SB 10.42.31 · Srimad-Bhagavatam

Devanagari

अदर्शनं स्वशिरस: प्रतिरूपे च सत्यपि असत्यपि द्वितीये च द्वैरूप्यं ज्योतिषां तथा ॥ २८ ॥ छिद्रप्रतीतिश्छायायां प्राणघोषानुपश्रुति: स्वर्णप्रतीतिर्वृक्षेषु स्वपदानामदर्शनम् ॥ २९ ॥ स्वप्ने प्रेतपरिष्वङ्ग: खरयानं विषादनम् यायान्नलदमाल्येकस्तैलाभ्यक्तो दिगम्बर: ॥ ३० ॥ अन्यानि चेत्थं भूतानि स्वप्नजागरितानि च पश्यन् मरणसन्त्रस्तो निद्रां लेभे न चिन्तया ॥ ३१ ॥

Verse text

adarśanaṁ sva-śirasaḥ pratirūpe ca saty api asaty api dvitīye ca dvai-rūpyaṁ jyotiṣāṁ tathā chidra-pratītiś chāyāyāṁ prāṇa-ghoṣānupaśrutiḥ svarṇa-pratītir vṛkṣeṣu sva-padānām adarśanam svapne preta-pariṣvaṅgaḥ khara-yānaṁ viṣādanam yāyān nalada-māly ekas tailābhyakto dig-ambaraḥ anyāni cetthaṁ-bhūtāni svapna-jāgaritāni ca paśyan maraṇa-santrasto nidrāṁ lebhe na cintayā

Synonyms

adarśanam — the invisibility ; sva — of his own ; śirasaḥ — head ; pratirūpe — his reflection ; ca — and ; sati — being present ; api — even ; asati — there not being ; api — even ; dvitīye — a cause for duplication ; ca — and ; dvai — rūpyam — double image ; jyotiṣām — of the heavenly bodies ; tathā — also ; chidra — of a hole ; pratītiḥ — the seeing ; chāyāyām — in his shadow ; prāṇa — of his life air ; ghoṣa — of the reverberation ; anupaśrutiḥ — the failure to hear ; svarṇa — of a golden color ; pratītiḥ — the perception ; vṛkṣeṣu — on trees ; sva — his own ; padānām — footprints ; adarśanam — not seeing ; svapne — while asleep ; preta — by ghostly spirits ; pariṣvaṅgaḥ — being embraced ; khara — upon a donkey ; yānam — traveling ; viṣa — poison ; adanam — swallowing ; yāyāt — was going about ; nalada — of spikenards, rose-purple flowers native to India ; mālī — wearing a garland ; ekaḥ — someone ; taila — with oil ; abhyaktaḥ — smeared ; dik — ambaraḥ — naked ; anyāni — other (omens) ; ca — and ; ittham — bhūtāni — like these ; svapna — while asleep ; jāgaritāni — while awake ; ca — also ; paśyan — seeing ; maraṇa — of death ; santrastaḥ — terrified ; nidrām — sleep ; lebhe — he could achieve ; na — not ; cintayā — because of his anxiety .

Translation

When he looked at his reflection he could not see his head; for no reason the moon and stars appeared double; he saw a hole in his shadow; he could not hear the sound of his life air; trees seemed covered with a golden hue; and he could not see his footprints. He dreamt that he was being embraced by ghosts, riding a donkey and drinking poison, and also that a naked man smeared with oil was passing by wearing a garland of nalada flowers. Seeing these and other such omens both while dreaming and while awake, Kaṁsa was terrified by the prospect of death, and out of anxiety he could not sleep.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

When he looked at his reflection he could not see his head; for no reason the moon and stars appeared double; he saw a hole in his shadow; he could not hear the sound of his life air; trees seemed covered with a golden hue; and he could not see his footprints. He dreamt that he was being embraced by ghosts, riding a donkey and drinking poison, and also that a naked man smeared with oil was passing by wearing a garland of nalada flowers. Seeing these and other such omens both while dreaming and while awake, Kaṁsa was terrified by the prospect of death, and out of anxiety he could not sleep. KB 10.42.28-31 When he looked in the mirror he could not see his head, although the head was actually present. He saw the luminaries in the sky in double, although there was only one set factually. He began to see holes in his shadow, and he heard a high buzzing sound within his ears. All the trees before him appeared to be made of gold, and he could not see his own footprints in dust or muddy clay. In dreams he saw various kinds of ghosts being carried in a carriage drawn by donkeys. He also dreamed that someone gave him poison and he was drinking it. He dreamed also that he was going naked with a garland of flowers and was smearing oil all over his body. Thus, as Kaṁsa saw various signs of death while both awake and sleeping, he could understand that death was certain, and thus in great anxiety he could not rest that night.

Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

The inauspicious omens are explained in three verses. Though he saw his reflection in the mirror, the reflection had no head. The moon and other planets appeared double without objects intervening which could cause that phenomena. There were holes in his shadow. He could not hear his heart beat when he covered his ears. Trees appeared golden in color. He could not see his footprints in the earth and dust. These were omens perceived in waking state. The omens in his dreams were: being embraced by ghosts, riding a donkey, drinking poison, seeing a naked man covered in oil, wearing a garland of java flowers, passing by. In this way he saw many astonishing things both in waking and sleeping states.

Purport (Jiva Goswami)

Three verses describe what he saw. He saw double moons and stars in the absence of any obstruction to the eye (such as a finger). Such an omen occurred during the waking state, foreboding death. The word ādi indicates other causes such as eye disease. The word ca is used twice to indicate that he did not see some things and saw other things. This occurred for the other things he saw as well. He saw his shadow with a hole in it. These he saw while awake. Though he stayed awake a long time, sometimes after great worries he would become exhausted and then see dreams. Other things he saw while awake and while dreaming.