजा स समाजविधिम् उत्तमम् । समाजवाटान् निष्क्रम्य विवेश स्वं निवेशनम् ॥

evam ājñāpya rājā sa samāja-vidhim uttamam | samāja-vāṭān niṣkramya viveśa svaṃ niveśanam

Having thus ordered the excellent procedure of the assembly, the king, going out from the assembly grounds, entered his own dwelling.

The Living Words

*Samāja-vidhim uttamam*, 'the excellent procedure of the assembly'. *Ājñāpya*, 'having ordered'. *Niveśanam*, 'dwelling'. The verse is the tyrant retiring from the stage of his planning into the privacy of his dread.

The Heart of It

The verse is disturbing in its ordinariness. Kaṃsa has just commissioned a death he calls a festival, and then he goes home. *Viveśa svaṃ niveśanam* — 'entered his own dwelling' — is the banality of evil's Sanskrit prototype. The Varkari tradition's sharp reading of this line is that *niveśana*, 'dwelling', for one who has refused to dwell in the Name, becomes merely the place where sleeplessness waits. Jñāneśvar's Haripāṭh's strong preference for *sadanāt sadanam*, moving from one's own house to the house of the Name, is the inverse of this verse: Kaṃsa's *niveśanam* is what the bhakta leaves when he sets out on the *vari*.

HV 72.13

आह्वानं तत्र संचक्रे तस्य मल्लद्वयस्य वै । चाणूरस्याप्रमेयस्य मुष्टिकस्य तथैव च ॥

āhvānaṃ tatra saṃcakre tasya malla-dvayasya vai | cāṇūrasyāprameyasya muṣṭikasya tathaiva ca

There he made a summons of that pair of wrestlers — of the immeasurable Cāṇūra and of Muṣṭika likewise.

The Living Words

*Āhvānaṃ tatra saṃcakre*, 'made a summons there'. *Malla-dvayasya*, 'of the pair of wrestlers'. *Cāṇūrasya aprameyasya*, 'of immeasurable Cāṇūra'. *Muṣṭikasya tathaiva ca*, 'and of Muṣṭika likewise'. The two names will return in HV 79 as the two the boys kill.

The Heart of It

The verse names the two instruments. *Aprameya*, 'immeasurable' — the epithet is normally the god's; here it is ironically given to the wrestler who will be undone by the very boy he has been summoned to kill. The Varkari tradition's strong teaching that language borrowed from devotion cannot protect the undevotee — *aprameya* applied to Cāṇūra is a false *aprameya* — is in this verse. Only the Lord is *aprameya*; all other immeasurabilities are measurable by him.

HV 72.15

तौ समीपगतौ मल्लौ दृष्ट्वा जगति विश्रुतौ । उवाच कंसो नृपतिः सोपन्यासम् इदं वचः ॥

tau samīpa-gatau mallau dṛṣṭvā jagati viśrutau | uvāca kaṃso nṛpatiḥ sopanyāsam idaṃ vacaḥ

Seeing those two wrestlers — famed in the world — come near, King Kaṃsa spoke these words, presenting his request with preamble.

The Living Words

*Samīpa-gatau*, 'come near'. *Jagati viśrutau*, 'famed in the world'. *Sopanyāsam idaṃ vacaḥ*, 'these words with preamble' — a diplomatic address, with softening. The tyrant is flattering them before he asks.

The Heart of It

*Sopanyāsam* is the telling word. Kaṃsa does not command; he flatters first. The tyrant's dependency on the strong-arm functionary — having to ask, having to frame the ask sweetly — is the Sanskrit prototype of the Varkari critique of worldly power. The true *nṛpati*, the real king, is the one the scripture calls *Hari*, who never has to flatter his devotees into service; they come because they are called by the Name. Jñāneśvar's Haripāṭh's contrast between the fearful tyrant and the calling-out Lord has this verse as one of its models.

