SB 10.72.22 · Srimad-Bhagavatam

Devanagari

श्रीशुक उवाच स्वरैराकृतिभिस्तांस्तु प्रकोष्ठैर्ज्याहतैरपि । राजन्यबन्धून् विज्ञाय द‍ृष्टपूर्वानचिन्तयत् ॥ २२ ॥

Verse text

śrī-śuka uvāca svarair ākṛtibhis tāṁs tu prakoṣṭhair jyā-hatair api rājanya-bandhūn vijṣāya dṛṣṭa-pūrvān acintayat

Synonyms

śrī — śukaḥ uvāca — Śukadeva Gosvāmī said ; svaraiḥ — by their voices ; ākṛtibhiḥ — their bodily statures ; tān — them ; tu — however ; prakoṣṭhaiḥ — by (seeing) their forearms ; jyā — by bowstrings ; hataiḥ — imprinted ; api — even ; rājanya — of royalty ; bandhūn — as family members ; vijṣāya — recognizing ; dṛṣṭa — seen ; pūrvān — previously ; acintayat — he considered .

Translation

Śukadeva Gosvāmī said: From the sound of their voices, their physical stature and the marks of bowstrings on their forearms, Jarāsandha could tell that his guests were of the royal order. He began to think he had seen them somewhere before.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

Śukadeva Gosvāmī said: From the sound of their voices, their physical stature and the marks of bowstrings on their forearms, Jarāsandha could tell that his guests were of the royal order. He began to think he had seen them somewhere before. KB 10.72.22 While Lord Kṛṣṇa was speaking in the garb of a brāhmaṇa along with Arjuna and Bhīma, Jarāsandha marked that the three of them did not appear to be actual brāhmaṇas. There were signs on their bodies by which Jarāsandha could understand that they were kṣatriyas. Their shoulders were marked with impressions due to carrying bows, they had beautiful bodily structure, and their voices were grave and commanding. Thus he definitely concluded that they were not brāhmaṇas but kṣatriyas. He also thought that he had seen them somewhere before.

Purport

The ācāryas point out that Jarāsandha had seen Lord Kṛṣṇa, Bhīmasena and Arjuna at Draupadī’s svayaṁvara ceremony. Since they had come begging in the guise of brāhmaṇas, Jarāsandha thought they must be low-class kṣatriyas, as indicated here by the word rājanya-bandhūn.

Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

By the calluses on the forearms caused by drawing the bowstring (jya hatair), as well as their deep voices and strong stature, he recognized them as ksatriyas or rather low class ksatriyas, since they were begging in disguise as brahmanas, who he had seen before, at the svayam vara of Draupadi.

Purport (Jiva Goswami)

Their voices were deep. They tried to perfect their disguise but hiding their physical features was beyond their control. Their bodies were beautiful, strong, muscular and erect. As he heard the voice, then saw their forms and then saw the bow marks, successively Jarāsandha became more and more convinced that they were not brāhmaṇas. He saw them as fallen kṣatriyas since they were disguising themselves as brāhmaṇas and begging. This is explained later.