राम

Viṣṇu-parva

Harivaṃśa · Adhyāya 75

45 versesKṛṣṇa Before the Crowd

Synopsis

One of the great passages of the Harivaṃśa: as the two boys enter the arena, the crowd sees them through its own longing. To the wrestlers the two are thunderbolts; to the good they are the form of Love embodied; to the cowherds they are their own sons; to enemies they are punishment; to their parents they are children; to the Bhoja king they are Death; to the wise they are the supreme reality of Yoga; to the Vṛṣṇis they are the supreme goal. In a later verse the wrestler Cāṇūra is named: from Karūṣa by birth, bāhu-yodhin in body, worth careful thought. The chapter closes: with Cāṇūra gone, the great road is blocked, as if by a mountain.

First-pass synopsis; pending review by a Sanskritist.

Verse 1

मल्लानाम् अशनिर् नृणां नरवरः स्त्रीणां स्मरो मूर्तिमान् गोपानां स्वजनो ऽसतां क्षितिभुजां शास्ता स्वपित्रोः शिशुः मृत्युर् भोजपतेर् विराड् अविदुषां तत्त्वं परं योगिनां वृष्णीनां परदेवतेति विदितो रङ्गं प्रविष्टो हरिः देवाश् च मुनयः सर्वे नमस्कृत्वा गदाधरम् विमानस्थास् ततो युद्धं दृष्टिं द्रष्टुं समादधुः ततः कृष्णो महाबाहुर् बलदेवेन संयुतः जनांश् च मनसा पूज्य कंसं हन्तुं समुद्यतः प्रविशन्तं तु वेगेन मारुतावल्गिताम्बरम् पूर्वजं पुरतः कृत्वा कृष्णं कमललोचनम्

mallānām aśanir nṛṇāṃ naravaraḥ strīṇāṃ smaro mūrtimān gopānāṃ svajano 'satāṃ kṣitibhujāṃ śāstā svapitroḥ śiśuḥ mṛtyur bhojapater virāḍ aviduṣāṃ tattvaṃ paraṃ yogināṃ vṛṣṇīnāṃ paradevateti vidito raṅgaṃ praviṣṭo hariḥ devāś ca munayaḥ sarve namaskṛtvā gadādharam vimānasthās tato yuddhaṃ dṛṣṭiṃ draṣṭuṃ samādadhuḥ tataḥ kṛṣṇo mahābāhur baladevena saṃyutaḥ janāṃś ca manasā pūjya kaṃsaṃ hantuṃ samudyataḥ praviśantaṃ tu vegena mārutāvalgitāmbaram pūrvajaṃ purataḥ kṛtvā kṛṣṇaṃ kamalalocanam

A thunderbolt to the wrestlers, best of men to the citizens, the embodied god of love to the women, own-man to the cowherds, disciplinarian to the evil among kings, child to his parents, death to the Bhoja-lord, the luminous to the unlearned, supreme reality to the yogins, supreme deity to the Vṛṣṇis — so he was seen in the arena.

Verse 2

गजदन्तकृतोल्लेखं सुभुजं देवकीसुतम् लीलाकृताङ्गदं वीरं मदेन रुधिरेण च

gajadantakṛtollekhaṃ subhujaṃ devakīsutam līlākṛtāṅgadaṃ vīraṃ madena rudhireṇa ca

Verse 3

वल्गमानं यथा सिंहं गर्जमानं यथा घनम् बाहुशब्दप्रहारेण चालयन्तं वसुंधराम्

valgamānaṃ yathā siṃhaṃ garjamānaṃ yathā ghanam bāhuśabdaprahāreṇa cālayantaṃ vasuṃdharām

Verse 4

औग्रसेनिः समालोक्य दन्तिदन्तोद्यतायुधम् कृष्णं भृशायस्तमुखः सरोषं समुदैक्षत

augraseniḥ samālokya dantidantodyatāyudham kṛṣṇaṃ bhṛśāyastamukhaḥ saroṣaṃ samudaikṣata

