Devanagari
बद्ध्वा परिकरं शौरि: समुह्य कुटिलालकान्
उवाच हस्तिपं वाचा मेघनादगभीरया ॥ ३ ॥
Verse text
baddhvā parikaraṁ śauriḥ
samuhya kuṭilālakān
uvāca hastipaṁ vācā
megha-nāda-gabhīrayā
Synonyms
baddhvā
—
binding
;
parikaram
—
His clothes
;
śauriḥ
—
Lord Kṛṣṇa
;
samuhya
—
tying together
;
kuṭila
—
curled
;
alakān
—
the locks of His hair
;
uvāca
—
He spoke
;
hasti
—
pam — to the elephant-keeper
;
vācā
—
with words
;
megha
—
of a cloud
;
nāda
—
like the sound
;
gabhīrayā
—
grave .
Translation
Securely binding up His clothes and tying back His curly locks, Lord Kṛṣṇa addressed the elephant-keeper with words as grave as the rumbling of a cloud.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Securely binding up His clothes and tying back His curly locks, Lord Kṛṣṇa addressed the elephant-keeper with words as grave as the rumbling of a cloud.
KB 10.43.3
Kṛṣṇa could understand the purpose of the caretaker, and He prepared Himself by tightening His clothes before combating the elephant. He addressed the caretaker in a very grave voice, as resounding as a cloud:
Purport
Lord Kṛṣṇa was obviously preparing for a fight. According to Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura, the Lord put aside His jacket, tightened His belt and tied back His hair.
Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Krsna took off his shirt and bound his clothing with a belt. He placed garlands and other dangling objects over his shoulder. Though he tucked his curly locks under his turban with his fingers, at the time of combat he feared that they would become loose, so he also tied his upper cloth around his head.
Purport (Jiva Goswami)
In order to give bliss to the dynasties of warriors, he now acted like a warrior (śauriḥ). Taking off his jacket, he bound a sash around his dhoti and put on a long garland over his shoulders. This garland will be described in verse 19. Previously his naturally curly long hair had been combed and hidden beneath a shining turban. At this time he bound his locks tightly with his upper cloth for fear that they would be scattered while wrestling. Another version with samūhya instead of samuhya is poetic license. It was proper to completely bind his locks since in killing the wicked there should be nothing blocking his face (and thus the demons would derive benefit from seeing his beauty). According to Śrīdhara Svāmī he put on his cloth and then tied up the cloth (baddhvā parikāram) since it had fallen out of place. Or, baddhvā parikāram can mean “he put on the cloth.”