राम

Viṣṇu-parva

Harivaṃśa · Adhyāya 77

59 versesThe Widows of Kaṃsa

Synopsis

The aftermath. The gods and sages depart, praising Kṛṣṇa in a stuti that gathers the whole Vraja-līlā into a single breath: Pūtanā slain, the cart broken, the Arjuna trees rent, Kāliya's poison pressed out, Keśin killed, Govardhana lifted, Kaṃsa and his elephant and wrestlers cut down. Then the queens of Kaṃsa come to the body on the ground. "We are slain, our hopes slain, our kin slain; wives of a hero, our hero slain." The chapter ends at dusk, the sun setting on the weeping of the palace, the reign of fear over.

First-pass synopsis; pending review by a Sanskritist.

Verse 1

ते च देवाः समुनयो हते कंसे दुरात्मनि नमस्कृत्य जगन्नाथं स्वं स्वं जग्मुर् यथालयम् तुष्टुवुः पुण्डरीकाक्षं कृष्णं विजयिनं विभुम् हत्वा पूतानिकां विभज्य शकटं भङ्क्त्वार्जुनौ दानवान् सप्ताहत्य विनाश्य कालियविषं निष्पीड्य रिष्टेतरम् हत्वा केशिनम् उन्मदं विषतरुं चोद्धृत्य गोवर्धनं यः कंसं सगजेन्द्रमल्लम् अवधीत् तस्मै नमो विष्णवे प्रलम्बधेनुकप्राण+ +हारिणे मुष्टिकद्विषे सुनामोन्माथिने नित्यं धीमते हलिने नमः इति स्तुत्वा बहुविधं ते देवा हृष्टमानसाः भर्तारं पतितं दृष्ट्वा क्षीणपुण्यम् इव ग्रहम् कंसपत्न्यो हतं कंसं समन्तात् पर्यवारयन्

te ca devāḥ samunayo hate kaṃse durātmani namaskṛtya jagannāthaṃ svaṃ svaṃ jagmur yathālayam tuṣṭuvuḥ puṇḍarīkākṣaṃ kṛṣṇaṃ vijayinaṃ vibhum hatvā pūtānikāṃ vibhajya śakaṭaṃ bhaṅktvārjunau dānavān saptāhatya vināśya kāliyaviṣaṃ niṣpīḍya riṣṭetaram hatvā keśinam unmadaṃ viṣataruṃ coddhṛtya govardhanaṃ yaḥ kaṃsaṃ sagajendramallam avadhīt tasmai namo viṣṇave pralambadhenukaprāṇa+ +hāriṇe muṣṭikadviṣe sunāmonmāthine nityaṃ dhīmate haline namaḥ iti stutvā bahuvidhaṃ te devā hṛṣṭamānasāḥ bhartāraṃ patitaṃ dṛṣṭvā kṣīṇapuṇyam iva graham kaṃsapatnyo hataṃ kaṃsaṃ samantāt paryavārayan

And the gods with the sages, Kaṃsa the evil-souled being slain, having bowed to the Lord of the worlds, each departed to his own abode, praising Puṇḍarīkākṣa the victorious, sovereign Kṛṣṇa: 'Having slain Pūtanā, broken the cart, rent the Arjuna-trees…'

Verse 2

तं महीशयने सुप्तं क्षितिनाथं गतायुषम् भार्याः स्म दृष्ट्वा शोचन्ति मृग्यो मृगवधे यथा

taṃ mahīśayane suptaṃ kṣitināthaṃ gatāyuṣam bhāryāḥ sma dṛṣṭvā śocanti mṛgyo mṛgavadhe yathā

Verse 3

हा हताः स्म महाबाहो हताषा हतबान्धवाः वीरप्त्न्यो हते वीरे त्वयि वीरव्रतप्रिये

hā hatāḥ sma mahābāho hatāṣā hatabāndhavāḥ vīraptnyo hate vīre tvayi vīravratapriye

Verse 4

इमाम् अवस्थां पश्यन्त्यः पश्चिमां तव नैष्ठिकीम् कृपणं राजशार्दूल विलपामः सबान्धवाः

imām avasthāṃ paśyantyaḥ paścimāṃ tava naiṣṭhikīm kṛpaṇaṃ rājaśārdūla vilapāmaḥ sabāndhavāḥ