Verse 5

रङ्गस्था अपि ते सर्वे नेत्रैर् अनिमिषैस् तथा ददृशुः पुण्डरीकाक्षं प्रहृष्टेनान्तरात्मना भुजासक्तेन शुशुभे गजदन्तेन केशवः चन्द्रार्धबिम्बसंयुक्तो यथैकशिखरो गिरिः

raṅgasthā api te sarve netrair animiṣais tathā dadṛśuḥ puṇḍarīkākṣaṃ prahṛṣṭenāntarātmanā bhujāsaktena śuśubhe gajadantena keśavaḥ candrārdhabimbasaṃyukto yathaikaśikharo giriḥ

Verse 6

वल्गमाने गोविन्दे स कृत्स्नो रङ्गसागरः जनौघप्रतिनादेन पूर्यमाण इवाबभौ

valgamāne govinde sa kṛtsno raṅgasāgaraḥ janaughapratinādena pūryamāṇa ivābabhau

Verse 7

ततः क्रोधाभिताम्राक्षः कंसः परमकोपनः चाणूरम् आदिशद् युद्धे कृष्णस्य सुमहाबलम् अन्ध्रं मल्लं च निकृतिं मुष्टिकं च महाबलम् बलदेवाय सक्रोधो दिदेशाद्रिचयोप-मम् कंसेनापि समाज्ञप्तश् चाणूरः पूर्वम् एव तु योधव्यं सह कृष्णेन त्वया यत्नवतेति वै

tataḥ krodhābhitāmrākṣaḥ kaṃsaḥ paramakopanaḥ cāṇūram ādiśad yuddhe kṛṣṇasya sumahābalam andhraṃ mallaṃ ca nikṛtiṃ muṣṭikaṃ ca mahābalam baladevāya sakrodho dideśādricayopa-mam kaṃsenāpi samājñaptaś cāṇūraḥ pūrvam eva tu yodhavyaṃ saha kṛṣṇena tvayā yatnavateti vai

Verse 8

स रोषेण तु चाणूरः कषायीकृतलोचनः अभ्यवर्तत युद्धाय अपां पूर्णो यथा घनः

sa roṣeṇa tu cāṇūraḥ kaṣāyīkṛtalocanaḥ abhyavartata yuddhāya apāṃ pūrṇo yathā ghanaḥ

Verse 9

आह चैनं स गोविन्दं व्यपनेष्यामि ते मदम् अचिराद् द्रक्ष्यसे गोप मम वैवस्वतं बलात् तच् छ्रुत्वैव तु गोविन्दो बभाषे तं गतायुषम् तादृशं तव सामर्थ्यं द्रक्ष्यामि बलम् उत्तमम् अचिराद् द्रक्ष्यसे मल्ल त्वया वाथ मयाधम दर्शयस्व समर्थश् चेत् त्वद्बलं कथ्यसे ऽधम एवम् उक्त्वा तु गोविन्दो ननाद विविधं बहु अवघुष्टे समाजे तु निःशब्दस्तिमिते जने यादवास् तत्र सहिता इदं वचनम् अब्रुवन्

āha cainaṃ sa govindaṃ vyapaneṣyāmi te madam acirād drakṣyase gopa mama vaivasvataṃ balāt tac chrutvaiva tu govindo babhāṣe taṃ gatāyuṣam tādṛśaṃ tava sāmarthyaṃ drakṣyāmi balam uttamam acirād drakṣyase malla tvayā vātha mayādhama darśayasva samarthaś cet tvadbalaṃ kathyase 'dhama evam uktvā tu govindo nanāda vividhaṃ bahu avaghuṣṭe samāje tu niḥśabdastimite jane yādavās tatra sahitā idaṃ vacanam abruvan

Verse 10

बाणपक्षं परित्यं च युद्धं साम्ना निरीक्ष्य च बाहुयुद्धम् इदं रङ्गे सप्राश्निकम् अकातरम् क्रियाबलसमाज्ञातम् अशस्त्रं निर्मितं पुरा

bāṇapakṣaṃ parityaṃ ca yuddhaṃ sāmnā nirīkṣya ca bāhuyuddham idaṃ raṅge saprāśnikam akātaram kriyābalasamājñātam aśastraṃ nirmitaṃ purā

Verse 11

अद्भिश् चापि श्रमो नित्यं विनेयः कालदर्शिभिः करीषेण च मल्लस्य सततं प्रक्रिया स्मृता

adbhiś cāpi śramo nityaṃ vineyaḥ kāladarśibhiḥ karīṣeṇa ca mallasya satataṃ prakriyā smṛtā

