HV 73.1
महामात्रं ततः कंसो बभाषे हस्तिजीविनम् । हस्ती कुवलयापीडः समाजद्वारि तिष्ठतु ॥
mahāmātraṃ tataḥ kaṃso babhāṣe hasti-jīvinam | hastī kuvalayāpīḍaḥ samāja-dvāri tiṣṭhatu
Then Kaṃsa spoke to the mahāmātra, the elephant-keeper: 'Let the elephant Kuvalayāpīḍa stand at the door of the assembly.'
The Living Words
*Mahāmātram*, 'the chief-functionary' — the title used for royal elephant-masters. *Hasti-jīvinam*, 'one whose living is by the elephant'. *Kuvalayāpīḍaḥ*, 'crusher-of-lotus-beds' — the elephant's name. *Samāja-dvāri tiṣṭhatu*, 'let him stand at the door of the assembly'.
The Heart of It
The verse is Kaṃsa's second layer of insurance. The wrestlers were HV 72's commission; the elephant at the door is HV 73's. Tyranny does not rest at one plan; it stations instruments at every approach. The Varkari tradition's keen observation that fear is never satisfied with one protection — that the fearful man will always add, arm, and station — is here in verse form. Jñāneśvar's Haripāṭh, by contrast, knows only one instrument at the door: the Name. One, sufficient.