As Bāṇa continued hurling weapons at Him, the Supreme Lord began using His razor-sharp cakra to cut off Bāṇāsura’s arms as if they were tree branches.

TRANSLATION

After Lord Śiva’s followers had been driven away, the Śiva-jvara, who had three heads and three feet, pressed forward to attack Lord Kṛṣṇa. As the Śiva-jvara approached, he seemed to burn everything in the ten directions.

COMMENTARY

Śiva-jvara ran towards Kṛṣṇa to fight. The form of Śiva-jvara is described in the following verse: jvaras tri-padas tri-śirāḥ ṣaḍ-bhujo nava-locanaḥ bhasma-praharaṇo raudraḥ kālāntaka-yamopamaḥ, “The terrible Śiva-jvara had three legs, three heads, six arms and nine eyes. Showering ashes, he resembled Yamarāja at the time of universal annihilation.”

 

|| 10.63.23 ||

atha nārāyaṇaḥ devaḥ taṁ dṛṣṭvā vyasṛjaj jvaram

māheśvaro vaiṣṇavaś ca yuyudhāte jvarāv ubhau

TRANSLATION

Seeing this personified weapon approach, Lord Nārāyaṇa then released His own personified fever weapon, the Viṣṇu-jvara. The Śiva-jvara and Viṣṇu-jvara thus battled each other.

COMMENTARY

Kṛṣṇa sent forth the cold fever weapon.

 

|| 10.63.24 ||

māheśvaraḥ samākrandan vaiṣṇavena balārditaḥ

alabdhvābhayam anyatra bhīto māheśvaro jvaraḥ

śaraṇārthī hṛṣīkeśaṁ tuṣṭāva prayatāñjaliḥ

TRANSLATION

The Śiva-jvara, overwhelmed by the strength of the Viṣṇu-jvara, cried out in pain. But finding no refuge, the frightened Śiva-jvara approached Lord Kṛṣṇa, the master of the senses, hoping to attain His shelter. Thus with joined palms he began to praise the Lord.

COMMENTARY

The Śiva-jvara (fever weapon) cried out (samākrandan) in pain. He could not find relief even after going to his own master Śiva. Then he left Lord Śiva’s side and directly took shelter of Śrī Kṛṣṇa. Greatly frightened (bhīta), Śiva-jvara fell to the ground to offer his respects to Kṛṣṇa, and folding his hands praised the Lord with devotion.

 

|| 10.63.25 ||

namāmi tvānanta-śaktiṁ pareśam sarvātmānaṁ kevalaṁ jñapti-mātram

viśvotpatti-sthāna-saṁrodha-hetuṁ yat tad brahma brahma-liṅgam praśāntam

TRANSLATION

The Śiva-jvara said: I bow down to You of unlimited potencies, the Supreme Lord, the Supersoul of all beings. You possess pure and complete consciousness and are the cause of cosmic creation, maintenance and dissolution. Perfectly peaceful, You are the Absolute Truth to whom the Vedas indirectly refer.

COMMENTARY

Śiva-jvara said, “You have unlimited powers (ananta-śakti). I have understood that Your powers are greater than even those of Śiva, my master.”

 

Śiva-jvara then explains how this is true: “Śiva is a controller, but You are the supreme controller (pareśa). You are the Supersoul of every living entity (sarvātmānam) including Lord Śiva. You are composed of pure spiritual consciousness (kevalaṁ jñapti-mātram) without any mixture of material māyā, but my master Śiva is mixed with māyā. You are the creator, maintainer and destroyer (viśvotpatti-sthāna saṁrodha-hetuṁ), whereas my master Śiva is only the destroyer. You are indicated by the Vedas and thus You are called brahmā liṅgam, whereas Śiva is represented merely the sounds such as dentals and gutturals. You are the perfectly peaceful Brahman (praśāntam brahman), whereas Śiva is the ferocious Brahman (ugra-brahma).”

 

|| 10.63.26 ||

kālo daivaṁ karma jīvaḥ svabhāvo dravyaṁ kṣetraṁ prāṇa ātmā vikāraḥ

tat-saṅghāto bīja-roha-pravāhas tvan-māyaiṣā tan-niṣedhaṁ prapadye

TRANSLATION

Time; fate; karma; the jīva and his propensities; the subtle material elements; the material body; the life air; false ego; the various senses; and the totality of these as reflected in the living being’s subtle body—all this constitutes your material illusory energy, māyā, an endless cycle like that of seed and plant. I take shelter of You, the negation of this māyā.

COMMENTARY

Śiva-jvara elaborated on Kṛṣṇa being pure, concentrated spiritual consciousness (sarvātmānam kevalaṁ jñapti-mātram). First the objects excluded by the word “only” (kevalaṁ) are enumerated. Time (kāla) is the agitator. Action (karma) is the immediate subtle cause, and that which brings about the visible results is called destiny (daiva). Propensities (svabhāva) are the subtle traces (samskāra) of karma, which one carry from one body to the next. The jīva is the individual living entity who possesses this karma. Dravyaṁ refers to the subtle forms of the elements (bhūta-sūkṣmas:tan-mātras). Kṣetram is the body or matter (prakrti). Prāṇa is the life air (sūtra), ātmā is the false ego (ahaṅkāra), and vikāraḥ (transformation) is sixteen-fold, comprising the eleven senses and the five gross elements (pañca mahā-bhutas). The totality of these is reflected in the living being’s subtle body (liṇga-deha).

