Devanagari
प्रायेण मेऽयं हरिणोरुमायिना
वध: स्मृतोऽनेन समुद्यतेन किम् ।
एवं ब्रुवंस्त्वभ्यपतद् गदायुधो
नदन् नृसिंहं प्रति दैत्यकुञ्जर: ॥ २३ ॥
Verse text
prāyeṇa me ’yaṁ hariṇorumāyinā
vadhaḥ smṛto ’nena samudyatena kim
evaṁ bruvaṁs tv abhyapatad gadāyudho
nadan nṛsiṁhaṁ prati daitya-kuṣjaraḥ
Synonyms
prāyeṇa
—
probably
;
me
—
of me
;
ayam
—
this
;
hariṇā
—
by the Supreme Lord
;
uru
—
māyinā — who possesses the great mystic power
;
vadhaḥ
—
the death
;
smṛtaḥ
—
planned
;
anena
—
with this
;
samudyatena
—
endeavor
;
kim
—
what use
;
evam
—
in this way
;
bruvan
—
murmuring
;
tu
—
indeed
;
abhyapatat
—
attacked
;
gadā
—
āyudhaḥ — armed with his weapon, the club
;
nadan
—
loudly roaring
;
nṛ
—
siṁham — the Lord, appearing in the form of half lion and half man
;
prati
—
toward
;
daitya
—
kuṣjaraḥ — Hiraṇyakaśipu, who was like an elephant .
Translation
Hiraṇyakaśipu murmured to himself, “Lord Viṣṇu, who possesses great mystic power, has made this plan to kill me, but what is the use of such an attempt? Who can fight with me?” Thinking like this and taking up his club, Hiraṇyakaśipu attacked the Lord like an elephant.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
"Lord Viṣṇu, who possesses great mystic power, has made this plan to kill me, but what is the use of such an attempt?" Uttering this and taking up his club while roaring loudly, Hiraṇyakaśipu, elephant among the demons, attacked the Lord.
Seeing that astonishing form, he thought and then spoke as follows. The Lord has thought of killing me by this form. Smṛtaḥ means that the Lord wanted to do this, and now has taken practical steps, by remembering again. What is the use of this attempt by the Lord? It has not use at all, since it cannot overcome my strength.
Purport
In the jungle there are sometimes fights between lions and elephants. Here the Lord appeared like a lion, and Hiraṇyakaśipu, unafraid of the Lord, attacked Him like an elephant. Generally the elephant is defeated by the lion, and therefore the comparison in this verse is appropriate.