Devanagari
तस्यानुजा भ्रातरोऽष्टौ कङ्कन्यग्रोधकादय:
अभ्यधावन्नतिक्रुद्धा भ्रातुर्निर्वेशकारिण: ॥ ४० ॥
Verse text
tasyānujā bhrātaro ’ṣṭau
kaṅka-nyagrodhakādayaḥ
abhyadhāvann ati-kruddhā
bhrātur nirveśa-kāriṇaḥ
Synonyms
tasya
—
of him, Kaṁsa
;
anujāḥ
—
younger
;
bhrātaraḥ
—
the brothers
;
aṣṭau
—
eight
;
kaṅka
—
nyagrodhaka — ādayaḥ — Kaṅka, Nyagrodhaka and the others
;
abhyadhāvan
—
ran forward to attack
;
ati
—
kruddhāḥ — infuriated
;
bhrātuḥ
—
to their brother
;
nirveśa
—
repayment of the debt
;
kāriṇaḥ
—
doing .
Translation
Kaṁsa’s eight younger brothers, led by Kaṅka and Nyagrodhaka, then attacked the Lords in a rage, seeking to avenge their brother’s death.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Kaṁsa's eight younger brothers, led by Kaṅka and Nyagrodhaka, then attacked the Lords in a rage, seeking to avenge their brother's death.
KB 10.44.40
Kaṁsa had eight brothers, headed by Kaṅka, all of them younger than he, and when they learned that their elder brother had been killed, they combined together and rushed toward Kṛṣṇa in great anger to kill Him. Kaṁsa and his brothers were all Kṛṣṇa’s maternal uncles, brothers of Kṛṣṇa’s mother, Devakī. When Kṛṣṇa killed Kaṁsa He killed His maternal uncle, which is against the regulations of Vedic injunctions. Although Kṛṣṇa is independent of all Vedic injunctions, He violates the Vedic injunctions only in inevitable cases. Kaṁsa could not be killed by anyone but Kṛṣṇa; therefore Kṛṣṇa was obliged to kill him. But as far as Kaṁsa’s eight brothers were concerned, Balarāma took charge of killing them. Balarāma’s mother, Rohiṇī, although the wife of Vasudeva, was not the sister of Kaṁsa; therefore Balarāma took charge of killing all of Kaṁsa’s eight brothers.
Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Kamsa’s brothers pursued Krsna to absolve themselves of debt to their brother (nirvesakarinah).
Purport (Jiva Goswami)
Instead of anujā (younger brothers) sometimes anugā (followers) is seen. In any case their natures were similar to Kaṁsa’s.
Purport (Sanatana Goswami)
Instead of anujā (younger brothers) sometimes anugā (followers) is seen. In any case their natures were similar to Kaṁsa’s. They attacked Kṛṣṇa on all sides, or facing him. Or they attacked without fear (abhi), rushing quickly.