SB 10.6.13 · Srimad-Bhagavatam

Devanagari

निशाचरीत्थं व्यथितस्तना व्यसु- र्व्यादाय केशांश्चरणौ भुजावपि । प्रसार्य गोष्ठे निजरूपमास्थिता वज्राहतो वृत्र इवापतन्नृप ॥ १३ ॥

Verse text

niśā-carītthaṁ vyathita-stanā vyasur vyādāya keśāṁś caraṇau bhujāv api prasārya goṣṭhe nija-rūpam āsthitā vajrāhato vṛtra ivāpatan nṛpa

Synonyms

niśā — carī — the Rākṣasī ; ittham — in this way ; vyathita — stanā — being severely aggrieved because of pressure on her breast ; vyasuḥ — lost her life ; vyādāya — opening her mouth wide ; keśān — bunch of hairs ; caraṇau — her two legs ; bhujau — her two hands ; api — also ; prasārya — expanding ; goṣṭhe — in the pasturing ground ; nija — rūpam āsthitā — remained in her original demoniac form ; vajra — āhataḥ — killed by the thunderbolt of Indra ; vṛtraḥ — Vṛtrāsura ; iva — as if ; apatat — fell down ; nṛpa — O King .

Translation

In this way the demon Pūtanā, very much aggrieved because her breast was being attacked by Kṛṣṇa, lost her life. O King Parīkṣit, opening her mouth wide and spreading her arms, legs and hair, she fell down in the pasturing ground in her original form as a Rākṣasī, as Vṛtrāsura had fallen when killed by the thunderbolt of Indra.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

In this way the demon Pūtanā, very much aggrieved because her breast was being attacked by Kṛṣṇa, lost her life. O King Parīkṣit, opening her mouth wide and spreading her arms, legs and hair, she fell down in the pasturing ground in her original form as a Rākṣasī, as Vṛtrāsura had fallen when killed by the thunderbolt of Indra. KB 10.6.13 Thus the nightmare of the Pūtanā witch was over, and she assumed her real feature as a great demon. She opened her fierce mouth and spread her arms and legs all over. She fell exactly as Vṛtrāsura did when struck by the thunderbolt of Indra. The long hair on her head was scattered all over her body.

Purport

Pūtanā was a great Rākṣasī who knew the art of covering her original form by mystic power, but when she was killed her mystic power could not hide her, and she appeared in her original form.

Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

Because of the pain of death, the raksasi could not maintain her disguise as a beautiful woman and reverted to her raksasi form.

Purport (Jiva Goswami)

Her original form was that of an owl. This is mentioned previously. Tokena jīva-haraṇaṁ yad ulūki-kāyāḥ: he killed the woman with the body of an owl when he was a child. (SB 1.2.27) The word goṣṭhe here means “near a place kept for milking the cows, not where people were living.” Moving her feet, she crushed trees. She flailed her arms as if trying to fly like a bird. It was previously mentioned that she flew to Vraja. O king! Understanding this story, you will protect the people (nṛpa).

Purport (Sanatana Goswami)

The pain in her breast was the main cause of her dying. She is compared to Vṛtra because she had a huge body and like him attained the spiritual world. Śukadeva calls to the king in joy. Or like you, a king, who protects people from the wicked, Kṛṣṇa protected Vraja from the body of Pūtanā. Her original form was that of an owl. This is mentioned previously. Tokena jīva-haraṇaṁ yad ulūki-kāyāḥ: he killed the woman with the body of an owl when he was a child. (SB 1.2.27) The word goṣṭhe here means “near a place kept for milking the cows, not where people were living.” Moving her feet, she crushed trees. She flailed her arms as if trying to fly like a bird. It was previously mentioned that she flew to Vraja. O king! Understanding this story, you will protect the people (nṛpa).