Verse 12

स्थितो भूमिगतश् चैव यो यथामार्गतः स्थितः स्थितौ भूमिगतौ चैव यथा तौ मार्गम् आस्थितौ नियुध्यतश् च पर्यायः प्राश्निकैः समुदाहृतः

sthito bhūmigataś caiva yo yathāmārgataḥ sthitaḥ sthitau bhūmigatau caiva yathā tau mārgam āsthitau niyudhyataś ca paryāyaḥ prāśnikaiḥ samudāhṛtaḥ

Verse 13

बालो वा यदि वा मध्यः स्थविरो वा कृशो ऽपि वा बलस्थो वा स्थितो रङ्गे ज्ञेयः कक्ष्यान्तरेण वै

bālo vā yadi vā madhyaḥ sthaviro vā kṛśo 'pi vā balastho vā sthito raṅge jñeyaḥ kakṣyāntareṇa vai

Verse 14

बलतश् च क्रियातश् च बाहुयुद्धविधिर् युधि निर्घातानन्तरं किंचिन् न कर्तव्यं विजानता

balataś ca kriyātaś ca bāhuyuddhavidhir yudhi nirghātānantaraṃ kiṃcin na kartavyaṃ vijānatā

Verse 15

तद् इदं प्रस्तुतं रङ्गे युद्धं कृष्णान्ध्रमल्लयोः बालः कृष्णो महान् अन्ध्रस् तत्र न स्याद् विचारणा

tad idaṃ prastutaṃ raṅge yuddhaṃ kṛṣṇāndhramallayoḥ bālaḥ kṛṣṇo mahān andhras tatra na syād vicāraṇā

Verse 16

ततः किलकिलाशब्दः समाजे समवर्तत प्रावल्गत च गोविन्दो वाक्यं चेदम् उवाच ह

tataḥ kilakilāśabdaḥ samāje samavartata prāvalgata ca govindo vākyaṃ cedam uvāca ha

Verse 17

अहं बालो महान् अन्ध्रो वपुषा पर्वतोपमः युद्धं मम सहानेन रोचते बाहुशालिना

ahaṃ bālo mahān andhro vapuṣā parvatopamaḥ yuddhaṃ mama sahānena rocate bāhuśālinā

Verse 18

युद्धव्यतिक्रमः कश्चिन् न भविष्यति मत्कृतः न ह्य् अहं बाहुयोधानां दूषयिष्यामि यन् मतम्

yuddhavyatikramaḥ kaścin na bhaviṣyati matkṛtaḥ na hy ahaṃ bāhuyodhānāṃ dūṣayiṣyāmi yan matam

Verse 19

यो ऽयं करीषधर्मश् च तोयधर्मश् च रङ्गजः कषायस्य च संसर्गः समयो ह्य् एष कल्पितः

yo 'yaṃ karīṣadharmaś ca toyadharmaś ca raṅgajaḥ kaṣāyasya ca saṃsargaḥ samayo hy eṣa kalpitaḥ

Verse 20

संयमः स्थिरता शौर्यं व्यायामः मत्क्रिया बलम् रेङ्गे च नियता सिद्धिर् एतद् युद्धमुखे व्रतम्

saṃyamaḥ sthiratā śauryaṃ vyāyāmaḥ matkriyā balam reṅge ca niyatā siddhir etad yuddhamukhe vratam

Verse 21

यद् अयं बाहुभिर् युद्धं सवैरं कर्तुम् उद्यतः अत्र वै निग्रहः कार्यस् तोषयिष्याम्य् अहं जगत्

yad ayaṃ bāhubhir yuddhaṃ savairaṃ kartum udyataḥ atra vai nigrahaḥ kāryas toṣayiṣyāmy ahaṃ jagat

Verse 22

करूषेषु प्रसूतो ऽयं चाणूरो नाम नामतः बाहुयोधी सरीरेण कर्मभिश् चानुचिन्त्यताम्

karūṣeṣu prasūto 'yaṃ cāṇūro nāma nāmataḥ bāhuyodhī sarīreṇa karmabhiś cānucintyatām

'This one, born among the Karūṣas, is named Cāṇūra by name. Reckon his body as a wrestler's, by his deeds.'

