Devanagari
नागपत्न्य ऊचु:
न्याय्यो हि दण्ड: कृतकिल्बिषेऽस्मिं-
स्तवावतार: खलनिग्रहाय ।
रिपो: सुतानामपि तुल्यदृष्टि-
र्धत्से दमं फलमेवानुशंसन् ॥ ३३ ॥
Verse text
nāga-patnya ūcuḥ
nyāyyo hi daṇḍaḥ kṛta-kilbiṣe ’smiṁs
tavāvatāraḥ khala-nigrahāya
ripoḥ sutānām api tulya-dṛṣṭir
dhatse damaṁ phalam evānuśaṁsan
Synonyms
nāga
—
patnyaḥ ūcuḥ — the wives of the serpent said
;
nyāyyaḥ
—
fair and just
;
hi
—
indeed
;
daṇḍaḥ
—
punishment
;
kṛta
—
kilbiṣe — to him who has committed offense
;
asmin
—
this person
;
tava
—
Your
;
avatāraḥ
—
descent into this world
;
khala
—
of the envious
;
nigrahāya
—
for the subjugation
;
ripoḥ
—
to an enemy
;
sutānām
—
to Your own sons
;
api
—
also
;
tulya
—
dṛṣṭiḥ — having equal vision
;
dhatse
—
You give
;
damam
—
punishment
;
phalam
—
the ultimate result
;
eva
—
indeed
;
anuśaṁsam
—
considering .
Translation
The wives of the Kāliya serpent said: The punishment this offender has been subjected to is certainly just. After all, You have incarnated within this world to curb down envious and cruel persons. You are so impartial that You look equally upon Your enemies and Your own sons, for when You impose a punishment on a living being You know it to be for his ultimate benefit.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
The wives of the Kāliya serpent said: The punishment this offender has been subjected to is certainly just. After all, You have incarnated within this world to curb down envious and cruel persons. You are so impartial that You look equally upon Your enemies and Your own sons, for when You impose a punishment on a living being You know it to be for his ultimate benefit.
KB 10.16.33
The Nāgapatnīs began to offer their prayers as follows: “O dear Lord, You are equal to everyone. For You there is no distinction between Your sons, friends or enemies. Therefore the punishment which You have so kindly offered to Kāliya is exactly befitting. O Lord, You have descended especially for the purpose of annihilating all kinds of disturbing elements within the world, and because You are the Absolute Truth, there is no difference between Your mercy and Your punishment. We think, therefore, that this apparent punishment of Kāliya is actually some benediction.
Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
In praising Krsna, the wives of Kaliya began by first agreeing with his punishment, in order to appease the anger of Krsna. "One must certainly bear responsibility for one’s own wicked deeds in the form of violence to the innocent and devoted. You protect the good and punish the wicked, but in that you do not show any partiality. Thus you treat the sons of your enemy and your own sons equally. (the word api here indicates ca, and your own sons.) Though Hiranyakasipu was your enemy, you protected his son Prahlada. Though Narakasura was your own son, you killed him. And though you punish the wicked you hold not animosity towards them. You punish them thinking ( phalam anusamsan) that after relieving them of their wicked nature by hellish suffering you will reward them with the eternal happiness of liberation."
Purport (Jiva Goswami)
His punishment is proper because he committed sins against Garuḍa, against the living entities in the Yamunā and in Vṛndāvana, and against the Lord. Because you give just punishment, you have appeared to punish the afflicters of the devotees. You have also come to give mercy to the devotees. If you did not appear there would be no punishment for the evil or mercy to the devotees. You are equal towards enemies and sons. Thus though you punish the wicked, you do not hate them. You give results which cure the wicked of their nature, by giving them hellish punishment and then giving them eternal happiness.
Purport (Sanatana Goswami)
The punishment for the offender (kata-kilbiṣe) is proper because you have appeared as an avatāra to punish the wicked. Though your real purpose is distribution of prema-bhakti, that is accomplished with the punishing of the wicked. In punishing the wicked one should consider that the result is beneficial for that person. You never partake of dealing unequally. The genitive ripoḥ means locative case. You see equally objects of affection like sons because of their proper conduct and enemies because of their evil nature. Or “Why do you give punishment to the good who have done sin, even if they are sons?” It is because you are equal to the enemy and to sons. Ripoḥ is in the singular to represent a class. One version has tūlya-drṣteḥ, genitive modifying tava: you (tava) who have equal vision. Damam dhatse is taken as a separate statement. Ripoh then makes sense without changing it to the genitive.
However if the nominative case is accepted as the subject of dhatse, the phrase with phalam, giving beneficial results, is connected with seeing equally: he who sees equally (tulya-dṛṣṭiḥ) gives punishment, which gives beneficial results (phalam). It explains why he is equal.
You give punishment as a result. This does not mention the mercy, but that should be included in the meaning since punishment and mercy are being discussed. In having equal vision, mercy is also indicted.
Or the cause of punishment is explained. For the most offensive person, your punishment is suitable. Therefore you give punishment (damam dhatse) to the wicked. If he punishes the wicked how can the Lord be glorified as merciful? He gives results beneficial for them through his dealing with them.