SB 10.67.14

SB 10.67.14

Devanagari

तं ग्राव्णा प्राहरत् क्रुद्धो बल: प्रहरतां वर: । स वञ्चयित्वा ग्रावाणं मदिराकलशं कपि: ॥ १४ ॥ गृहीत्वा हेलयामास धूर्तस्तं कोपयन् हसन् । निर्भिद्य कलशं दुष्टो वासांस्यास्फालयद् बलम् । कदर्थीकृत्य बलवान् विप्रचक्रे मदोद्धत: ॥ १५ ॥

Verse text

taṁ grāvṇā prāharat kruddho balaḥ praharatāṁ varaḥ sa vaṣcayitvā grāvāṇaṁ madirā-kalaśaṁ kapiḥ gṛhītvā helayām āsa dhūrtas taṁ kopayan hasan nirbhidya kalaśaṁ duṣṭo vāsāṁsy āsphālayad balam kadarthī-kṛtya balavān vipracakre madoddhataḥ

Synonyms

tam at him, Dvivida ; grāvṇā a rock ; prāharat threw ; kruddhaḥ angry ; balaḥ Lord Balarāma ; praharatām of throwers of weapons ; varaḥ the best ; saḥ he, Dvivida ; vaṣcayitvā avoiding ; grāvāṇam the rock ; madirā of liquor ; kalaśam the pot ; kapiḥ the ape ; gṛhītvā seizing ; helayām āsa made fun of ; dhūrtaḥ the rascal ; tam Him, Lord Balarāma ; kopayan angering ; hasan laughing ; nirbhidya breaking ; kalaśam the pot ; duṣṭaḥ wicked ; vāsāṁsi the garments (of the girls) ; āsphālayat he pulled at ; balam Lord Balarāma ; kadarthīkṛtya disrespecting ; bala vān — powerful ; vipracakre he insulted ; mada by false pride ; uddhataḥ puffed up .

Translation

Angered, Lord Balarāma, the best of fighters, hurled a rock at him, but the cunning ape dodged the rock and grabbed the Lord’s pot of liquor. Further infuriating Lord Balarāma by laughing and by ridiculing Him, wicked Dvivida then broke the pot and offended the Lord even more by pulling at the girls’ clothing. Thus the powerful ape, puffed up with false pride, continued to insult Śrī Balarāma.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

Angered, Lord Balarāma, the best of fighters, hurled a rock at him, but the cunning ape dodged the rock and grabbed the Lord's pot of liquor. Further infuriating Lord Balarāma by laughing and by ridiculing Him, wicked Dvivida then broke the pot and offended the Lord even more by pulling at the girls' clothing. Thus the powerful ape, puffed up with false pride, continued to insult Śrī Balarāma. KB 10.67.14-15 Lord Balarāma’s name suggests not only that He is very powerful but that He takes pleasure in exhibiting extraordinary strength. So He took a stone and threw it at Dvivida. The gorilla, however, artfully avoided being struck by the stone. In order to insult Balarāma, the gorilla took away the earthen pot in which the vāruṇī was kept. Dvivida, being thus intoxicated with his limited strength, began to tear off all the valuable clothes worn by Balarāma and the accompanying young girls. He was so puffed up that he thought Balarāma could not do anything to chastise him, and he continued to offend Balarāmajī and His companions.

Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

He disrespected the gopis (helayam asa) by moving his eyebrows, by standing directly in front of them, and by his style of walking and gestures. He disrespected Balarama by not even glancing at him. He pulled the gopis’ garments from the beds and ripped them. In this way he insulted them.

Purport (Jiva Goswami)

He made Balarāma angry by laughing at him. Or he made Balarāma angry, and on seeing his anger, laughed. He further offended Balarāma, though Balarāma had more strength. He continually harassed the women because he was ill-behaved (uddhata) from pride. He behaved improperly because he was strong (balavān). Another meaning of uddhata as a pun is “extremely defeated.”

Purport (Sanatana Goswami)

Though Balarām was the best among fighters because of his strength, and though angry, he struck the ape with a rock, not his club, because of the ape’s previous bhakti. The ape’s bad behavior is described. Quickly the ape avoided the rock and attacked. The rascal made Balarāma angry and laughed at him. The ape was wicked because he pulled the clothing of the women. He insulted Balarāma who had the greatest strength (balam) since he was completely overcome by pride. This was because he was strong.