Verse 5

छिन्नमूलाः स्म संवृत्ताः परित्यक्ताः स्म शोभनैः त्वयि पञ्चत्वम् आपन्ने नाथे ऽस्माकं महाबले

chinnamūlāḥ sma saṃvṛttāḥ parityaktāḥ sma śobhanaiḥ tvayi pañcatvam āpanne nāthe 'smākaṃ mahābale

Verse 6

को नः पांसुपरीताङ्ग्यो रतिसंसर्गलालसाः लता इव विचेष्टन्त्यः शयनीयानि नेष्यति

ko naḥ pāṃsuparītāṅgyo ratisaṃsargalālasāḥ latā iva viceṣṭantyaḥ śayanīyāni neṣyati

Verse 7

इदं ते सततं सौम्य हृद्यनिःश्वासमारुतम् दहत्य् अर्को मुखं कान्तं निस्तोयम् इव पङ्कजम्

idaṃ te satataṃ saumya hṛdyaniḥśvāsamārutam dahaty arko mukhaṃ kāntaṃ nistoyam iva paṅkajam

Verse 8

इमौ ते श्रवणौ शून्यौ न शोभेते विकुण्डलौ शिरोधरायां संलीनौ सततं कुण्डलप्रिय

imau te śravaṇau śūnyau na śobhete vikuṇḍalau śirodharāyāṃ saṃlīnau satataṃ kuṇḍalapriya

Verse 9

क्व ते स मुकुटो वीर सर्वरत्नविभूषितः अत्यन्तं शिरसो लक्ष्मीं यो दधात्य् अर्कसप्रभः

kva te sa mukuṭo vīra sarvaratnavibhūṣitaḥ atyantaṃ śiraso lakṣmīṃ yo dadhāty arkasaprabhaḥ

Verse 10

अनेन स्त्रीकलत्रेण तवान्तःपुरशोभिना कथं दीनेन कर्तव्यं त्वयि लोकान्तरं गते

anena strīkalatreṇa tavāntaḥpuraśobhinā kathaṃ dīnena kartavyaṃ tvayi lokāntaraṃ gate

Verse 11

ननु नाम स्त्रियः साध्व्यः प्रियभोगेष्व् अवञ्चिताः पतीनाम् अपरित्यज्यास् त्वं तु नस् त्यज्य गच्छसि

nanu nāma striyaḥ sādhvyaḥ priyabhogeṣv avañcitāḥ patīnām aparityajyās tvaṃ tu nas tyajya gacchasi

Verse 12

अहो कालो महावीर्यो येन पर्यायकर्मणा अस्मासु प्रेक्षमाणासु त्वम् आक्षिप्याशु नीयसे कालतुल्यः सपत्नानां त्वं क्षिप्रम् अपनीयसे

aho kālo mahāvīryo yena paryāyakarmaṇā asmāsu prekṣamāṇāsu tvam ākṣipyāśu nīyase kālatulyaḥ sapatnānāṃ tvaṃ kṣipram apanīyase

Verse 13

वयं दुःखेष्व् अनुचिताः सुखेष्व् एव तु योजिताः कथं वत्स्याम विधवा नाथ कार्पण्यम् आश्रिताः

vayaṃ duḥkheṣv anucitāḥ sukheṣv eva tu yojitāḥ kathaṃ vatsyāma vidhavā nātha kārpaṇyam āśritāḥ

Verse 14

स्त्रीणां चारित्रलुब्धानां पतिर् एकः परा गतिः त्वं हि नः सा गतिश् छिन्ना कृतान्तेन बलीयसा

strīṇāṃ cāritralubdhānāṃ patir ekaḥ parā gatiḥ tvaṃ hi naḥ sā gatiś chinnā kṛtāntena balīyasā

Verse 15

वैधव्येनाभिभूताः स्मः शोकसंतप्तमानसाः अहो कृतान्तस्य वशं गन्तव्यं सर्वजन्तुभिः रोदितव्ये ध्रुवे मग्नाः क्व गच्छामस् त्वया विना

vaidhavyenābhibhūtāḥ smaḥ śokasaṃtaptamānasāḥ aho kṛtāntasya vaśaṃ gantavyaṃ sarvajantubhiḥ roditavye dhruve magnāḥ kva gacchāmas tvayā vinā

Verse 16

सह त्वया गतः कालस् त्वदङ्के क्रीडितं गतम् क्षणेन च विहीनाः स्म अनित्या हि नृणां गतिः

saha tvayā gataḥ kālas tvadaṅke krīḍitaṃ gatam kṣaṇena ca vihīnāḥ sma anityā hi nṛṇāṃ gatiḥ

