Devanagari
स तावत्तस्य रुष्टस्य दृष्टिपातेन भारत ।
देहजेनाग्निना दग्धो भस्मसादभवत् क्षणात् ॥ १२ ॥
Verse text
sa tāvat tasya ruṣṭasya
dṛṣṭi-pātena bhārata
deha-jenāgninā dagdho
bhasma-sād abhavat kṣaṇāt
Synonyms
saḥ
—
he, Kālayavana
;
tāvat
—
that much
;
tasya
—
of him, the awakened man
;
ruṣṭasya
—
who was angered
;
dṛṣṭi
—
of the glance
;
pātena
—
by the casting
;
bhārata
—
O descendant of Bharata (Parīkṣit Mahārāja)
;
deha
—
jena — generated in his own body
;
agninā
—
by the fire
;
dagdhaḥ
—
burned
;
bhasma
—
sāt — to ashes
;
abhavat
—
he was
;
kṣaṇāt
—
in a moment .
Translation
The awakened man was angry and cast his glance at Kālayavana, whose body burst into flames. In a single moment, O King Parīkṣit, Kālayavana was burnt to ashes.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
The awakened man was angry and cast his glance at Kālayavana, whose body burst into flames. In a single moment, O King Parīkṣit, Kālayavana was burnt to ashes.
KB 10.51.12
The man had been untimely awakened and was therefore very angry, and when he looked upon Kālayavana in his angry mood, rays of fire emanated from his eyes, and Kālayavana burned to ashes within a moment.
Purport
The man who incinerated Kālayavana with his glance was named Mucukunda. As he will explain to Lord Kṛṣṇa, he had fought for a long time on behalf of the demigods, finally taking as his benediction the right to sleep undisturbed. The
Hari-vaṁśa
explains that he secured the further benediction of being able to destroy anyone who disturbed his sleep. Ācārya Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura quotes from the
Śrī Hari-vaṁśa
as follows:
prasuptaṁ bodhayed yo māṁ
taṁ daheyam ahaṁ surāḥ
cakṣuṣā krodha-dīptena
evam āha punaḥ punaḥ
“Again and again Mucukunda said, ‘O demigods, with eyes blazing with anger, may I incinerate anyone who awakens me from sleep.’”
Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī explains that Mucukunda made this rather morbid request to scare Lord Indra, who, Mucukunda thought, might otherwise wake him repeatedly to request his help in fighting Indra’s cosmic enemies. Indra’s consent to Mucukunda’s request is described in
Śrī Viṣṇu Purāṇa
as follows:
proktaś ca devaiḥ saṁsuptaṁ
yas tvām utthāpayiṣyati
deha-jenāgninā sadyaḥ
sa tu bhasmī-kariṣyati
“The demigods declared, ‘Whoever awakens you from sleep will suddenly be burnt to ashes by a fire generated from his own body.’”
Purport (Jiva Goswami)
As soon as Mucucunda glanced, Kālayavana burst into flames, and immediately turned to ashes. O Parīkṣit, you were born in a great dynasty (bhārata)! You should not consider such powers astonishing. The benediction from the devatās that he could burn him up with the anger of his glance is inferred, according to Śukadeva, and thus not mentioned. Some verses after verse 20 have been interpolated. Viṣṇu Purāṇa however says this was part of the benediction:
proktaś ca devaiḥ saṁsuptaṁ yas tvām utthāpayiṣyati
deha-jenāgninā sadyaḥ sa tu bhasmī-kariṣyati
The devatās declared, “Whoever awakens you from sleep will suddenly be burnt to ashes by a fire generated from his own body.”
Hari-vaṁśa also agrees with this:
prasuptaṁ bodhayed yo māṁ taṁ daheyam ahaṁ surāḥ
cakṣuṣā krodha-dīptena evam āha punaḥ punaḥ
evam astv iti śakras tam uvāca tridaśaiḥ saha /
Again and again Mucukunda said, ‘O devatās, with eyes blazing with anger, may I incinerate anyone who awakens me from sleep.” Indra along with the devatās then agreed.
Thus it is understood that he prayed that he would sleep until he saw the Lord. Until then it was better to sleep, without being awakened. The reason for awakening is described. He did not want to be awakened again even by a devotee in order to destroy the demons’ armies.