Srimad Bhagavatam 10.78.7-16 | HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj | ISKCON Japan | November 11, 2025 |
jaya rādhā-mādhava kuñja-vihārī
gopījana-vallabha giri-vara-dhārī
yaśodā-nandana vraja-jana-rañjana
yamunā-tīra-vana-cārī
Hare Kṛṣṇa Hare Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Hare Hare
Hare Rāma Hare Rāma Rāma Rāma Hare Hare
Jaya Prabhupāda Jaya Prabhupāda
Prabhupāda Jaya Prabhupāda
Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya
Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya
Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevaya
nama oṁ viṣṇu-pādāya kṛṣṇa-preṣṭhāya bhū-tale
śrīmate bhaktivedānta-svāmin iti nāmine
namas te sārasvate deve gaura-vāṇī-pracāriṇe
nirviśeṣa-śūnyavādi-pāścātya-deśa-tāriṇe
jaya śrī-kṛṣṇa-caitanya prabhu-nityānanda
śrī-advaita gadādhara śrīvāsādi-gaura-bhakta-vṛnda
Hare Kṛṣṇa Hare Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Hare Hare
Hare Rāma Hare Rāma Rāma Rāma Hare Hare
Reading from Srimad Bhagavatam Canto 10 Chapter 78 Verse 7.
ŚB 10.78.7
evaṁ rūkṣais tudan vākyaiḥ
kṛṣṇaṁ totrair iva dvipam
gadayātāḍayan mūrdhni
siṁha-vad vyanadac ca saḥ
Synonyms
evam — thus; rūkṣaiḥ — harsh; tudan — harassing; vākyaiḥ — with words; kṛṣṇam — Lord Kṛṣṇa; totraiḥ — with goads; iva — as if; dvipam — an elephant; gadayā — with his club; atāḍayat — he struck Him; mūrdhni — on the head; siṁha-vat — like a lion; vyanadat — roared; ca — and; saḥ — he.
Translation
Thus trying to harass Lord Kṛṣṇa with harsh words, as one might prick an elephant with sharp goads, Dantavakra struck the Lord on the head with his club and roared like a lion.
Text 8
Although hit by Dantavakra’s club, Lord Kṛṣṇa, the deliverer of the Yadus, did not budge from His place on the battlefield. Rather, with His massive Kaumodakī club the Lord struck Dantavakra in the middle of his chest.
Text 9
His heart shattered by the club’s blow, Dantavakra vomited blood and fell lifeless to the ground, his hair disheveled and his arms and legs sprawling.
Text 10
A most subtle and wondrous spark of light then [rose from the demon’s body and] entered Lord Kṛṣṇa while everyone looked on, O King, just as when Śiśupāla was killed.
Text 11
But then Dantavakra’s brother Vidūratha, immersed in sorrow over his brother’s death, came forward breathing heavily, sword and shield in hand. He wanted to kill the Lord.
Text 12
O best of kings, as Vidūratha fell upon Him, Lord Kṛṣṇa used His razor-edged Sudarśana disc to remove his head, complete with its helmet and earrings.
Text 13-15
Having thus destroyed Śālva and his Saubha airship, along with Dantavakra and his younger brother, all of whom were invincible before any other opponent, the Lord was praised by demigods, human beings and great sages, by Siddhas, Gandharvas, Vidyādharas and Mahoragas, and also by Apsarās, Pitās, Yakṣas, Kinnaras and Cāraṇas. As they sang His glories and showered Him with flowers, the Supreme Lord entered His festively decorated capital city in the company of the most eminent Vṛṣṇis.
Text 16
Thus Lord Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the master of all mystic power and Lord of the universe, is ever victorious. Only those of beastly vision think He sometimes suffers defeat.
Purport
Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī gives the following elaborate commentary on this section of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam: Concerning the killing of Dantavakra, the Uttara-khaṇḍa (279) of the Padma Purāṇa contains further details in the following prose passage: atha śiśupālaṁ nihataṁ śrutvā dantavakraḥ kṛṣṇena saha yoddhuṁ mathurām ājagāma. kṛṣṇas tu tac chrutvā ratham āruhya mathurām āyayau. “Then, hearing that Śiśupāla had been killed, Dantavakra went to Mathurā to fight against Kṛṣṇa. When Kṛṣṇa, moreover, heard of this, He mounted His chariot and went to Mathurā.”