Verse 17

अहो बत विपन्नाः स्म विपन्ने त्वयि मानद एकदुष्कृतकारिण्यः सर्वाः वैधव्यलक्षणाः

aho bata vipannāḥ sma vipanne tvayi mānada ekaduṣkṛtakāriṇyaḥ sarvāḥ vaidhavyalakṣaṇāḥ

Verse 18

त्वया स्वर्गप्रतिच्छन्दैर् लालिताः स्म रतिप्रियाः त्वयि कामवशाः सर्वाः स नस् त्यज्य क्व गच्छसि

tvayā svargapraticchandair lālitāḥ sma ratipriyāḥ tvayi kāmavaśāḥ sarvāḥ sa nas tyajya kva gacchasi

Verse 19

अस्माकं त्वम् अनाथानां नाथो ह्य् असि सुरोपम आसां विलपमानानां कुररीणाम् इव प्रभो प्रतिवाक्यं जगन्नाथ दातुम् अर्हसि मानद

asmākaṃ tvam anāthānāṃ nātho hy asi suropama āsāṃ vilapamānānāṃ kurarīṇām iva prabho prativākyaṃ jagannātha dātum arhasi mānada

Verse 20

एवम् आर्तकलत्रस्य श्राम्यमाणेषु बन्धुषु गमनं ते महाराज दारुणं प्रतिभाति नः

evam ārtakalatrasya śrāmyamāṇeṣu bandhuṣu gamanaṃ te mahārāja dāruṇaṃ pratibhāti naḥ

Verse 21

नूनं कान्ततराः कान्त तस्मिंल् लोके वरस्त्रियः ततस् त्वं प्रस्थितो वीर विहायेमं गृहे जनम्

nūnaṃ kāntatarāḥ kānta tasmiṃl loke varastriyaḥ tatas tvaṃ prasthito vīra vihāyemaṃ gṛhe janam

Verse 22

किं नु ते करुणं वीर भार्यास्व् एतासु भूमिप आर्तनादं रुदन्तीषु यन् नेहाद्यावबुध्यसे

kiṃ nu te karuṇaṃ vīra bhāryāsv etāsu bhūmipa ārtanādaṃ rudantīṣu yan nehādyāvabudhyase

Verse 23

अहो निष्करुणा यात्रा नराणाम् और्ध्वदेहिकी ये परित्यज्य दारान् स्वान् निरपेक्षा व्रजन्ति ह

aho niṣkaruṇā yātrā narāṇām aurdhvadehikī ye parityajya dārān svān nirapekṣā vrajanti ha

Verse 24

अपतित्वं स्त्रियाः श्रेयो न तु शूरः स्त्रियाः पतिः स्वर्गस्त्रीणां प्रियाः शुरास् तेषाम् अपि च ताः प्रियाः

apatitvaṃ striyāḥ śreyo na tu śūraḥ striyāḥ patiḥ svargastrīṇāṃ priyāḥ śurās teṣām api ca tāḥ priyāḥ

Verse 25

अहो क्षिप्रम् अदृश्येन नयता त्वया रणप्रियम् प्रहृतं नः कृतान्तेन सर्वासाम् अन्तरात्मसु

aho kṣipram adṛśyena nayatā tvayā raṇapriyam prahṛtaṃ naḥ kṛtāntena sarvāsām antarātmasu

Verse 26

हत्वा जरासंधबलं जित्वा यक्षांश् च संयुगे जरासंधबलं जित्वा हत्वा राज्ञां च संयुगे जित्वा देवगणं युद्धे यक्षान् अपि च संयुगे कथं मानुषमात्रेण हतस् त्वं जगतीपते

hatvā jarāsaṃdhabalaṃ jitvā yakṣāṃś ca saṃyuge jarāsaṃdhabalaṃ jitvā hatvā rājñāṃ ca saṃyuge jitvā devagaṇaṃ yuddhe yakṣān api ca saṃyuge kathaṃ mānuṣamātreṇa hatas tvaṃ jagatīpate

Verse 27

इन्द्रेण सह संग्रामं कृत्वा सायकविग्रहम् अमर्त्यैर् अजितो युद्धे मर्त्येनासि कथं हतः

indreṇa saha saṃgrāmaṃ kṛtvā sāyakavigraham amartyair ajito yuddhe martyenāsi kathaṃ hataḥ

