The Advent of Lord Kṛṣṇa: Introduction
पितामहा मे समरेऽमरञ्जयै-र्देवव्रताद्यातिरथैस्तिमिङ्गिलै: । दूरत्ययं कौरवसैन्यसागरंकृत्वातरन् वत्सपदं स्म यत्प्लवा: ॥ ५ ॥ द्रौण्यस्त्रविप्लुष्टमिदं मदङ्गंसन्तानबीजं कुरुपाण्डवानाम् । जुगोप कुक्षिं गत आत्तचक्रोमातुश्च मे य: शरणं गताया: ॥ ६ ॥ वीर्याणि तस्याखिलदेहभाजा-मन्तर्बहि: पूरुषकालरूपै: । प्रयच्छतो मृत्युमुतामृतं चमायामनुष्यस्य वदस्व विद्वन् ॥ ७ ॥
Transliteration
pitāmahā me samare ’marañjayair devavratādyātirathais timiṅgilaiḥ duratyayaṁ kaurava-sainya-sāgaraṁ kṛtvātaran vatsa-padaṁ sma yat-plavāḥdrauṇy-astra-vipluṣṭam idaṁ mad-aṅgaṁ santāna-bījaṁ kuru-pāṇḍavānām jugopa kukṣiṁ gata ātta-cakro mātuś ca me yaḥ śaraṇaṁ gatāyāḥvīryāṇi tasyākhila-deha-bhājām antar bahiḥ pūruṣa-kāla-rūpaiḥ prayacchato mṛtyum utāmṛtaṁ ca māyā-manuṣyasya vadasva vidvan
Synonyms (Word-for-Word)
pitāmahāḥ — my grandfathers, the five Pāṇḍavas (Yudhiṣṭhira, Bhīma, Arjuna, Nakula and Sahadeva); me — my; samare — on the Battlefield of Kurukṣetra; amaram jayaiḥ — with fighters who could gain victory over the demigods on the battlefield; devavrata-ādya — Bhīṣmadeva and others; atirathaiḥ — great commanders in chief; timiṅgilaiḥ — resembling great timiṅgila fish, which can easily eat large sharks; duratyayam — very difficult to cross; kaurava-sainya-sāgaram — the ocean of the assembled soldiers of the Kauravas; kṛtvā — considering such an ocean; ataran — crossed it; vatsa-padam — exactly as one steps over a small hoofprint of a calf; sma — in the past; yat-plavāḥ — the shelter of the boat of Kṛṣṇa’s lotus feet; drauṇi — of Aśvatthāmā; astra — by the brahmāstra; vipluṣṭam — being attacked and burned; idam — this; mat-aṅgam — my body; santāna-bījam — the only seed left, the last descendant of the family; kuru-pāṇḍavānām — of the Kurus and the Pāṇḍavas (because no one but me lived after the Battle of Kurukṣetra); jugopa — gave protection; kukṣim — within the womb; gataḥ — being placed; ātta-cakraḥ — taking in hand the disc; mātuḥ — of my mother; ca — also; me — my; yaḥ — the Lord who; śaraṇam — the shelter; gatāyāḥ — who had taken; vīryāṇi — the glorification of the transcendental characteristics; tasya — of Him (the Supreme Personality of Godhead); akhila-deha-bhājām — of all the materially embodied living entities; antaḥ bahiḥ — inside and outside; pūruṣa — of the Supreme Person; kāla-rūpaiḥ — in the forms of eternal time; prayacchataḥ — who is the giver; mṛtyum — of death; uta — it is so said; amṛtam ca — and eternal life; māyā-manuṣyasya — of the Lord, who appeared as an ordinary human being by His own potency; vadasva — kindly describe; vidvan — O learned speaker (Śukadeva Gosvāmī).
Translation
“Taking the boat of Kṛṣṇa’s lotus feet, my grandfather Arjuna and others crossed the ocean of the Battlefield of Kurukṣetra, in which such commanders as Bhīṣmadeva resembled great fish that could very easily have swallowed them. By the mercy of Lord Kṛṣṇa, my grandfathers crossed this ocean, which was very difficult to cross, as easily as one steps over the hoofprint of a calf. Because my mother surrendered unto Lord Kṛṣṇa’s lotus feet, the Lord, Sudarśana-cakra in hand, entered her womb and saved my body, the body of the last remaining descendant of the Kurus and the Pāṇḍavas, which was almost destroyed by the fiery weapon of Aśvatthāmā. Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, appearing within and outside of all materially embodied living beings by His own potency in the forms of eternal time — that is, as Paramātmā and as virāṭ-rūpa — gave liberation to everyone, either as cruel death or as life. Kindly enlighten me by describing His transcendental characteristics.”