Devanagari
अलक्षयन्तस्तमतीव विह्वला
विचुक्रुशुर्देवगणा: सहानुगा: ।
अनायका: शत्रुबलेन निर्जिता
वणिक्पथा भिन्ननवो यथार्णवे ॥ २५ ॥
Verse text
alakṣayantas tam atīva vihvalā
vicukruśur deva-gaṇāḥ sahānugāḥ
anāyakāḥ śatru-balena nirjitā
vaṇik-pathā bhinna-navo yathārṇave
Synonyms
alakṣayantaḥ
—
being unable to see
;
tam
—
King Indra
;
atīva
—
fiercely
;
vihvalāḥ
—
bewildered
;
vicukruśuḥ
—
began to lament
;
deva
—
gaṇāḥ — all the demigods
;
saha
—
anugāḥ — with their followers
;
anāyakāḥ
—
without any captain or leader
;
śatru
—
balena — by the superior power of their enemies
;
nirjitāḥ
—
oppressed severely
;
vaṇik
—
pathāḥ — traders
;
bhinna
—
navaḥ — whose ship is wrecked
;
yathā arṇave
—
as in the middle of the ocean .
Translation
The demigods, being severely oppressed by their enemies and being unable to see Indra on the battlefield, were very anxious. Having no captain or leader, they began lamenting like traders in a wrecked vessel in the midst of the ocean.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
The devatās and their followers, not seeing Indra, became disturbed. Without their leader they were defeated by the strength of the enemy like merchants in broken ship at sea.
Vanik-pathā means merchants. Bhinna-navaḥ means a broken ship.
Purport
From this statement it appears that in the upper planetary system there is shipping and that traders there engage in navigation as their occupational duty. Sometimes, as on this planet, these traders are shipwrecked in the middle of the ocean. It appears that even in the upper planetary system, such calamities occasionally take place. The upper planetary system in the creation of the Lord is certainly not vacant or devoid of living entities. From
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
we understand that every planet is full of living entities, just as earth is. There is no reason to accept that on other planetary systems there are no living beings.