Srimad Bhagavatam 10.70.30 - Damodarashtakam Explained-The Controller is controlled and still remains in control (download mp3) and (download mp4)
by Chaitanya Charan Prabhu at ISKCON Chowpatty
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SB 10.70.30
yo vai tvaya dvi-nava-krtva udatta-cakra
bhagno mrdhe khalu bhavantam ananta-viryam
jitva nr-loka-niratam sakrd udha-darpo
yusmat-praja rujati no ’jita tad vidhehi
Translation:
O wielder of the disc! Your strength is unlimited, and thus seventeen times You crushed Jarasandha in battle. But then, absorbed in human affairs, You allowed him to defeat You once. Now he is so filled with pride that he dares to torment us, Your subjects. O unconquerable one, please rectify this situation.
Purport:
The word nr-loka-niratam indicates that the Lord was absorbed in playing within the world of human beings. Thus, while acting like a human king He allowed Jarasandha to be victorious in a single battle after the Lord had crushed him seventeen times. The kings here imply that Jarasandha is especially harassing them because they are souls surrendered to Lord Krsna. Therefore they beg the Lord, “O You who hold the cakra weapon high, please make the proper arrangement.”
Srila Prabhupada expresses the kings’ feelings as follows: “My dear Lord, You have already fought with Jarasandha eighteen times consecutively, out of which You have defeated him seventeen times by surpassing his extraordinary powerful position. But in Your eighteenth fight You exhibited Your human behavior, and thus it appeared that You were defeated. My dear Lord, we know very well that Jarasandha cannot defeat You at any time, because Your power, strength, resources and authority are all unlimited. No one can equal You or surpass You. The appearance of defeat by Jarasandha in the eighteenth engagement is nothing but an exhibition of human behavior. Unfortunately, foolish Jarasandha could not understand Your tricks, and he has since then become puffed up over his material power and prestige. Specifically, he has arrested us and imprisoned us, knowing fully that as Your devotees, we are subordinate to Your sovereignty.”
