Devanagari
इत्युक्त: स खल: पापो भोजानां कुलपांसन:
भगिनीं हन्तुमारब्धं खड्गपाणि: कचेऽग्रहीत् ॥ ३५ ॥
Verse text
ity uktaḥ sa khalaḥ pāpo
bhojānāṁ kula-pāṁsanaḥ
bhaginīṁ hantum ārabdhaḥ
khaḍga-pāṇiḥ kace ’grahīt
Synonyms
iti uktaḥ
—
thus being addressed
;
saḥ
—
he (Kaṁsa)
;
khalaḥ
—
envious
;
pāpaḥ
—
sinful
;
bhojānām
—
of the Bhoja dynasty
;
kula
—
pāṁsanaḥ — one who can degrade the reputation of his family
;
bhaginīm
—
unto his sister
;
hantum ārabdham
—
being inclined to kill
;
khaḍga
—
pāṇiḥ — taking a sword in his hand
;
kace
—
hair
;
agrahīt
—
took up .
Translation
Kaṁsa was a condemned personality in the Bhoja dynasty because he was envious and sinful. Therefore, upon hearing this omen from the sky, he caught hold of his sister’s hair with his left hand and took up his sword with his right hand to sever her head from her body.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Kaṁsa was a condemned personality in the Bhoja dynasty because he was envious and sinful. Therefore, upon hearing this omen from the sky, he caught hold of his sister's hair with his left hand and took up his sword with his right hand to sever her head from her body.
KB 10.1.35
Kaṁsa was the son of Ugrasena, of the Bhoja dynasty. It is said that Kaṁsa was the most demoniac of all the Bhoja dynasty kings. Immediately after hearing the prophecy from the sky, he caught hold of Devakī’s hair and was just about to kill her with his sword.
Purport
Kaṁsa was driving the chariot and controlling the reins with his left hand, but as soon as he heard the omen that his sister’s eighth child would kill him, he gave up the reins, caught hold of his sister’s hair, and with his right hand took up a sword to kill her. Before, he had been so affectionate that he was acting as his sister’s chariot driver, but as soon as he heard that his self-interest or his life was at risk, he forgot all affection for her and immediately became a great enemy. This is the nature of demons. No one should trust a demon, despite any amount of affection. Aside from this, a king, a politician or a woman cannot be trusted, since they can do anything abominable for their personal interest. Cāṇakya Paṇḍita therefore says,
viśvāso naiva kartavyaḥ strīṣu rāja-kuleṣu ca.
Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Kamsa, who contaminates his family with sin (kula pamsana), prepared to kill her using a knife. His left hand which out of affection was holding the reins of the horses to drive his sister, suddenly held her hair in order to kill her. And throwing away the whip from his right hand, he took up his sword. The affection of material people is flickering, transforming to hate, without regard for religious principles, and most shameful even in the eyes of the common man, so that the person can even murder.
Purport (Jiva Goswami)
As soon as the voice spoke (iti), without considering the meaning, Kaṁsa acted, because he was without good mentality (pāpaḥ). Because he was the personification of evil, he did not consider whether his act was sinful, since from birth he was the contaminator of his dynasty, what to speak of contamination of his own self. Therefore immediately he attempted to kill her. Ādikarmaṇi kattari tkaḥ: the past participle form can denote the agent when it expresses the beginning of an action. (Pāṇini 3.4.71) He began to kill her (saḥ hantum arabdhaḥ). He did not try to do it secretly by poison, but by a sword, not covering it with cloth, and without considering that touching her was a condemned act. He grabbed her by the hair.