SB 10.50.17 · Srimad-Bhagavatam

Devanagari

तावाह मागधो वीक्ष्य हे कृष्ण पुरुषाधम । न त्वया योद्धुमिच्छामि बालेनैकेन लज्जया । गुप्तेन हि त्वया मन्द न योत्स्ये याहि बन्धुहन् ॥ १७ ॥

Verse text

tāv āha māgadho vīkṣya he kṛṣṇa puruṣādhama na tvayā yoddhum icchāmi bālenaikena lajjayā guptena hi tvayā manda na yotsye yāhi bandhu-han

Synonyms

tau — to the two of Them ; āha — said ; māgadhaḥ — Jarāsandha ; vīkṣya — watching ; he kṛṣṇa — O Kṛṣṇa ; puruṣa — adhama — lowest of men ; na — not ; tvayā — with You ; yoddhum — to fight ; icchāmi — do I want ; bālena — with a boy ; ekena — alone ; lajjayā — shamefully ; guptena — hidden ; hi — indeed ; tvayā — with You ; manda — O fool ; na yotsye — I will not fight ; yāhi — go away ; bandhu — of relatives ; han — O killer .

Translation

Jarāsandha looked at the two of Them and said: O Kṛṣṇa, lowest of men! I do not wish to fight alone with You, since it would be a shame to fight with a mere boy. You fool who keep Yourself hidden, O murderer of Your relatives, go away! I will not fight with You.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

Jarāsandha looked at the two of Them and said: O Kṛṣṇa, lowest of men! I do not wish to fight alone with You, since it would be a shame to fight with a mere boy. You fool who keep Yourself hidden, O murderer of Your relatives, go away! I will not fight with You. KB 10.50.17 When Jarāsandha saw Balarāma and Kṛṣṇa, he was a little bit compassionate because They happened to be related to him as grandsons. He specifically addressed Kṛṣṇa as puruṣādhama, meaning “the lowest among men.” Actually Kṛṣṇa is known in all Vedic scriptures as Puruṣottama, the highest among men. Jarāsandha had no intention of addressing Kṛṣṇa as Puruṣottama, but great scholars have determined the true meaning of the word puruṣādhama to be “one who makes all other personalities go downward.” Actually no one can be equal to or greater than the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Jarāsandha said, “It will be a great dishonor for me to fight with boys like Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma.” Because Kṛṣṇa had killed Kaṁsa, Jarāsandha specifically addressed Him as the killer of His own relatives. Kaṁsa had killed many of his own nephews, yet Jarāsandha did not take notice, but because Kṛṣṇa had killed His maternal uncle, Kaṁsa, Jarāsandha tried to criticize Him. That is the way of demoniac dealings. Demons do not try to find their own faults or those of their friends, but try to find the faults of their enemies. Jarāsandha also criticized Kṛṣṇa for not even being a kṣatriya. Because He was raised by Mahārāja Nanda, Kṛṣṇa was not a kṣatriya but a vaiśya. Vaiśyas are generally called guptas, and the word gupta can also be used to mean “hidden.” So Kṛṣṇa was both hidden and raised by Nanda Mahārāja. Jarāsandha accused Kṛṣṇa of three faults: that He killed His own maternal uncle, that He was not even a kṣatriya, and that He was hidden in His childhood. And therefore Jarāsandha felt ashamed to fight with Him.

Purport

Śrīla Śrīdhara Svāmī has interpreted Jarāsandha’s words as follows. Puruṣādhama can be understood as puruṣā adhamā yasmāt, meaning “Kṛṣṇa, to whom all men are inferior.” In other words, here Lord Kṛṣṇa is being addressed as “O Puruṣottama, best of living beings.” Similarly, the word guptena, “hidden,” indicates Lord Kṛṣṇa’s aspect of being in everyone’s heart and invisible to material vision. The words tvayā manda can also be divided, according to Sanskrit grammar, as tvayā amanda. In this case Jarāsandha is indicating that Kṛṣṇa is not foolish but rather most alert. The word bandhu was used by Jarāsandha in the sense of “relative,” since Lord Kṛṣṇa killed His maternal uncle, Kaṁsa. However, bandhu comes from the verb bandh, “to bind,” and therefore bandhu-han can be understood as “one who destroys the bondage of ignorance.” Similarly, the word yāhi, “please go,” indicates that Lord Kṛṣṇa should approach the living beings and bless them to become Kṛṣṇa conscious.

Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

The external meaning is "O lowest of men (purusa adhama), I am ashamed to fight with you, a mere boy (balena) , who hides yourself in Gokula as a vaisya (guptena). O fool (manda)! O killer of your uncle (bandu han)! I will not fight with you. Go away!" The other meaning skilfully contained in the same words is as follows: "O great personality to whom all others are inferior (purusadhama)! I will not fight with you for, in comparison to you Brahma is a child (bala ka) (there are two versions of this : balakenaiva and balenaikena), and you are the lord of all lords. I am ashamed to fight with you because I am not qualified. I do not desire to fight with you because you cannot be seen, being hidden within everyone (guptena). Oh most important one (amanda)! O destroyer of the bondage of the jiva (bandhu han)! "

Purport (Jiva Goswami)

Seeing Kṛṣṇa as death, Jarāsandha tried to avoid fighting him. Instead of bālenaikena sometimes bālakenaiva is seen. I do not want to fight with a boy. “But fighting depends only on strength not age.” I will not fight with a person who hid himself in Gokula out of fear of Kaṁsa. “It is suitable to hide at times to fool the enemy.” O inauspicious person (manda)! Why? You are murderer of your relatives! Therefore go away—flee from dharma. Another meaning is “Go to your house, because it is not necessary for you to labor in fighting (since you accomplish everything by your will.)”