Verse 23

एतेन बहवो मल्ला निहता युद्धदुर्मदाः रङ्गप्रतापकामेन मल्लमार्गश् च दूषितः

etena bahavo mallā nihatā yuddhadurmadāḥ raṅgapratāpakāmena mallamārgaś ca dūṣitaḥ

Verse 24

सस्त्रसिद्धिस् तु योधानां संग्रामे शस्त्रयोधिनाम् रङ्गसिद्धिस् तु मल्लानां प्रतिमल्लनिघातजा

sastrasiddhis tu yodhānāṃ saṃgrāme śastrayodhinām raṅgasiddhis tu mallānāṃ pratimallanighātajā

Verse 25

रणे विजयमानस्य कीर्तिर् भवति शाश्वती हतस्यापि रणे सस्त्रैर् नाकपृष्ठं विधीयते

raṇe vijayamānasya kīrtir bhavati śāśvatī hatasyāpi raṇe sastrair nākapṛṣṭhaṃ vidhīyate

Verse 26

रणे ह्य् उभयतः सिद्धिर् हतस्यापि घ्नतो ऽपि वा सा हि प्राणान्तिका यात्रा महद्भिः साधु पूजिता

raṇe hy ubhayataḥ siddhir hatasyāpi ghnato 'pi vā sā hi prāṇāntikā yātrā mahadbhiḥ sādhu pūjitā

Verse 27

अयं तु मार्गो बलतः क्रियातश् च विनिःसृतः मृतस्य रङ्गे कः स्वर्गो जयतो वा कुतो रतिः

ayaṃ tu mārgo balataḥ kriyātaś ca viniḥsṛtaḥ mṛtasya raṅge kaḥ svargo jayato vā kuto ratiḥ

Verse 28

ये तु केचित् स्वदोषेण राज्ञः पण्डितमानिनः योत्स्याम बाला बलिभिर् बाहुभिः सह संकटे एवम् उक्त्वा ततः कृष्णश् चाणूरं समपद्यत आस्फोट्य बाहू राजेन्द्र चाणूरः कृष्णम् अभ्ययात् ताव् उभौ सिंहविक्रान्तौ मत्ताव् इव महागजौ युयुधाते तदान्योन्यम् एभिर् मल्लपरिश्रमैः प्रतापार्थे हता मल्ला मल्लहन्तुर् वधो हि सः

ye tu kecit svadoṣeṇa rājñaḥ paṇḍitamāninaḥ yotsyāma bālā balibhir bāhubhiḥ saha saṃkaṭe evam uktvā tataḥ kṛṣṇaś cāṇūraṃ samapadyata āsphoṭya bāhū rājendra cāṇūraḥ kṛṣṇam abhyayāt tāv ubhau siṃhavikrāntau mattāv iva mahāgajau yuyudhāte tadānyonyam ebhir mallapariśramaiḥ pratāpārthe hatā mallā mallahantur vadho hi saḥ

Verse 29

एवं संजल्पताम् एव ताभ्यां युद्धं सुदारुणम् उभाभ्याम् अभवद् घोरं वारणाभ्यां यथा वने

evaṃ saṃjalpatām eva tābhyāṃ yuddhaṃ sudāruṇam ubhābhyām abhavad ghoraṃ vāraṇābhyāṃ yathā vane

Verse 30

कृतप्रतिकृतैश् चित्रैर् बाहुभिश् च ससंकटैः संनिपातावधूतैश् च प्रमाथोन्मथनैस् तथा

kṛtapratikṛtaiś citrair bāhubhiś ca sasaṃkaṭaiḥ saṃnipātāvadhūtaiś ca pramāthonmathanais tathā

Verse 31

ताव् उभाव् अपि संश्लिष्टौ यथा शैलमयौ तथा क्षेपणैर् मुष्टिभिश् चैव वराहोद्भूतनिस्वनैः कीलैर् वज्रनिपातैश् च प्रसृष्टाभिस् तथैव च

tāv ubhāv api saṃśliṣṭau yathā śailamayau tathā kṣepaṇair muṣṭibhiś caiva varāhodbhūtanisvanaiḥ kīlair vajranipātaiś ca prasṛṣṭābhis tathaiva ca

Verse 32

शलाकानखपातैश् च पादोद्धूतैश् च दारुणैः जानुभिश् चास्मनिर्घोषैः शिरोभिश् चावघट्टितैः

