Devanagari
ययाहरद् भुवो भारं तां तनुं विजहावज: ।
कण्टकं कण्टकेनेव द्वयं चापीशितु: समम् ॥ ३४ ॥
Verse text
yayāharad bhuvo bhāraṁ
tāṁ tanuṁ vijahāv ajaḥ
kaṇṭakaṁ kaṇṭakeneva
dvayaṁ cāpīśituḥ samam
Synonyms
yayā
—
that by which
;
aharat
—
took away
;
bhuvaḥ
—
of the world
;
bhāram
—
burden
;
tām
—
that
;
tanum
—
body
;
vijahau
—
relinquished
;
ajaḥ
—
the unborn
;
kaṇṭakam
—
thorn
;
kaṇṭakena
—
by the thorn
;
iva
—
like that
;
dvayam
—
both
;
ca
—
also
;
api
—
although
;
īśituḥ
—
controlling
;
samam
—
equal .
Translation
The supreme unborn, Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, caused the members of the Yadu dynasty to relinquish their bodies, and thus He relieved the burden of the world. This action was like picking out a thorn with a thorn, though both are the same to the controller.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Regarding both burdens equally, the Lord separated himself from that portion of the Yadus by which he removed the burden of the earth, like removing a thorn with another thorn.
Purport
Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura suggests that the
ṛṣis
like Śaunaka and others who were hearing
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
from Sūta Gosvāmī at Naimiṣāraṇya were not happy to hear about the Yadus’ dying in the madness of intoxication. To give them relief from this mental agony, Sūta Gosvāmī assured them that the Lord caused the members of the Yadu dynasty to relinquish their bodies by which they had to take away the burden of the world. The Lord and His eternal associates appeared on earth to help the administrative demigods in eradicating the burden of the world. He therefore called for some of the confidential demigods to appear in the Yadu family and serve Him in His great mission. After the mission was fulfilled, the demigods, by the will of the Lord, relinquished their corporeal bodies by fighting amongst themselves in the madness of intoxication. The demigods are accustomed to drinking the
soma-rasa
beverage, and therefore the drinking of wine and intoxication are not unknown to them. Sometimes they were put into trouble for indulging in intoxication. Once the sons of Kuvera fell in the wrath of Nārada for being intoxicated, but afterwards they regained their original forms by the grace of the Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa. We shall find this story in the Tenth Canto. For the Supreme Lord, both the
asuras
and the demigods are equal, but the demigods are obedient to the Lord, whereas the
asuras
are not. Therefore, the example of picking out a thorn by another thorn is quite befitting. One thorn, which causes pinpricks on the leg of the Lord, is certainly disturbing to the Lord, and the other thorn, which takes out the disturbing elements, certainly gives service to the Lord. So although every living being is a part and parcel of the Lord, still one who is a pinprick to the Lord is called an
asura,
and one who is a voluntary servitor of the Lord is called a
devatā,
or demigod. In the material world the
devatās
and
asuras
are always contending, and the
devatās
are always saved from the hands of the
asuras
by the Lord. Both of them are under the control of the Lord. The world is full of two kinds of living beings, and the Lord’s mission is always to protect the
devatās
and destroy the
asuras,
whenever there is such a need in the world, and to do good to both of them.
Commentary (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Here the esoteric conclusion is presented to pacify Śaunaka and the sages who were in grief on hearing about the final condition of the Yadus. By that body consisting of the Yadus in the form of the devatās, he removed the burden of the earth (bhuvaḥ) which arises from the Lord, like removing a thorn with the tip of another thorn, and then gave up that body. It is like saying “Devadatta gave up his cloth.” He let that body fall away from his presence. The verse does not say he gave up that body of the Yādavas by which he performs eternal pastimes. The meaning is this. The devatās, at the time of appearing with the Lord in their aṁśa forms, entered into the eternal forms belonging to the Yādavas. Separating from those eternal forms by the power of yoga when they went to Prabhāsa, they were made to attain Svarga with the forms of devatās after drinking the liquor by the Lord who showed to the world that they had given up bodies by the power of māyā. This is according to the explanation in the Eleventh Canto. The Yādavas who were eternal associates of the Lord disappeared from the sight of the world but remained in pastimes with Kṛṣṇa in the same Dvārakā as before. This is understood from Bhāgavatāmṛta’s conclusions. The two burdens —the burden to the earth in the form of the demons and the burden in the form of devatās who entered the forms of Yādavas — were regarded as the same by the Lord (īśituḥ samam). However in the example though two thorns are equal, the tip of the thorn as the instrument, is the internal portion (under the Lord’s influence) acting as assistant to the Lord’s pastimes. The other thorn, the object of action, though also acting as an assistant to the Lord’s pastimes, is the external portion (under the influence of māyā). Amara-koṣa says sūcy-agre kṣudra-śatrau ca lomaharṣe ca kaṇṭakaḥ: kaṇṭaka means the tip of a needle, an insignificant enemy, hair standing on end.