Verse 28

त्वया सागरम् अक्षोख्यं विक्षोभ्य शरवृष्टिभिः रत्नसर्वस्वहरणं जित्वा पाशधरं कृतम्

tvayā sāgaram akṣokhyaṃ vikṣobhya śaravṛṣṭibhiḥ ratnasarvasvaharaṇaṃ jitvā pāśadharaṃ kṛtam

Verse 29

त्वया पौरजनास्यार्थे मन्दं वर्षति वासवे सायकैर् जलदान् भित्त्वा बलाद् वर्षं प्रवर्तितम्

tvayā paurajanāsyārthe mandaṃ varṣati vāsave sāyakair jaladān bhittvā balād varṣaṃ pravartitam

'For the sake of the citizens, when Vāsava rained slowly, splitting the clouds with arrows, you forcibly made the rain come.'

Verse 30

प्रतापावनताः सर्वे तव तिष्ठन्ति पार्थिवाः प्रेषयाणा वरार्हाणि रत्नान्य् आच्छादनानि च

pratāpāvanatāḥ sarve tava tiṣṭhanti pārthivāḥ preṣayāṇā varārhāṇi ratnāny ācchādanāni ca

Verse 31

तवैवं देवकल्पस्य दृष्टवीर्यस्य शत्रुभिः कथं प्राणान्तिकं घोरम् ईदृशं भयम् आगतम्

tavaivaṃ devakalpasya dṛṣṭavīryasya śatrubhiḥ kathaṃ prāṇāntikaṃ ghoram īdṛśaṃ bhayam āgatam

Verse 32

प्राप्ताः स्मो विधवाशब्दं त्वयि नाथे निपातिते अप्रमत्ताः प्रमत्ताः स्म कृतान्तेन निराकृताः

prāptāḥ smo vidhavāśabdaṃ tvayi nāthe nipātite apramattāḥ pramattāḥ sma kṛtāntena nirākṛtāḥ

Verse 33

यद्य् एवं नाथ गन्तव्यं यदि वा विस्मृता वयम् वाक्यमात्रेण यास्येति कर्तव्यो नः परिग्रहः

yady evaṃ nātha gantavyaṃ yadi vā vismṛtā vayam vākyamātreṇa yāsyeti kartavyo naḥ parigrahaḥ

Verse 34

प्रसीद नाथ भीताः स्म पादौ ते याम मूर्धभिः अलं दूरप्रवासेन निवर्त मथुराधिप

prasīda nātha bhītāḥ sma pādau te yāma mūrdhabhiḥ alaṃ dūrapravāsena nivarta mathurādhipa

Verse 35

अहो वीर कथं शेषे निषण्णस् तृणपांसुषु शयानस्य हि ते भूमौ कस्मान् नोद्विजते मनः

aho vīra kathaṃ śeṣe niṣaṇṇas tṛṇapāṃsuṣu śayānasya hi te bhūmau kasmān nodvijate manaḥ

Verse 36

केन सुप्तप्रहारो ऽयं दत्तो ऽस्माकम् अतर्कितः प्रहृतं केन सर्वासु नारीस्व् एवं सुदारुणम्

kena suptaprahāro 'yaṃ datto 'smākam atarkitaḥ prahṛtaṃ kena sarvāsu nārīsv evaṃ sudāruṇam

Verse 37

रुदितानुशयो नार्या जीवन्त्याः परिदेवनम् किं वयं सति गन्तव्ये सह भर्त्रा रुदामहे

ruditānuśayo nāryā jīvantyāḥ paridevanam kiṃ vayaṃ sati gantavye saha bhartrā rudāmahe

Verse 38

एतस्मिन्न् अन्तरे दीना कंसमाता प्रवेपती क्व मे वत्सः क्व मे पुत्र इति रोरूयते भृशम्

etasminn antare dīnā kaṃsamātā pravepatī kva me vatsaḥ kva me putra iti rorūyate bhṛśam

Verse 39

सापश्यत् तं हतं पुत्रं निपीतं शशिनं यथा हृदयेन विदीर्णेन श्राम्यमाणा पुनः पुनः

sāpaśyat taṃ hataṃ putraṃ nipītaṃ śaśinaṃ yathā hṛdayena vidīrṇena śrāmyamāṇā punaḥ punaḥ

Verse 40

पुत्रं समभिवीक्षन्ती हा हतास्मीति वाशती हा हतास्मीति वाशन्ती पपात भुवि दुःखिता स्नुषाणाम् आर्तनादेन विललाप रुरोद च

putraṃ samabhivīkṣantī hā hatāsmīti vāśatī hā hatāsmīti vāśantī papāta bhuvi duḥkhitā snuṣāṇām ārtanādena vilalāpa ruroda ca