Tayor dantavakra-vāsudevayor aho-rātraṁ mathurā-dvāri saṅgrāmaḥ samavartata; kṛṣṇas tu gadayā taṁ jaghāna; sa tu cūrṇita-sarvāṅgo vajra-nirbhinno mahīdhara iva gatāsur avani-tale nipapāta; so ’pi hareḥ sārūpyeṇa yogi-gamyaṁ nityānanda-sukha-daṁ śāśvataṁ paramaṁ padam avāpa: “Between the two of them — Dantavakra and Lord Vāsudeva — there then began a battle at the gate of Mathurā that lasted all day and night. Finally Kṛṣṇa struck Dantavakra with His club, at which point Dantavakra fell lifeless to the ground, all his limbs smashed like a mountain shattered by a lightning bolt. Dantavakra achieved the liberation of gaining a form equal to the Lord’s, and thus he also achieved the Lord’s eternal, supreme abode, attainable by perfect yogīs, which bestows the happiness of everlasting spiritual bliss.”
Itthaṁ jaya-vijayau sanakādi-śāpa-vyājena kevalaṁ bhagavato līlārthaṁ saṁsṛtāv avatīrya janma-traye ’pi tenaiva nihatau janma-trayāvasāne muktim avāptau: “So it was that Jaya and Vijaya — apparently because of being cursed by Sanaka and his brothers but actually to facilitate the Supreme Lord’s pastimes — descended to this material world and in three consecutive lifetimes were killed by the Lord Himself. Then, at the completion of these three lifetimes, they attained liberation.”
In this passage of the Padma Purāṇa the words kṛṣṇas tu tac chrutvā, “when Kṛṣṇa heard of this,” indicate that the Lord heard from Nārada, who travels as swiftly as the mind, that Dantavakra had gone to Mathurā. Therefore immediately after killing Śālva, without first entering Dvārakā, the Lord reached the vicinity of Mathurā in a single moment on His chariot, which also moves as swiftly as the mind, and there He saw Dantavakra. Thus it is that even today, by the gate of Mathurā facing the direction of Dvārakā, there is a village known in the vernacular as Datihā, a name derived from the Sanskrit dantavakra-ha, “killer of Dantavakra.” This village was founded by Kṛṣṇa’s great-grandson Vajra.
In the same section of the Padma Purāṇa, these statements follow: kṛṣṇo ’pi taṁ hatvā yamunām uttīrya nanda-vrajaṁ gatvā sotkaṇṭhau pitarāv abhivādyāśvāsya tābhyāṁ sāśru-sekam āliṅgitaḥ sakala-gopa-vṛddhān praṇamya bahu-vastrābharaṇādibhis tatra-sthān santarpayām āsa. “And after killing him [Vidūratha], Kṛṣṇa crossed the Yamunā and went to the cowherd village of Nanda, where He honored and consoled His aggrieved parents. They drenched Him with tears and embraced Him, and then the Lord offered obeisances to the elder cowherd men and gratified all the residents with abundant gifts of clothing, ornaments and so on.”
kālindyāḥ puline ramye
puṇya-vṛkṣa-samācite
gopa-nārībhir aniśaṁ
krīḍayām āsa keśavaḥ
ramya-keli-sukhenaiva
gopa-veśa-dharaḥ prabhuḥ
bahu-prema-rasenātra
māsa-dvayam uvāsa ha
“Lord Keśava sported continuously with the cowherd women on the Kālindī’s charming bank, which was filled with pious trees. Thus the Supreme Lord, assuming the appearance of a cowherd, resided there for two months, enjoying the pleasure of intimate pastimes in various moods of loving reciprocation.”
Atha tatra-sthā nanda-gopādayaḥ sarve janāḥ putra-dārādi-sahitā vāsudeva-prasādena divya-rūpa-dharā vimānam ārūḍhāḥ paramaṁ vaikuṇṭha-lokam avāpuḥ; kṛṣṇas tu nanda-gopa-vrajaukasāṁ sarveṣāṁ nirāmayaṁ sva-padaṁ dattvā divi deva-gaṇaiḥ saṁstūyamāno dvāravatīṁ viveśa: “Then, by Lord Vāsudeva’s grace, Nanda and all the other residents of that place, together with their children and wives, assumed their eternal, spiritual forms, boarded a celestial airplane and ascended to the supreme Vaikuṇṭha planet [Goloka Vṛndāvana]. Lord Kṛṣṇa, however, after bestowing on Nanda Gopa and all the other inhabitants of Vraja His own transcendental abode, which is free of all disease, traveled through the sky and returned to Dvārakā as demigods chanted His praises.”
Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī comments as follows on this passage in his Laghu-bhāgavatāmṛta (1.488-89):
vrajeśāder aṁśa-bhūtā
ye droṇādyā avātaran
kṛṣṇas tān eva vaikuṇṭhe
prāhiṇod iti sāmpratam
preṣṭhebhyo ’pi priyatamair
janair gokula-vāsibhiḥ
vṛndāraṇye sadaivāsau
vihāraṁ kurute hariḥ
“Since Droṇa and other demigods had previously descended to earth to merge as partial expansions into the King of Vraja and other devotees of Vṛndāvana, at this time it was these demigod expansions whom Lord Kṛṣṇa sent off to Vaikuṇṭha. Lord Hari is perpetually enjoying pastimes in Vṛndāvana with His intimate devotees, the residents of Gokula, who are dearer to Him than even His most dear other devotees.”
In the passage of the Padma Purāṇa, the word putra in the phrase nanda-gopādayaḥ sarve janāḥ putra-dārādi-sahitāḥ (“Nanda Gopa and the others, together with their children and wives”) refers to such sons as Kṛṣṇa, Śrīdāmā and Subala, while the word dāra refers to such wives as Śrī Yaśodā and Kīrtidā, the mother of Rādhārāṇī. The phrase sarve janāḥ (“all the people”) refers to everyone living in the district of Vraja. Thus they all went to the topmost Vaikuṇṭha planet, Goloka. The phrase divya-rūpa-dharāḥ indicates that in Goloka they engage in pastimes appropriate to demigods, not those suited to humans, as in Gokula. Just as during Lord Rāmacandra’s incarnation the residents of Ayodhyā were transported to Vaikuṇṭha in their selfsame bodies, so in this incarnation of Kṛṣṇa the residents of Vraja attained to Goloka in theirs.
Lord Kṛṣṇa’s journey from Dvārakā to Vraja is confirmed by the following passage of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (1.11.9): yarhy ambujākṣāpasasāra bho bhavān kurūn madhūn vātha suhṛd-didṛkṣayā/ tatrābda-koṭi-pratimaḥ kṣaṇo bhavet. “O lotus-eyed Lord, whenever You go away to Mathurā, Vṛndāvana or Hastināpura to meet Your friends and relatives, every moment of Your absence seems like a million years.” Lord Kṛṣṇa had been harboring a desire to go see His friends and relatives in Vraja ever since Lord Balarama had gone there, but His mother, father and other elders in Dvārakā had refused to give Him permission. Now, however, after the killing of Śālva, when Kṛṣṇa heard from Nārada that Dantavakra had gone to Mathurā, no one could object to the Lord’s going there immediately without first entering Dvārakā. And after killing Dantavakra, He would have the opportunity to meet with His friends and relatives living in Vraja.
Thinking like this, and also remembering Uddhava’s allusion to the gopīs in the words gāyanti te viśada-karma (Bhāg. 10.71.9), He went to Vraja, dispelling the feelings of separation of the inhabitants. For two months Lord Kṛṣṇa enjoyed in Vṛndāvana just as before, previous to His leaving there to kill Kaṁsa in Mathurā. Then, at the end of two months, He withdrew His Vraja pastimes from mundane eyes by taking the demigod portions of His parents and other relatives and friends to Vaikuṇṭha. Thus, in one complete plenary manifestation He went to Goloka in the spiritual world, in another He remained perpetually enjoying in Vraja while invisible to material eyes, and in yet another He mounted His chariot and returned alone to Dvārakā. The people of Śaurasena province thought that after killing Dantavakra Kṛṣṇa had paid a visit to His parents and other dear ones and now was returning to Dvārakā. The people of Vraja, on the other hand, could not understand where He had suddenly disappeared to, and so they were totally astonished.
Furthermore, Śukadeva considered that Parīkṣit Mahārāja might think, “How is it that the same Kṛṣṇa who caused the cowherds to attain Vaikuṇṭha in their selfsame bodies also caused the residents of Dvārakā to attain such an inauspicious condition in the course of His mauṣala-līlā?” Thus the King might consider the arrangement unfair because of his own affinity for the Yadus. That is why Śukadeva Gosvāmī did not allow him to hear this pastime, which, as mentioned above, is related in the Uttara-khaṇḍa of Śrī Padma Purāṇa.
In Śrī Vaiṣṇava-toṣaṇī, Sanātana Gosvāmī’s commentary on the Tenth Canto, we find the following sequential list of pastimes: First was the journey on the occasion of the solar eclipse, then the Rājasūya assembly, then the gambling match and attempted disrobing of Draupadī, then the Pāṇḍavas’ exile to the forest, then the killing of Śālva and Dantavakra, then Kṛṣṇa’s visit to Vṛndāvana, and finally the winding up of the Vṛndāvana pastimes.
