SB 1.8.24
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
TEXT 24
- viṣān mahāgneḥ puruṣāda-darśanād
- asat-sabhāyā vana-vāsa-kṛcchrataḥ
- mṛdhe mṛdhe 'neka-mahārathāstrato
- drauṇy-astrataś cāsma hare 'bhirakṣitāḥ
SYNONYMS
viṣāt — from poison; mahā-agneḥ — from the great fire; puruṣa-ada — the man-eaters; darśanāt — by combating; asat — vicious; sabhāyāḥ — assembly; vana-vāsa — exiled to the forest; kṛcchrataḥ — sufferings; mṛdhe mṛdhe — again and again in battle; aneka — many; mahā-ratha — great generals; astrataḥ — weapons; drauṇi — the son of Droṇācārya; astrataḥ — from the weapon of; ca — and; āsma — indicating past tense; hare — O my Lord; abhirakṣitāḥ — protected completely.
TRANSLATION
My dear Kṛṣṇa, Your Lordship has protected us from a poisoned cake, from a great fire, from cannibals, from the vicious assembly, from sufferings during our exile in the forest and from the battle where great generals fought. And now You have saved us from the weapon of Aśvatthāmā.
PURPORT
Teachings of Queen Kuntī, 7 Dangerous Encounters
The list of dangerous encounters is submitted herein. Devakī was once put into difficulty by her envious brother, otherwise she was well. But Kuntīdevī and her sons were put into one difficulty after another for years and years together. They were put into trouble by Duryodhana and his party due to the kingdom, and each and every time the sons of Kuntī were saved by the Lord. Once Bhīma was administered poison in a cake, once they were put into the house made of shellac and set afire, and once Draupadī was dragged out, and attempts were made to insult her by stripping her naked in the vicious assembly of the Kurus. The Lord saved Draupadī by supplying an immeasurable length of cloth, and Duryodhana's party failed to see her naked. Similarly, when they were exiled in the forest, Bhīma had to fight with the man-eater demon Hiḍimbā Rākṣasa, but the Lord saved him. So it was not finished there. After all these tribulations, there was the great Battle of Kurukṣetra, and Arjuna had to meet such great generals as Droṇa, Bhīṣma and Karṇa, all powerful fighters. And at last, even when everything was done away with, there was the brahmāstra released by the son of Droṇācārya to kill the child within the womb of Uttarā, and so the Lord saved the only surviving descendant of the Kurus, Mahārāja Parīkṣit.