Devanagari
तमापतन्तं स विलक्ष्य दूरात्
कुमारहोद्विग्नमना रथेन ।
पराद्रवत्प्राणपरीप्सुरुर्व्यां
यावद्गमं रुद्रभयाद्यथा क: ॥ १८ ॥
Verse text
tam āpatantaṁ sa vilakṣya dūrāt
kumāra-hodvigna-manā rathena
parādravat prāṇa-parīpsur urvyāṁ
yāvad-gamaṁ rudra-bhayād yathā kaḥ
Synonyms
tam
—
him
;
āpatantam
—
coming over furiously
;
saḥ
—
he
;
vilakṣya
—
seeing
;
dūrāt
—
from a distance
;
kumāra
—
hā — the murderer of the princes
;
udvigna
—
manāḥ — disturbed in mind
;
rathena
—
on the chariot
;
parādravat
—
fled
;
prāṇa
—
life
;
parīpsuḥ
—
for protecting
;
urvyām
—
with great speed
;
yāvat
—
gamam — as he fled
;
rudra
—
bhayāt — by fear of Śiva
;
yathā
—
as
;
kaḥ
—
Brahmā (or arkaḥ — Sūrya) .
Translation
Aśvatthāmā, the murderer of the princes, seeing from a great distance Arjuna coming at him with great speed, fled in his chariot, panic stricken, just to save his life, as Brahmā fled in fear from Śiva.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Seeing Arjuna pursuing on his chariot from far off, the killer of children became disturbed in mind. Desiring to save his life, he fled as fast as he could over the ground, just as Brahmā fled out of fear of Śiva.
Purport
According to the reading matter, either
kaḥ
or
arkaḥ,
there are two references in the
Purāṇas.
Kaḥ
means Brahmā, who once became allured by his daughter and began to follow her, which infuriated Śiva, who attacked Brahmā with his trident. Brahmājī fled in fear of his life. As far as
arkaḥ
is concerned, there is a reference in the
Vāmana Purāṇa.
There was a demon by the name Vidyunmālī who was gifted with a glowing golden airplane which traveled to the back of the sun, and night disappeared because of the glowing effulgence of this plane. Thus the sun-god became angry, and with his virulent rays he melted the plane. This enraged Lord Śiva. Lord Śiva then attacked the sun-god, who fled away and at last fell down at Kāśī (Vārāṇasī), and the place became famous as Lolārka.
Commentary (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
When Brahmā (kaḥ) became desirous of his daughter, taking the form of a deer, he fled in fear from Śiva. In the same manner Aśvatthāmā fled from Arjuna. In another version the word arka (sun) is used instead of kaḥ. This is a story from the Vāmana Purāṇa. A demon named Vidyunmālī, a follower of Śiva, pursued the sun on a golden chariot given by Śiva. Due to the effulgence from the chariot, night disappeared. The sun became angry and melted the chariot with his heat and made it fall from the sky. Śiva appeared and the sun fled in fear. The sun fell down at Vārāṇasī, and became known as Lolārka (unsteady sun).