Verse 41

सा तस्य वदनं दीनम् उत्सङ्गे पुत्रगृद्धिनी कृत्वा पुत्रेति करुणं विललापार्तया गिरा

sā tasya vadanaṃ dīnam utsaṅge putragṛddhinī kṛtvā putreti karuṇaṃ vilalāpārtayā girā

Verse 42

पुत्र शूरव्रते युक्त ज्ञातीनां नन्दिवर्धन किम् इदं त्वरितं तात प्रस्थानं कृतवान् असि

putra śūravrate yukta jñātīnāṃ nandivardhana kim idaṃ tvaritaṃ tāta prasthānaṃ kṛtavān asi

Verse 43

प्रसुप्तश् चासि विवृते किं पुत्र शयनं विना तात नैवंविधा भूमौ शेरते कृतलक्षणाः

prasuptaś cāsi vivṛte kiṃ putra śayanaṃ vinā tāta naivaṃvidhā bhūmau śerate kṛtalakṣaṇāḥ

Verse 44

रावणेन पुरा गीतः श्लोको ऽयं साधुसंमतः बलज्येष्ठेन लोकेषु राक्षसानां समागमे

rāvaṇena purā gītaḥ śloko 'yaṃ sādhusaṃmataḥ balajyeṣṭhena lokeṣu rākṣasānāṃ samāgame

Verse 45

एवम् ऊर्जितवीर्यस्य मम देवनिघातिनः बान्धवेभ्यो भयं घोरम् अनिवार्यं भविष्यति

evam ūrjitavīryasya mama devanighātinaḥ bāndhavebhyo bhayaṃ ghoram anivāryaṃ bhaviṣyati

Verse 46

तथैव ज्ञातिलुब्धस्य मम पुत्रस्य धीमतः ज्ञातिभ्यो भयम् उत्पन्नं शरीरान्तकरं महत्

tathaiva jñātilubdhasya mama putrasya dhīmataḥ jñātibhyo bhayam utpannaṃ śarīrāntakaraṃ mahat

Verse 47

विनम्रस्य ह्य् अनौकस्य (?) वक्तुर् विग्रहम् ऋच्छतः जातिविग्रहभूतस्य [नूनं] मृत्युर् भविष्यति सा पतिं भूपतिं वृद्धम् उग्रसेनं विचेतसम् उवाच रुदती वाक्यं विवत्सा सौरभी यथा

vinamrasya hy anaukasya (?) vaktur vigraham ṛcchataḥ jātivigrahabhūtasya [nūnaṃ] mṛtyur bhaviṣyati sā patiṃ bhūpatiṃ vṛddham ugrasenaṃ vicetasam uvāca rudatī vākyaṃ vivatsā saurabhī yathā

Verse 48

एह्य् एहि राजन् धर्मात्मन् पश्य पुत्रं जनेश्वरम् शयानं वीरशयने वज्राहतम् इवाचलम्

ehy ehi rājan dharmātman paśya putraṃ janeśvaram śayānaṃ vīraśayane vajrāhatam ivācalam

Verse 49

अस्य कुर्मो महाराज निर्याणसदृशीं क्रियाम् प्रेतत्वम् उपपन्नस्य गतस्य यमसादनम्

asya kurmo mahārāja niryāṇasadṛśīṃ kriyām pretatvam upapannasya gatasya yamasādanam

Verse 50

वीरभोज्यानि राज्यानि वयं चापि पराजिताः गच्छ विज्ञाप्यतां कृष्णः कंससंस्कारकारणात्

vīrabhojyāni rājyāni vayaṃ cāpi parājitāḥ gaccha vijñāpyatāṃ kṛṣṇaḥ kaṃsasaṃskārakāraṇāt

Verse 51

मरणान्तानि वैराणि शान्ते शान्तिर् भविष्यति प्रेतकार्याणि कार्याणि मृतः किम् अपराध्यते

maraṇāntāni vairāṇi śānte śāntir bhaviṣyati pretakāryāṇi kāryāṇi mṛtaḥ kim aparādhyate

Verse 52

एवम् उक्त्वा पतिं भोजं केशान् आरुज्य दुःखिता पुत्रस्य मुखम् ईक्षन्ती विललापैव सा भृशम्

evam uktvā patiṃ bhojaṃ keśān ārujya duḥkhitā putrasya mukham īkṣantī vilalāpaiva sā bhṛśam

