Devanagari
गौर्भूत्वाश्रुमुखी खिन्ना क्रन्दन्ती करुणं विभो:
उपस्थितान्तिके तस्मै व्यसनं समवोचत ॥ १८ ॥
Verse text
gaur bhūtvāśru-mukhī khinnā
krandantī karuṇaṁ vibhoḥ
upasthitāntike tasmai
vyasanaṁ samavocata
Synonyms
gauḥ
—
the shape of a cow
;
bhūtvā
—
assuming
;
aśru
—
mukhī — with tears in the eyes
;
khinnā
—
very much distressed
;
krandantī
—
weeping
;
karuṇam
—
piteously
;
vibhoḥ
—
of Lord Brahmā
;
upasthitā
—
appeared
;
antike
—
in front
;
tasmai
—
unto him (Lord Brahmā)
;
vyasanam
—
her distress
;
samavocata
—
submitted .
Translation
Mother earth assumed the form of a cow. Very much distressed, with tears in her eyes, she appeared before Lord Brahmā and told him about her misfortune.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Mother earth assumed the form of a cow. Very much distressed, with tears in her eyes, she appeared before Lord Brahmā and told him about her misfortune.
KB 10.1.18
Bhūmi assumed the shape of a cow and presented herself before Lord Brahmā with tears in her eyes. She was bereaved and was weeping just to invoke the lord’s compassion. She related the calamitous position of the earth.
Purport (Jiva Goswami)
What was her appearance? She took the form of a cow to invoke pity. She was distressed. She cried with shaking voice. Instead of rudatī sometimes krandantī is found. Her face was covered with tears. Viṣṇu Purāṇa and Hari-vaṁśa describe her speaking pitifully because of pain (khedāt karuṇa-bhāśiṇī). Brahmā is described as vibhoḥ because he endowed with powers of controlling the universe since he is empowered by the Lord. She directly (sam) expressed her suffering to Brahmā. Instead of sam sometimes svam (her suffering) is found.
tat sāṁpratam amī daityāḥ kālanemi purogamāḥ /
martya-lokaṁ samākramya bādhante 'harniśaṁ prajāḥ //
kālanemir hato yo 'sau viṣṇunā prabhaviṣṇunā /
ugrasena-sutaḥ kaṁsaḥ saṁbhūtaḥ sa mahāsuraḥ //
āriṣṭo dhenukaḥ keśī pralaṁbo narakas tathā /
suṁdo 'suras tathāty ugro bāṇaś cāpi baleḥ sutaḥ //
tathānye ca mahāvīryā nṛpāṇāṁ bhavaneṣu ye /
samutpannā durātmānas tān na saṁkhyātum utsahe //
akṣohiṇyo hi bahulā divya-mūrti-dharāḥ surāḥ /
mahābalānāṁ dṛptānāṁ daityendraṇāṁ mamopari //
tad bhūribhāra pīḍārtā na śaknomy amareśvarāḥ /
bibhartum ātmānam aham iti vijñāpayāmi vaḥ //
kriyatāṁ tan mahābhāgā mama bhārāvatāraṇam /
yathā rasātalaṁ nāhaṁ gaccheyam ativihvalā // Viṣṇu Purāṇa 5.1.22-.28
The demon Kālanemi previously attacked the earth and afflicted the people constantly. Killed by powerful Viṣṇu, he was born as the powerful demon Kaṁsa, the son of Ugrasena. Āriṣtā, Denuka, Keśī, Pralamba, Naraka, Sunda, and fierce Bāṇa, the son of Bali, as well as other great warriors have been born in the houses of kings. It is not possible to count them. They have numerous armies, O shining form! O lord! Pained by the great weight, I cannot bear the burden of these proud demon kings of great strength. I inform you of this. Please relieve me of this burden so that I do not go to Rasātala in distress.