 

“Action generated from the body (bīja) produces another body (roha). This continuous flow (pravāha) is Your māyā. Though the living entity is different from māyā, because of being controlled by māyā, he is enamored by it. In summary, the phrase bīja-roha-pravāha means that the conditioned soul accepts a material body in order to enjoy the material world. The body is the seed (bīja) of his future material existence, because when a person acts with the body he creates further reactions (karma) which grow (roha) into the obligation to accept another material body. In other words, material life is a chain of actions and reactions. Therefore, I take shelter of You, the limit of negation. Your body and senses (tan-niṣedham) are non-different from Your pure spiritual existence and are not māyā.”

 

|| 10.63.27 ||

nānā-bhāvair līlayaivopapannair devān sādhūn loka-setūn bibharṣi

haṁsy unmārgān hiṁsayā vartamānān janmaitat te bhāra-hārāya bhūmeḥ

TRANSLATION

With various intentions, You perform pastimes to maintain the demigods, the saintly persons and the codes of religion for this world. By these pastimes You also kill those who stray from the right path and live by violence. Indeed, your present incarnation is meant to relieve the earth’s burden.

COMMENTARY

Kṛṣṇa may object, “But if I am like this, then why is there seen in Me the material qualities of attachment and hatred revealed by My showing favor?”

 

Śiva-jvara responds, “You desire, ‘Let Me protect the devotees who are favorable to Me and kill the demons who are inimical to My devotees.’ You accept such intentions out of affection for Your devotees. In Your pastimes, You protect the demigods such as Indra, the devotees and saintly persons, who act as the shelter for the people of the world (loka setūn: lokāśraya-bhūtān), and You destroy those who transgress the path of religion. Therefore, Your liking and disliking, being aspects of Your quality of affection for Your devotees, are not products of māyā. Thus I have understood that You have appeared to relieve the burden of the earth, who is Your exalted devotee.”

 

|| 10.63.28 ||

tapto ’ham te tejasā duḥsahena śāntogreṇāty-ulbaṇena jvareṇa

tāvat tāpo dehināṁ te ’nghri-mūlaṁ no severan yāvad āśānubaddhāḥ

TRANSLATION

I am tortured by the fierce power of Your terrible fever weapon, which is cold yet burning. All embodied souls must suffer as long as they remain bound to material ambitions and thus averse to serving Your feet.

COMMENTARY

Śiva-jvara said, “I cannot praise You any longer because the weapon sent by You is tormenting me with both cold and burning.”

 

Someone may say, ‘It is fitting that you suffer since you cause suffering to others.’ He answers, “Those who do not surrender to Your feet deserve to suffer. But now I have become Your devotee.”

 

|| 10.63.29 ||

śrī-bhagavān uvāca

tri-śiras te prasanno ’smi vyetu te maj-jvarād bhayam

yo nau smarati saṁvādaṁ tasya tvan na bhaved bhayam

TRANSLATION

The Supreme Lord said: O three-headed one, I am pleased with you. May your fear of My fever weapon be dispelled, and may whoever remembers our conversation here have no reason to fear you.

COMMENTARY

Śrī Kṛṣṇa said, “He who remembers this conversation between you and Me will no fear of you.” Kṛṣṇa says this rather than ordering Śiva-jvara, ‘Do not give him fever at all.’ Thus the statement means “Even when sometimes fever may come to one who has heard this conversation, still it will not create fear in him. It will be insignificant for him.”

 

|| 10.63.30 ||

ity ukto ’cyutam ānamya gato māheśvaro jvaraḥ

bāṇas tu ratham ārūḍhaḥ prāgād yotsyan janārdanam

TRANSLATION

Thus addressed, the Māheśvara-jvara bowed down to the infallible Lord and went away. But Bāṇāsura then appeared, riding forth on his chariot to fight Lord Kṛṣṇa.

COMMENTARY

Bāṇa, who was intending to fight (yotsyan), then mounted his chariot and approached Janārdana.

 

|| 10.63.31 ||

ity ukto ’cyutam ānamya gato māheśvaro jvaraḥ

bāṇas tu ratham ārūḍhaḥ prāgād yotsyan janārdanam

TRANSLATION

Thus addressed, the Māheśvara-jvara bowed down to the infallible Lord and went away. But Bāṇāsura then appeared, riding forth on his chariot to fight Lord Kṛṣṇa.

 

|| 10.63.32 ||

tasyāsyato ’strāṇy asakṛc cakreṇa kṣura-neminā

ciccheda bhagavān bāhūn śākhā iva vanaspateḥ

TRANSLATION