Devanagari
कश्चिन्महानहिस्तस्मिन् विपिनेऽतिबुभुक्षित: ।
यदृच्छयागतो नन्दं शयानमुरगोऽग्रसीत् ॥ ५ ॥
Verse text
kaścin mahān ahis tasmin
vipine ’ti-bubhukṣitaḥ
yadṛcchayāgato nandaṁ
śayānam ura-go ’grasīt
Synonyms
kaścit
—
a certain
;
mahān
—
great
;
ahiḥ
—
snake
;
tasmin
—
in that
;
vipine
—
area of the forest
;
ati
—
bubhukṣitaḥ — extremely hungry
;
yadṛcchayā
—
by chance
;
āgataḥ
—
came there
;
nandam
—
Nanda Mahārāja
;
śayānam
—
who was lying asleep
;
ura
—
gaḥ — moving on his belly
;
agrasīt
—
swallowed .
Translation
During the night a huge and extremely hungry snake appeared in that thicket. Slithering on his belly up to the sleeping Nanda Mahārāja, the snake began swallowing him.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
During the night a huge and extremely hungry snake appeared in that thicket. Slithering on his belly up to the sleeping Nanda Mahārāja, the snake began swallowing him.
KB 10.34.5
But while they were taking rest, a great serpent from the nearby forest appeared before them and hungrily began to swallow up Nanda Mahārāja.
Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Mahan ahih means boa constrictor. The word uraga (snake)as well as ahih (snake) is used to indicate that he slithered into the forest on his chest (uras + ga to go), so that he would be unseen by others.
Purport (Jiva Goswami)
What happened the next night is described. Some remarkable snake, appeared by some good fortune (yadṛcchayā). The snake approached on its breast (uragaḥ) since it did not have feet. Nanda was sleeping soundly because of fatigue from the fast and staying awake the previous night. The snake came to him because he was sleeping in a solitary place to avoid people disturbing him. The snake began swallowing his legs.
Purport (Sanatana Goswami)
No one was awake. That is mentioned later. The snake was actually attempting to be rescued from his condition. The snake was very hungry, because it had not eaten for a long time. By some fortune it came to that forest. Or it lived there and by chance came to Nanda. It began to swallow Nanda by his feet. “Seeing the snake, why did Nanda not flee?” He was sleeping because of fatigue from the journey. “Why was the snake not afraid when he saw Nanda?” Nanda was inactive on the ground, covered by a cloth. “By fortune (yadṛcchayā)” indicates the chief cause in this event: with great pain the snake took shelter of Nanda’s feet in order that he be delivered.