śalākānakhapātaiś ca pādoddhūtaiś ca dāruṇaiḥ jānubhiś cāsmanirghoṣaiḥ śirobhiś cāvaghaṭṭitaiḥ

Verse 33

तद् युद्धम् अभवद् घोरम् असस्त्रं बाहुतेजसा बलप्राणेन शूराणां समाजोत्सवसंनिधौ

tad yuddham abhavad ghoram asastraṃ bāhutejasā balaprāṇena śūrāṇāṃ samājotsavasaṃnidhau

Verse 34

संरज्यत जनः सर्वः सोत्क्रुष्टनिनदोत्थितः साधु वादांश् च मञ्चेषु घोषयन्त्य् अपरे जनाः

saṃrajyata janaḥ sarvaḥ sotkruṣṭaninadotthitaḥ sādhu vādāṃś ca mañceṣu ghoṣayanty apare janāḥ

Verse 35

दिविष्ठाश् च तथा देवाः साधु साध्व् इति चाब्रुवन् ततः प्रस्विन्नवदनः कृष्णप्रणिहितेक्षणः न्यवारयत तूर्याणि कंसः सव्येन पाणिना

diviṣṭhāś ca tathā devāḥ sādhu sādhv iti cābruvan tataḥ prasvinnavadanaḥ kṛṣṇapraṇihitekṣaṇaḥ nyavārayata tūryāṇi kaṃsaḥ savyena pāṇinā

Verse 36

प्रतिषिद्धेषु तूर्येषु मृदङ्गादिषु तेषु वै खे संगतान्य् अवाद्यन्त देवतूर्याण्य् अनेकशः

pratiṣiddheṣu tūryeṣu mṛdaṅgādiṣu teṣu vai khe saṃgatāny avādyanta devatūryāṇy anekaśaḥ

Verse 37

युध्यमाने हृषीकेशे पुण्डरीकनिभेक्षणे स्वयम् एव प्रवाद्यन्त तूर्यघोषाश् च सर्वशः

yudhyamāne hṛṣīkeśe puṇḍarīkanibhekṣaṇe svayam eva pravādyanta tūryaghoṣāś ca sarvaśaḥ

Verse 38

अन्तर्धानगता देवा विमानैः कामरूपिभिः चेरुर् विद्याधरैः सार्धं कृष्णस्य जयकाङ्क्षिणः

antardhānagatā devā vimānaiḥ kāmarūpibhiḥ cerur vidyādharaiḥ sārdhaṃ kṛṣṇasya jayakāṅkṣiṇaḥ

Verse 39

जयस्व कृष्ण चाणूरं दानवं मल्लदेहिनम् इति सप्तर्षयः सर्वे ऊचुश् चैव नभोगताः

jayasva kṛṣṇa cāṇūraṃ dānavaṃ malladehinam iti saptarṣayaḥ sarve ūcuś caiva nabhogatāḥ

Verse 40

चाणूरेण चिरं कालं क्रीडित्वा देवकीसुतः बलम् आहारयामास कंसस्याभावदर्शिवान्

cāṇūreṇa ciraṃ kālaṃ krīḍitvā devakīsutaḥ balam āhārayāmāsa kaṃsasyābhāvadarśivān

Verse 41

ततश् चचाल वसुधा मञ्चाश् चैव जुघूर्णिरे मुकुताच् चापि कंसस्य पपात मणिर् उत्तमः

tataś cacāla vasudhā mañcāś caiva jughūrṇire mukutāc cāpi kaṃsasya papāta maṇir uttamaḥ

Verse 42

दोर्भ्याम् आनम्य कृष्णस् तु चाणूरं पूर्णजीवितम् प्राहरन् मुष्टिना मूर्ध्नि वक्षस्याहत्य जानुना

dorbhyām ānamya kṛṣṇas tu cāṇūraṃ pūrṇajīvitam prāharan muṣṭinā mūrdhni vakṣasyāhatya jānunā

Verse 43

निःसृते साश्रुरुधिरे तस्य नेत्रे सबन्धने तापनीये यथा घण्टे वक्ष्योपरि विलम्बिते

niḥsṛte sāśrurudhire tasya netre sabandhane tāpanīye yathā ghaṇṭe vakṣyopari vilambite

