SB 3.19.14

SB 3.19.14

Devanagari

तदोजसा दैत्यमहाभटार्पितं चकासदन्त:ख उदीर्णदीधिति । चक्रेण चिच्छेद निशातनेमिना हरिर्यथा तार्क्ष्यपतत्रमुज्झितम् ॥ १४ ॥

Verse text

tad ojasā daitya-mahā-bhaṭārpitaṁ cakāsad antaḥ-kha udīrṇa-dīdhiti cakreṇa ciccheda niśāta-neminā harir yathā tārkṣya-patatram ujjhitam

Synonyms

tat that trident ; ojasā with all his strength ; daitya among the demons ; mahā bhaṭa — by the mighty fighter ; arpitam hurled ; cakāsat shining ; antaḥ khe — in the middle of the sky ; udīrṇa increased ; dīdhiti illumination ; cakreṇa by the Sudarśana disc ; ciccheda He cut to pieces ; niśāta sharpened ; neminā rim ; hariḥ Indra ; yathā as ; tārkṣya of Garuḍa ; patatram the wing ; ujjhitam abandoned .

Translation

Hurled by the mighty demon with all his strength, the flying trident shone brightly in the sky. The Personality of Godhead, however, tore it to pieces with His discus Sudarśana, which had a sharp-edged rim, even as Indra cut off a wing of Garuḍa.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

Just as Indra cut off the wing that Garuḍa abandoned, the Lord, using the sharp blade of his cakra, cut the trident thrown by the greatest among demons with force, whose brilliance lit up the sky. The Lord cut up the trident which, radiating great light within itself, even lit up the sky, or which radiated light which spread in the sky, with the sharp blade of his cakra, just as Indra (hariḥ) cut off the wing that Garuḍa had already rejected. Garuḍa, who was carrying the pot of nectar, gave up one of his wings in order to protect the infallibility of the thunderbolt employed by Indra. The trident appeared like the already cut wing of Garuḍa, lighting up the sky.

Purport

The context of the reference given herein regarding Garuḍa and Indra is this: Once upon a time, Garuḍa, the carrier of the Lord, snatched away a nectar pot from the hands of the demigods in heaven in order to liberate his mother, Vinatā, from the clutches of his stepmother, Kadrū, the mother of the serpents. On learning of this, Indra, the King of heaven, hurled his thunderbolt against Garuḍa. With a view to respect the infallibility of Indra’s weapon, Garuḍa, though otherwise invincible, being the Lord’s own mount, dropped one of his wings, which was shattered to pieces by the thunderbolt. The inhabitants of higher planets are so sensible that even in the process of fighting they observe the preliminary rules and regulations of gentleness. In this case, Garuḍa wanted to show respect for Indra; since he knew that Indra’s weapon must destroy something, he offered his wing.