Devanagari
तान् निन्यु: किङ्करा राज्ञे मेध्यान् पर्वण्युपागते ।
तृट्परीत: परिश्रान्तो बिभत्सुर्यमुनामगात् ॥ १६ ॥
Verse text
tān ninyuḥ kiṅkarā rājṣe
medhyān parvaṇy upāgate
tṛṭ-parītaḥ pariśrānto
bibhatsur yamunām agāt
Synonyms
tān
—
them
;
ninyuḥ
—
carried
;
kiṅkarāḥ
—
servants
;
rājṣe
—
to the King
;
medhyān
—
fit to be offered in sacrifice
;
parvaṇi
—
a special occasion
;
upāgate
—
approaching
;
tṛṭ
—
by thirst
;
parītaḥ
—
overcome
;
pariśrāntaḥ
—
fatigued
;
bibhatsuḥ
—
Arjuna
;
yamunām
—
to the Yamunā River
;
agāt
—
went .
Translation
A crew of servants carried to King Yudhiṣṭhira the slain animals fit to be offered in sacrifice on some special occasion. Then, feeling thirsty and tired, Arjuna went to the bank of the Yamunā.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
A crew of servants carried to King Yudhiṣṭhira the slain animals fit to be offered in sacrifice on some special occasion. Then, feeling thirsty and tired, Arjuna went to the bank of the Yamunā.
KB 10.58.16
Some of the dead animals that were fit to be offered in sacrifices were carried by servants and sent to King Yudhiṣṭhira. The ferocious animals, such as tigers and rhinoceroses, were killed only to stop disturbances in the forest. Since there are many sages and saintly persons who are residents of the forest, it is the duty of the kṣatriya kings to keep even the forest in a peaceful condition for living.
Arjuna felt tired and thirsty from hunting, and therefore he went to the bank of the Yamunā along with Kṛṣṇa.
Purport
As Śrīla Prabhupāda often explained, the
kṣatriyas,
or warriors, would hunt in the forest for several purposes: to practice their fighting skills, to control the population of ferocious beasts, who were a threat to human beings, and to provide animals for Vedic sacrifices. The killed animals would be given new bodies by the power of the sacrifices. Since priests no longer have that power, the sacrifices would now constitute mere killing and are thus forbidden.
In the Fourth Canto of the
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
we find that the great sage Nārada severely chastised King Prācīnabarhiṣat for abusing this principle of authorized hunting. In fact, the King had become like modern sportsmen, who cruelly kill animals as a so-called hobby.
Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
They offered the meat suitable for sacrificial rites to the king. Arjuna (bibhatsuh) went to the river.
Purport (Jiva Goswami)
The servants took those animals which were pure (medhyān), suitable for sacrifice to offer to the king. Yudhiṣṭhira is called the king since he had the nature of a king. By killing the violent animals to prevent them from killing others, those violent animals which were unsuitable for sacrifice got benefit.
Purport (Sanatana Goswami)
The servants of Arjuna or the king offered the pure animals to the king, who followed the rules of a king. This excludes tigers etc. They did not kill to eat the animals, but to offer at the special śrāddhā rites. Completely thirsty because of being completely fatigued, he who rejects bad acts (bībhatsuḥ) went to the Yamunā. This indicates he had no desire for Kālindī.