Verse 44

स पपात च रङ्गस्य मध्ये निःसृतलोचनः चाणूरो विगतप्राणो जीवितान्ते महीतले

sa papāta ca raṅgasya madhye niḥsṛtalocanaḥ cāṇūro vigataprāṇo jīvitānte mahītale

Verse 45

देहेन तस्य रङ्गस्य चाणूरस्य गतायुषः संनिरुद्धो महामार्गः स शैलेनेव लक्ष्यते

dehena tasya raṅgasya cāṇūrasya gatāyuṣaḥ saṃniruddho mahāmārgaḥ sa śaileneva lakṣyate

With the life gone from Cāṇūra's body, the great road of the arena was blocked as if by a mountain.

Verse commentary

The Crowd Sees Kṛṣṇa

रङ्गेऽवलोकनम्

Verses 1, 3, 5, 25, 35: the famous eleven-category seeing-verse, the lion-simile and earth-trembling, the attentive gaze of the crowd, the fame of the fallen hero, the gods' sādhu-sādhu. Template commentary, pending Editorial Council review.

HV 75 contains one of the most quoted verses in the whole Harivaṃśa — 75.1, in which the crowd in the Mathurā arena sees Kṛṣṇa through eleven different relationships simultaneously. To wrestlers, a thunderbolt. To citizens, best of men. To women, the embodiment of Love. To cowherds, their own. To the evil, a disciplinarian. To parents, a child. To Kaṃsa, death. The ignorant's king. The yogin's supreme truth. The Vṛṣṇis' supreme deity. The entire theology of Kṛṣṇa as multiply-perceived arrives in a single śloka. The chapter that follows is Kṛṣṇa's engagement with the wrestler Cāṇūra, but the chapter's center of gravity is the opening seeing-verse.

HV 75.1

मल्लानाम् अशनिर् नृणां नरवरः स्त्रीणां स्मरो मूर्तिमान् । गोपानां स्वजनो ऽसतां क्षितिभुजां शास्ता स्वपित्रोः शिशुः । मृत्युर् भोजपतेर् विराड् अविदुषां तत्त्वं परं योगिनां । वृष्णीनां परदेवतेति विदितो रङ्गं प्रविष्टो हरिः ॥

mallānām aśanir nṛṇāṃ naravaraḥ strīṇāṃ smaro mūrtimān | gopānāṃ svajano 'satāṃ kṣitibhujāṃ śāstā svapitroḥ śiśuḥ | mṛtyur bhojapater virāḍ aviduṣāṃ tattvaṃ paraṃ yogināṃ | vṛṣṇīnāṃ paradevateti vidito raṅgaṃ praviṣṭo hariḥ

To wrestlers a thunderbolt, to the citizens the best of men, to women the god of Love embodied, to cowherds their own kin, to evil kings their disciplinarian, to his parents a child, death to the Bhoja-lord, sovereign to the ignorant, the supreme truth to yogins, supreme deity to the Vṛṣṇis — so known, Hari entered the arena.

The Living Words

One of the great compositional verses of Sanskrit scripture. Eleven categories of seer, each paired with the way they see. *Mallānām aśaniḥ* — to wrestlers, the thunderbolt. *Nṛṇāṃ naravaraḥ* — to men, the best of men. *Strīṇāṃ smaro mūrtimān* — to women, the embodiment of the Love-god. *Gopānāṃ svajanaḥ* — to cowherds, their kin. *Asatāṃ kṣitibhujāṃ śāstā* — disciplinarian to the evil among earth-rulers. *Svapitroḥ śiśuḥ* — to his parents, a child. *Mṛtyur bhojapateḥ* — death to the Bhoja-lord. *Virāḍ aviduṣām* — sovereign to the ignorant. *Tattvaṃ paraṃ yoginām* — supreme truth to yogins. *Vṛṣṇīnāṃ paradevatā* — supreme deity to the Vṛṣṇis. *Iti vidito raṅgaṃ praviṣṭo hariḥ*: 'so known, Hari entered the arena.'

