SB 1.9.34 (1964)
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
TEXT No. 34
Yudhi turaga rajo vidhumra viswak Kacha lulitasramavarya alamkritasye Mama nisitasarairbibhidyamana twachi Vilasat kavache astu krishna atma
ENGLISH SYNONYMS
Yudhi—in the battle field, Turaga—horses, Rajo—dust, Vidhumra—rendered into ash colour, Viswak—wavering, Kacha—hair, Lulita—scattered, Sramavarya—labouring perspiration, Alamkrita—decorated with, Asye—unto the face, Mama—mine, Nisita—sharp, Sarai—by the arrows, Bividyamana—pierced with, Twachi—unto the skin, Vilasat—enjoying pleasure, Kavache—protecting armour, Astu—let there be; Krishna—unto Sri Krishna, Atma—mind.
TRANSLATION
In the battle field (where Sri Krishna attended on friendly obligation for Arjuna) the wavering hair of Lord Krishna turned into ash colour on account of dust raised by the hoops of horses and they were scattered on account of labouring perspiration on the face. All these decorations intensified by the wounds effected by my sharp arrows on the skin were enjoyed by Him. Let my mind be unto such Krishna.
PURPORT
The Lord is Absolute Form of Eternity bliss and knowledge. As such transcendental loving service of the Lord in one of the five principal factors namely Santa, Dasya, Sakhya, Vatsalya, and Madhurya i.e. neutrality, servitorship, fraternity, filial affection and conjugal love all are graciously accepted by the Lord when they are offered to the Lord in genuine love and affection. Sri Bhismadeva is a great devotee of the Lord in the relation of servitorship. As such his throwing of sharp arrows on the transcendental body of the Lord is as good as the Lord is worshipped by another devotee by throwing upon Him soft roses.
It appears that Bhismadeva is repenting his actions which he had done on the person of the Lord. But factually the Lord's body was not at all pained due to His transcendental existence. His body was not of anything of matter but both He Himself and His body is complete spiritual identity. Spirit is never pierced, burnt, dried, moistened, etc. This is vividly explained in the Bhagwat Geeta. So also it is stated in the Skandh Puranam. It is said there that spirit is always uncontaminated and indestructible. It cannot be distressed neither it can be dried up. When the Lord Vishnu by His incarnation appears before us He seems to be like one of us the conditioned souls materially encaged just to bewilder the Ashuras or the non-believer who are always alert to kill the Lord even from the very beginning of His appearance. Kansa wanted to kill Krishna; Ravana wanted to kill Rama because foolishly they were unaware of the fact that the Lord is never killed as much as the spirit is never annihilated.
Therefore Bhismadeva's piercing of the body of Lord Krishna is a sort of bewildering problem for the nondevotee atheist but those who are the devotee or those who are liberated souls, for them this act of Bhisma was never bewildering like that of the Ashuras.
Bhismadeva appreciated the all merciful attitude of the Lord because he did not leave Arjuna alone although He was disturbed by the sharpen arrow of Bhismadeva neither He was reluctant to come before Bhisma's death bed even though He was ill treated by him in the battle field. Bhisma's repentance and the Lord's merciful attitude both are unique in this picture.
Sri Viswanath Chakravarty Thakur a great Acharya and devotee in the humour of conjugal love with the Lord remarks very saliently in this regard. He says that the wounds created on the body of the lord by the sharpen arrows of Bhismadeva was as much pleasing to the lord as it is by the biting of his fiancee when she bites the body of the lord directed by strong sense of sex desire. Such biting by the opposite sex is never taken as signs of enmity even there is wound on the body. Therefore, during the fighting humourous exchange of transcendental mellows between the lord and His pure devotee Shri Bhismadeva it was not at all mundane. Besides that the Lord's body and the Lord being identical there was no possibility of wounds in the Absolute body. The apparent wounds by the sharpen arrows are misleading to the common man but one who has a little of Absolute Knowledge can understand the transcendental exchange of chivalrous mellow. The Lord was perfectly happy by such piercing of His body by the sharpen arrows of Bhismadeva. The word Vibhidyamana is significant because the Lord's skin is not different from the Lord as we have got our skin different from our soul. In our case the word Vibhidyamana or being bruised and cut would have been quite suitable. Transcendental bliss is of different variety and the variety of activities in the mundane world are but perverted reflections of such transcendental bliss. In the mundane world everything being qualitatively mundane they are all full of inebrieties whereas in the Absolute Realm everything being of the same Absolute nature the enjoyment varieties are there without any inebriety. Therefore, the lord enjoyed the wounds created by His great devotee Bhismadeva and because Bhismadeva is a devotee of the chivalrous humour, he fixes up his mind on Krishna in that wounded condition.