Verse 53

इमास् ते किं करिष्यन्ति भार्या राजन् सुखोचिताः त्वां पतिं सुपतिं प्राप्य या विपन्नमनोरथाः

imās te kiṃ kariṣyanti bhāryā rājan sukhocitāḥ tvāṃ patiṃ supatiṃ prāpya yā vipannamanorathāḥ

Verse 54

इमं ते पितरं वृद्धं कृष्णस्य वशवर्तिनम् कथं द्रक्ष्यामि शुष्यन्तं कासारसलिलं यथा

imaṃ te pitaraṃ vṛddhaṃ kṛṣṇasya vaśavartinam kathaṃ drakṣyāmi śuṣyantaṃ kāsārasalilaṃ yathā

Verse 55

अहं ते जननी पुत्र किमर्थं नाभिभाषसे प्रस्थितो दीर्घम् अध्वानं परित्यज्य्य प्रियं जनम्

ahaṃ te jananī putra kimarthaṃ nābhibhāṣase prasthito dīrgham adhvānaṃ parityajyya priyaṃ janam

Verse 56

अहो वीराल्पभाग्यायाः कृतान्तेनानिवर्तिना आच्छिद्य मम मन्दाया नीयसे नयकोविद

aho vīrālpabhāgyāyāḥ kṛtāntenānivartinā ācchidya mama mandāyā nīyase nayakovida

Verse 57

दानमानगृहीतानि तृप्तान्य् एतानि ते गुणैः नामानि च गृहीतानि सम्यग्वृत्तानि तैर् गुणैः रुदन्ति तव भृत्यानां कुलानि कुलयूथप

dānamānagṛhītāni tṛptāny etāni te guṇaiḥ nāmāni ca gṛhītāni samyagvṛttāni tair guṇaiḥ rudanti tava bhṛtyānāṃ kulāni kulayūthapa

Verse 58

उत्तिष्ठ नरशार्दूल दीर्घबाहो महाबल त्राहि दीनं जनं सर्वं पुरम् अन्तःपुरं तथा

uttiṣṭha naraśārdūla dīrghabāho mahābala trāhi dīnaṃ janaṃ sarvaṃ puram antaḥpuraṃ tathā

Verse 59

रुदतीनाम् भृशार्तानां कंसस्त्रीणां सविस्तरम् जगामास्तं दिनकरः संध्यारागेण रञ्जितः

rudatīnām bhṛśārtānāṃ kaṃsastrīṇāṃ savistaram jagāmāstaṃ dinakaraḥ saṃdhyārāgeṇa rañjitaḥ

While the wives of Kaṃsa wept deeply distressed, at length, the sun went to its setting, stained with the color of dusk.

Verse commentary

After Kaṃsa

कंसानन्तरम्

Verses 1, 2, 3, 59: the devas' stuti that catalogs the Braj-līlā, the widows finding Kaṃsa's body, their lament, and the sunset on their weeping. Template commentary, pending Editorial Council review.

HV 77 is the Harivaṃśa's first full chapter after the tyrant has fallen. The chapter is remarkable for refusing the ordinary triumph. It does not celebrate. It begins with the gods leaving (77.1) and spends most of its verses with the widows of Kaṃsa crying over his body. The Harivaṃśa has a steady sense that the work of the god is not complete when the enemy is killed; the god stays on for the grief and the funeral. The four verses selected here move from the sky to the ground: first the devas' stuti that names the whole Braj-līlā in a single breath, then the widows' arrival at the body, their speech of grief, and finally the sunset on their weeping. Nothing is triumphal. Everything is held.

HV 77.1

ते च देवाः समुनयो हते कंसे दुरात्मनि । नमस्कृत्य जगन्नाथं स्वं स्वं जग्मुर् यथालयम् । तुष्टुवुः पुण्डरीकाक्षं कृष्णं विजयिनं विभुम् ॥

te ca devāḥ samunayo hate kaṃse durātmani | namaskṛtya jagannāthaṃ svaṃ svaṃ jagmur yathālayam | tuṣṭuvuḥ puṇḍarīkākṣaṃ kṛṣṇaṃ vijayinaṃ vibhum

Then the gods together with the sages, Kaṃsa the evil-souled being slain, having bowed to the Lord of the worlds, each departed to his own abode, praising Puṇḍarīkākṣa the victorious, sovereign Kṛṣṇa.