The Heart of It

The verse is the Harivaṃśa's most concentrated statement that the Lord is not one thing even at one moment. Kṛṣṇa enters the arena and is seen, in the single instant, as eleven different realities by eleven different kinds of people. The verse refuses to pick among them. All eleven seeings are correct. To the wrestler, he really is a thunderbolt; to the mother, he really is her child; to the yogin, he really is the supreme truth. Bhakti is not the winning of a true-perception contest. It is the sharpening of whatever relationship you already have with him. The Varkari tradition's astonishing range — from Tukaram's terrified repentance to Muktabai's playful demand, from Eknath's scholarly care to Janabai's kitchen intimacy — is all lived within the frame of this single verse. The god is all these things. The devotee chooses which relationship to lean into. Jñāneśvar's Haripāṭh assumes a reader who, at different points, will be all of them.

HV 75.3

वल्गमानं यथा सिंहं गर्जमानं यथा घनम् । बाहुशब्दप्रहारेण चालयन्तं वसुंधराम् ॥

valgamānaṃ yathā siṃhaṃ garjamānaṃ yathā ghanam | bāhuśabdaprahāreṇa cālayantaṃ vasuṃdharām

Leaping like a lion, roaring like a thundercloud, making the earth tremble with the sound of his arms striking.

The Living Words

Three similes stacked: *valgamānaṃ yathā siṃham*, 'leaping like a lion'; *garjamānaṃ yathā ghanam*, 'roaring like a cloud'; *bāhuśabda-prahāreṇa cālayantaṃ vasuṃdharām*, 'making the earth tremble with the sound of arm-strikes.' The last image is striking — a boy clapping his arms and the ground answering.

The Heart of It

HV 75.1 gave us eleven interior perceptions; 75.3 gives us what the body outwardly does. Kṛṣṇa leaps, roars, claps — and the earth trembles. The movement is neither dignified nor restrained; it is the physical theater of a child-hero before combat. The Varkari tradition's willingness to include the loud, the embodied, the boisterous in its devotional repertoire — the kīrtan procession that actually shakes the street — is rooted in the Harivaṃśa's own willingness to let its god move like this. Silence and stillness are not the only devotional registers; the earth trembling is too.

HV 75.5

रङ्गस्था अपि ते सर्वे नेत्रैर् अनिमिषैस् तथा । ददृशुः पुण्डरीकाक्षं प्रहृष्टेनान्तरात्मना ॥

raṅgasthā api te sarve netrair animiṣais tathā | dadṛśuḥ puṇḍarīkākṣaṃ prahṛṣṭenāntarātmanā

All those standing in the arena, too, looked at the lotus-eyed one with unwinking eyes, with delighted inner selves.

The Living Words

*Raṅgasthāḥ api te sarve*, 'all those in the arena, too'. *Netrair animiṣaiḥ*, 'with unwinking eyes'; *prahṛṣṭena antar-ātmanā*, 'with a delighted inner self.' The Sanskrit 'too' (api) is deliberate: the crowd watches as attentively as the gods in the sky do.

The Heart of It

The crowd sees without blinking. *Animiṣa* is the classical word for the gods' unwinking gaze; here the human crowd takes on the divine quality of attention. What HV 75.1 described as eleven different kinds of seeing, 75.5 records as a single quality: *prahṛṣṭena antar-ātmanā*, 'with delighted inner self.' All eleven categories of seer are, in this verse, unanimous in their attention. The god has displaced the usual distractions of the arena. The Varkari kīrtan's ability to make a whole village watch and listen in the same rhythm is the same phenomenon. When the god arrives, the crowd stops blinking.

HV 75.25

रणे विजयमानस्य कीर्तिर् भवति शाश्वती । हतस्यापि रणे शस्त्रैर् नाकपृष्ठं विधीयते ॥

raṇe vijayamānasya kīrtir bhavati śāśvatī | hatasyāpi raṇe śastrair nākapṛṣṭhaṃ vidhīyate

For the one who conquers in battle, fame is eternal. For the one slain in battle by weapons, heaven is ordained.

The Living Words

The verse states a classical warrior-dharma: victory brings eternal fame; death in battle brings heaven. *Vijayamānasya kīrtiḥ śāśvatī*: 'eternal fame for the conqueror.' *Hatasya... nākapṛṣṭhaṃ vidhīyate*: 'for the slain, heaven's dome is ordained.'

