SB 10.75.37 · Srimad-Bhagavatam

Devanagari

स्थलेऽभ्यगृह्णाद् वस्‍त्रान्तं जलं मत्वा स्थलेऽपतत् । जले च स्थलवद् भ्रान्त्या मयमायाविमोहित: ॥ ३७ ॥

Verse text

sthale ’bhyagṛhṇād vastrāntaṁ jalaṁ matvā sthale ’patat jale ca sthala-vad bhrāntyā maya-māyā-vimohitaḥ

Synonyms

sthale — on solid ground ; abhyagṛhṇāt — he picked up ; vastra — of his garment ; antam — the end ; jalam — water ; matvā — thinking ; sthale — and in another place ; apatat — he fell ; jale — into water ; ca — and ; sthala — solid ground ; vat — as if ; bhrāntyā — by the illusion ; maya — of Maya Dānava ; māyā — by the magic ; vimohitaḥ — bewildered .

Translation

Bewildered by the illusions created through Maya Dānava’s magic, Duryodhana mistook the solid floor for water and lifted the end of his garment. And elsewhere he fell into the water, mistaking it for the solid floor.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

Bewildered by the illusions created through Maya Dānava's magic, Duryodhana mistook the solid floor for water and lifted the end of his garment. And elsewhere he fell into the water, mistaking it for the solid floor. KB 10.75.37 By the craftsmanship of the demon Maya, the palace was so decorated in different places that one who did not know the tricks would consider water to be land and land to be water. Duryodhana was illusioned by this craftsmanship, and when crossing water, thinking it to be land, he fell in.

Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

Thinking that solid ground was water he gathered up his lower cloth so it would not get wet. Thinking that water was solid ground he fell into the water. He was bewildered by Mayadava’s sakti, which revealed who was hostile in the assembly hall.

Purport (Jiva Goswami)

He lifted his lower garment (vasrāntam). He mistook water for solid ground and then fell in the water because he was confused. This was arranged especially to destroy his pride (vi—mohitaḥ) by the expert craft of Maya who made things appear opposite to their true nature (māyā). What to speak of the illusions created by devatās, and even more the illusions created by the Lord. This was arranged to mock Duryodhana’s pride. Mahābhaṛata describes this. sphāṭika-sthalam āsādya jalam ity abhiśaṅkayā sva-vastrotkarṣaṇaṁ rājā kṛtavān buddhi-mohitaḥ tataḥ sphāṭika-toyāṁ vai sphāṭikāmbuja-śobhitām vāpīṁ matvā sthalam iti savāsāḥ prāpataj jale Coming to a crystal floor, he thought it was water and in illusion lifted his cloth. Thinking water to be crystal, decorated with crystal lotuses, he fell into the water with his clothing on. jale nipatitaṁ dṛṣṭvā kiṁkarā jahasur bhṛśam vāsāṁsi ca śubhāny asmai pradadū rājaśāsanāt tathāgataṁ tu taṁ dṛṣṭvā bhīmaseno mahābalaḥ arjunaś ca yamau cobhau sarve te prāhasaṁs tadā nāmarṣayat tatas teṣām avahāsam amarṣaṇaḥ ākāraṁ rakṣamāṇas tu na sa tān samudaikṣata punar vasanam utkṣipya pratariṣyann iva sthalam āruroha tataḥ sarve jahasus te punar janāḥ dvāraṁ ca vivṛtākāraṁ lalāṭena samāhanat saṁvṛtaṁ ceti manvāno dvāra-deśād upāramat The guards laughed loudly on seeing him fall in the water. They gave him fresh cloth on the order of the king. Seeing him, Bhīma, Arjuna , Nakula and Sahadeva all laughed. Being unused to putting up with insults, Duryodhana could not bear that laugh of theirs. Concealing his emotions he even did not cast his looks on them. And beholding him once more draw up his clothes to cross a piece of dry land which he had mistaken for water, they all laughed again. Thinking a door was open he hit his forehead. Coming upon another door that was really open, the king thinking it as closed, went away from it.