The Living Words

The structure of the verse is an ascent-and-departure. *Namaskṛtya*, having bowed; *jagmur yathālayam*, each went to his own home; *tuṣṭuvuḥ*, they praised. The praise is not delivered in front of the Lord but on the way home. The verse's second half of the chapter carries the famous stuti itself: *hatvā pūtānikāṃ, vibhajya śakaṭaṃ, bhaṅktvārjunau dānavān, ... niṣpīḍya riṣṭetaram, hatvā keśinam unmadam, coddhṛtya govardhanam, yaḥ kaṃsaṃ sagajendramallam avadhīt, tasmai namo viṣṇave* — Pūtanā slain, the cart broken, the twin Arjuna-trees rent, demons killed, Kāliya's poison crushed, Ariṣṭa pressed down, mad Keśin killed, Govardhana raised, Kaṃsa with his elephant and wrestlers cut down. The whole Viṣṇu-parva comes home to roost in a single meter.

The Heart of It

This is the verse an assembly of devotees reaches for when it wants to name the whole childhood of Kṛṣṇa at once. For the Harivaṃśa's own reader it performs a quiet transition: the long sequence of chapters from Pūtanā through Kaṃsa has reached its close, and the text pauses to gather everything in a single breath before moving to whatever happens next. Notice that the catalog is all verbs of action, all past tense, all done to someone else's evil. The verse does not praise the god for his beauty; it praises him for what he has removed. This is the function of stuti at the end of a crisis: to put the crisis down by reciting its undoing. Jñāneśvar's own grateful inventories of "what the Name does" are in this lineage.

HV 77.2

तं महीशयने सुप्तं क्षितिनाथं गतायुषम् । भार्याः स्म दृष्ट्वा शोचन्ति मृग्यो मृगवधे यथा ॥

taṃ mahīśayane suptaṃ kṣitināthaṃ gatāyuṣam | bhāryāḥ sma dṛṣṭvā śocanti mṛgyo mṛgavadhe yathā

Seeing him asleep on the earth-bed, the lord of the earth, his life gone, the wives grieved, as does on the killing of a deer.

The Living Words

Two phrases carry the weight. *Mahī-śayane suptam*, 'asleep on the earth-bed': the great king of the earth is now on the earth. The dignity he derived from being above the ground has ended. *Gatāyuṣam*, 'with life gone.' Then the simile: *mṛgyo mṛga-vadhe yathā*, 'as does at the killing of a deer.' In Sanskrit poetic convention, the doe sees the deer hunted down and cannot look away. The queens of Kaṃsa are cast, for the moment of this simile, as the small forest creature who has just lost its mate. The verse refuses the category 'tyrant's wife' as a category that abolishes grief.

The Heart of It

This verse is an act of moral imagination by the Harivaṃśa. Kaṃsa was a monster; his wives' tears are nonetheless held in the same meter as any mourning. The scripture does not discount their grief because his death was needed. The word *mṛgī*, 'doe', is the quietest rebuke of the triumphal register. Anyone who has ever heard a bereaved person cry over a person the rest of the world thought was better gone will recognize the ethical precision of this verse. The Harivaṃśa holds both. Kaṃsa was an evil soul; the women who loved him are weeping; neither fact erases the other. The Varkari saints' own refusal to disown the tearful, the outcast, the compromised, is in this lineage of careful feeling.

HV 77.3

हा हताः स्म महाबाहो हताषा हतबान्धवाः । वीरपत्न्यो हते वीरे त्वयि वीरव्रतप्रिये ॥

hā hatāḥ sma mahābāho hatāṣā hatabāndhavāḥ | vīra-patnyo hate vīre tvayi vīra-vratapriye

Alas, we are slain, long-armed one. Our hopes slain, our kinsmen slain. Wives of a hero, we, with our hero slain, you who loved the hero-vow.

The Living Words

The verse is constructed on the fourfold repetition of *hata*, 'slain' — *hatāḥ sma, hatāśā, hata-bāndhavāḥ, hate vīre*. Grief recited in Sanskrit often works this way: one word recurring through the lament like a drumbeat. The widows apply the word in turn to themselves, to their hope, to their kinfolk, and to the hero. The hero is the last to be named; the grief begins with the speakers and widens. *Vīra-vrata-priye* is the final address: 'you who were devoted to the hero-vow.' They name the virtue he did have, the steadfastness in his warrior-code, even as they mourn what that vow cost.