The Heart of It

This is a verse usually cited out of context as a celebration of war. In the Harivaṃśa it sits inside a narrative in which the wrestler about to fight a child has chosen, for his own corrupt reasons, to fight. The Harivaṃśa is not inviting war; it is marking what the wrestlers in the arena believe. The chapter will not honor that belief — Cāṇūra will die in corruption, not in glory. The Varkari tradition's steady non-militarism, its preference for kīrtan over kṣatra, is consistent with the chapter's arc. The verse is inherited ideology; the chapter itself examines it critically. What actually happens is not Cāṇūra becoming famous; it is a boy-cowherd breaking the tyrant-supporting champion with a blow to the head.

HV 75.35

दिविष्ठाश् च तथा देवाः साधु साध्व् इति चाब्रुवन् । ततः प्रस्विन्नवदनः कृष्णप्रणिहितेक्षणः । न्यवारयत तूर्याणि कंसः सव्येन पाणिना ॥

diviṣṭhāś ca tathā devāḥ sādhu sādhv iti cābruvan | tataḥ prasvinnavadanaḥ kṛṣṇapraṇihitekṣaṇaḥ | nyavārayata tūryāṇi kaṃsaḥ savyena pāṇinā

The gods in the sky cried "sādhu, sādhu." Then Kaṃsa, his face sweating, his eyes fixed on Kṛṣṇa, silenced the musical instruments with his left hand.

The Living Words

Two responses at the same moment. *Diviṣṭhāś ca tathā devāḥ sādhu sādhv iti cābruvan*: the gods in the sky cry 'sādhu, sādhu' — good, excellent. *Prasvinna-vadanaḥ*, Kaṃsa sweating-faced. *Kṛṣṇa-praṇihita-īkṣaṇaḥ*, 'his gaze fixed on Kṛṣṇa'. *Nyavārayata tūryāṇi savyena pāṇinā*: he silences the drums with his left hand. The gesture is precise — left hand, a tyrant's reflex, because his right is trembling.

The Heart of It

The verse juxtaposes the gods' praise with the tyrant's fear. Both are responses to the same seen thing. The gods say *sādhu*; Kaṃsa stops the music. The Harivaṃśa's interest in different simultaneous seeings, already announced in 75.1, is returned to here by the specific moment. What makes the tyrant sweat is not what makes the gods applaud; the scripture holds both as correct perceptions. The left-hand detail gives Kaṃsa his last shred of dignity — he still directs his arena's musicians — while acknowledging that his right hand can no longer be trusted. The Varkari understanding that fear and praise can be two correct responses to the same darśana is rooted in this adjacency. The god is both the victory-fame of 75.25 and the wrist-sweat of 75.35.

Thread

The five verses anchor a chapter whose single central achievement is HV 75.1 — the great eleven-fold seeing-verse. The chapter then unfolds the theater that verse inaugurates: the body leaping (75.3), the crowd unblinking (75.5), the warrior-dharma cited (75.25), the gods' applause and the tyrant's sweat (75.35). Every movement is a new angle on the same figure entering the arena.

Echo in the saints

HV 75.1 is the most-cited Harivaṃśa verse in later Vaiṣṇava literature. The Bhāgavata Purāṇa adapts and expands it; commentators across centuries use it as the single-verse argument that Kṛṣṇa is multiply-perceived. The Varkari saints inherit the same conviction. Tukaram's seeing of Vitthal as a playmate, Jñāneśvar's seeing as the door-who-opens-first, Muktabai's seeing as the older brother who must listen, Janabai's seeing as the one who helps with grinding — all of these are 'authorized' by HV 75.1's refusal to pick one correct sighting. The god is sighted by many; every sighting can be love.

Scripture references

EchoesBhagavad Gītā 7.21

Whatever form a devotee desires, I make that same faith of his steady.

यो यो यां यां तनुं भक्तः श्रद्धयार्चितुम् इच्छति । तस्य तस्याचलां श्रद्धां ताम् एव विदधाम्य् अहम् ॥

yo yo yāṃ yāṃ tanuṃ bhaktaḥ śraddhayārcitum icchati | tasya tasyācalāṃ śraddhāṃ tām eva vidadhāmy aham

Whatever form a devotee wishes to worship with faith, in that form I make his faith steady.

The Gītā's principle of multiple-admissible-forms is the theological ground HV 75.1 narrates. Eleven categories of seer, eleven forms of Kṛṣṇa, all sanctioned.

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