HV 72.19

एतौ रङ्गगतौ युद्धे युध्यमानौ वनेचरौ । निपातान्तरं शीघ्रं हन्तव्यौ नात्र संशयः ॥

etau raṅga-gatau yuddhe yudhyamānau vane-carau | nipātān-antaraṃ śīghraṃ hantavyau nātra saṃśayaḥ

'These two, come to the arena, fighting in combat — these forest-dwellers — are, in the moment of a fall, quickly to be killed; there is no doubt about it.'

The Living Words

*Raṅga-gatau*, 'come to the arena'. *Vane-carau*, 'forest-dwellers' — Kaṃsa's contemptuous word for the cowherds. *Nipātān-antaram*, 'in the moment of a fall'. *Hantavyau*, 'to be killed'. *Nātra saṃśayaḥ*, 'there is no doubt'.

The Heart of It

The verse is the open commission of murder under the cover of sport. *Vane-carau*, 'forest-dwellers' — a word the tyrant uses as an insult — is, in the Varkari tradition, the very category of the bhakta: one who lives outside the city, who herds instead of governs, who sings instead of commands. Jñāneśvar's Haripāṭh's strong defense of the *vanecara* — the one who has left the city of ego — is the undoing of Kaṃsa's contempt. In seven chapters Kaṃsa will learn what the *vane-cara* can do to the arena.

HV 72.20

बालाव् इमौ चपलकाव् अक्रियाव् इति सर्वथा । नावज्ञा तत्र कर्तव्या कर्तव्यो यत्न एव हि ॥

bālāv imau capalakāv akriyāv iti sarvathā | nāvajñā tatra kartavyā kartavyo yatna eva hi

'These are boys, rash, untrained' — not at all in that way should there be contempt; effort indeed is to be made.

The Living Words

*Bālāv imau*, 'these are boys'. *Capalakau akriyau*, 'rash and untrained'. *Sarvathā na avajñā kartavyā*, 'in no way should contempt be made'. *Kartavyo yatna eva hi*, 'effort indeed is to be made'. The tyrant is warning his own agents against the underestimation that has already defeated him.

The Heart of It

The verse is Kaṃsa's moment of accidental truth. His fear has given him an insight his ego rejects: these are not mere boys. *Nāvajñā kartavyā* — 'let there be no contempt' — is the first time in the Mathurā cycle that Kaṃsa names the boys' real stature. He cannot bring himself to say 'gods'; he says 'do not underestimate'. The Varkari tradition's keen observation that the tyrant often sees the truth half-a-step before the devotee does, and flees it, is in this verse. Kaṃsa knows. He commissions anyway. The knowing without repentance is the specifically hellish form of hell.

HV 72.25

हत्वा तौ गोषु संवृद्धौ दास्यावस् तव भूतलम् । व्यपैतु ते भयं राजन्न् आवां मल्लोत्तमौ मृधे ॥

hatvā tau goṣu saṃvṛddhau dāsyāvas tava bhūtalam | vyapaitu te bhayaṃ rājann āvāṃ mallottamau mṛdhe

'Having killed those two raised among the cattle, we shall give you the earth. Let your fear depart, king — we are the best of wrestlers in combat.'

The Living Words

*Hatvā tau goṣu saṃvṛddhau*, 'having killed those two raised among the cattle'. *Dāsyāvas tava bhūtalam*, 'we will give you the earth'. *Vyapaitu te bhayam rājan*, 'let your fear depart, king'. *Āvāṃ mallottamau mṛdhe*, 'we are the best of wrestlers in combat'. The vow is perfect confidence, perfectly misplaced.

The Heart of It

The wrestlers' promise is the scripture's dark music. *Dāsyāvas tava bhūtalam* — 'we will give you the earth' — uses the language of conquest for what is, in fact, the murder of two children by two grown professionals. And *vyapaitu te bhayam*, 'let your fear depart', is the verse the tyrant will remember when, in seven chapters, the boys are standing on his chest. The Varkari tradition's clearest teaching against reassurance-without-repentance — that having one's fear comforted by a functionary is not the same as having the fear removed by the Lord — is in this verse. Only *Hari nāma* removes fear. Cāṇūra and Muṣṭika can make a vow; the vow cannot become real.