The Heart of It

What the verse refuses to let the reader forget is that Kaṃsa was beloved. The theological point is uncomfortable and enduring: the defeat of evil by God does not erase the love that bound evil to its own people. The Harivaṃśa could have skipped this scene. It does not. It stations the widows on their husband's chest and lets their grief speak in the meter that, three verses earlier, held the devas' triumph. This is the Purāṇa's moral frame: both the triumph and the grief are real, and the scripture is big enough to contain both without flinching. Any later bhakti tradition that can weep with those who mourn even the wicked is practicing something this chapter already teaches.

HV 77.59

रुदतीनाम् भृशार्तानां कंसस्त्रीणां सविस्तरम् । जगामास्तं दिनकरः संध्यारागेण रञ्जितः ॥

rudatīnām bhṛśārtānāṃ kaṃsastrīṇāṃ savistaram | jagāmāstaṃ dinakaraḥ saṃdhyārāgeṇa rañjitaḥ

While the wives of Kaṃsa wept deeply distressed, at length, the sun went to its setting, stained with the color of dusk.

The Living Words

The closing verse is a single image. *Rudatīnām*, 'of those weeping'; *bhṛśārtānām*, 'greatly distressed'; *savistaram*, 'at length, at fullness' — the weeping is not cut short, it is given its time. *Jagāmāstaṃ dinakaraḥ*, 'the sun went to its setting.' *Saṃdhyā-rāgeṇa rañjitaḥ*, 'stained with the color of dusk' — *rañjita* means dyed, colored, and also, in a different register, moved, affected. The sun itself is dyed by the twilight, as the weeping women have been dyed by their grief.

The Heart of It

The chapter does not end with the devas' stuti of the opening verse. It ends with the dusk. The Harivaṃśa has performed an extraordinary structural act. It has placed the triumphal hymn at the top of a chapter that closes on sunset over weeping. The reader is left not with celebration but with grief that has been allowed to complete itself. What the chapter shows is that the hero-scripture can hold the full day: the killing, the stuti, the widows, the sunset. This is why the Harivaṃśa has always been a teachable text for householders. Its sense of what a day of God's work looks like includes the weeping at the evening's edge.

Thread

Across these four verses the chapter arranges a whole day: the devas' ascending stuti (77.1), the widows' descent to the body (77.2), the grief spoken in the heavy *hata* meter (77.3), and the sun going down on that grief (77.59). The Harivaṃśa refuses the short-form triumphalism. The killing of the tyrant is real; the grief of his women is real; both take place under the same sky. The chapter's ethical signature is a refusal to call the day done at the high moment. The day is done when the sun has set on the last weeping.

Echo in the saints

The Varkari tradition's insistence that no one is outside the reach of the Name is trained, in part, by chapters like this. Tukaram weeps with the disgraced and the lost; Eknath sits and eats with the untouchable; Muktabai's abhangas do not exult over the Brahmins who exiled her family, they mourn the rigidity. The Harivaṃśa's sunset over Kaṃsa's widows is the Sanskrit root of the same sensibility: God's victory does not abolish the grief of those it cost. The Haripath's own refrain, *hari mukheṃ mhaṇā*, is a practice for households that include people whose lives have been wrecked; the Harivaṃśa shows that scripture itself can cry over them without ceasing to be scripture.

Scripture references

EchoesBhagavad Gītā 5.18

The Lord stands over every being, abhayadāḥ, giver of fearlessness, without distinction.

विद्याविनयसंपन्ने ब्राह्मणे गवि हस्तिनि । शुनि चैव श्वपाके च पण्डिताः समदर्शिनः ॥

vidyā-vinaya-saṃpanne brāhmaṇe gavi hastini | śuni caiva śvapāke ca paṇḍitāḥ samadarśinaḥ

In a brahmin endowed with learning and humility, in a cow, in an elephant, in a dog, and in a dog-eater, the wise see the same.

The Gītā's sama-darśana is the quality that makes HV 77 possible: the scripture can see the widows of the tyrant without discounting their grief.

EchoesHaripāṭh, Abhaṅga 2, verse 4

The Name reaches every being, whatever their station.

Jñāneśvar's abhanga 2 insists the Name is for all; the Harivaṃśa's sunset over Kaṃsa's widows is the inner logic of that insistence.

The Warkari claim of universal reach is rooted, textually, in Purāṇas like this one that refuse the shorter, more flattering triumphal register.

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