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj:
So, after the Rajasuya sacrifice, Krishna returned to Dwaraka, and then He saw Salva attacking the city, and then in the previous chapter, we saw how He killed Salva. Then, He heard from Narada, before He even went into Dwaraka, that Dantavakra had come to Mathura. So then, He went directly to Mathura, and then He killed Dantavakra and his brother. And then, according to Padma Purana, He went to meet the people of Vraja.
So this incident is not mentioned in Bhagavatam. However, there’s a quotation from 1st canto that says that sometimes Krishna goes to Mathura or Vrindavan, so this is the only time He would go [Laughs]. So that verse from the 1st canto is expanded on in the Padma Purana, where Krishna has more details of Krishna going to Vrindavan after killing Dantavakra is explained. So Krishna returned, and therefore He actually fulfills His promise. He made a promise when He left Vrindavan, I will return. He made a promise to Nanda Maharaj, when Nanda went from Mathura back to Vrindavan, “I will return”. But it doesn’t look like, He ever returned. Later on, the people of Vrindavan went to Kurukshetra, and there they met Krishna. And after staying there for few months, the people of Vrindavan left, and Krishna promised, “I will return”. So again, they waited in Vrindavan for Krishna.
So at the end of this purport, it mentions, the solar eclipse took place, they returned to, then Rajasuya assembly took place, gambling match, etc. And then Krishna returned to Dwaraka, and then He killed Salva, then He killed Dantavakra at Mathura, then He went back. So He finally fulfilled His promise [Laughs]. So, in the Padma Purana, we get the details of this. So Krishna went back, and then He had pastimes for several months there. And then, in one form, He went back to Dwaraka. And later on, there was Kurukshetra war etc [Laughs].
And of course, in another form, as explained in Padma Purana, He took everyone to Vaikuntha. Of course, the question will be, why the Vrajavasis went to Vaikuntha? They don’t belong there [Laughs]. So, to explain that the expansions of devatas who would enter into the Vrajavasis when Krishna appeared, they were separated out and they went to Vaikuntha.
Devotee: Devata?
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: Yes, the devatas were told by the Lord that you should appear on the earth with the Lord.
So their expansions entered into Vrajavasis and into the people of Mathura, who later became Dwarakavasis. So there was expansions of devatas in the bodies of the people of Dwaraka and Vrindavan.
Devotee: They went back to Vaikuntha?
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: Yeah.
Devotee: That’s strange also, because devatas should go back to the heavenly planet.
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: Yeah, so, one, I don’t know if it’s explained here, but one is they could go to heavenly planets, and that’s what explained for the people of Dwaraka [Laughs].
So then these devata portions who were with Krishna in Vrindavan, where did they go? It’s a little unclear here. You could say they would return to svargaloka, or they could go to Vaikuntha, but not the regular Vaikuntha. So then alternative is, Aishwarya Goloka. So in Aishwarya Goloka, Krishna is a cowherd boy, and everyone is there, all the associates are there, cowherd boys, Nanda, Yasoda etc. But there’s also some Aishwarya there, and everyone sees Krishna as Supreme Lord [Laughs].
And then there is the Goloka without the Aishwarya, or you could say Gokula in the spiritual world, where Krishna is just a cowherd boy and Nanda and Yasoda are there, and the pastimes are described in the tenth canto [Laughs]. So, the actual Nanda and Yasoda and the Gopis etc. would go to that place. At the same time, we have the aprakata pastimes in Vrindavan itself, so simultaneously, Krishna doesn’t go to [Laughs] Aishwarya Goloka or Goloka, and Krishna remains in Vrindavan with all of the associates there, but invisible, and He has His pastimes. Invisible pastimes [Laughs]. And another form goes back to Dwaraka [Laughs]. So we have four forms of Krishna [Laughs]. So Krishna finally returned. The details are also explained in the Brhad Bhagavatamrta, Sanatana Goswami explains how Krishna came back, and everybody was happy and He married all the Gopis, and so many things, so many pastimes are there.
Devotee: That’s which Goloka?
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: On earth, when He came back, and after killing Dantavakra, He came back to Mathura, from Mathura to Vrindavan. So that’s kind of explained, described in the Brhad Bhagavatamrta. Oh no! Sorry, that’s Gopala Campu, Gopala Campu. Yeah, Jiva Goswami. Now of course, Krishna returns and fulfills His promise, but we can always say, well, He didn’t really keep his promise, because this was many years later He returned. He didn’t return several months or very soon, as He had promised Nanda and the Gopis [Laughs]. Therefore, Viswanatha Chakravarthi explains that actually Krishna did keep His promise because He came back after three months. So He was in Mathura, well He was there, He went back, and then He stayed there forever. But we don’t see that, so that’s also aprakata [Laughs]. From Mathura, when He was there, He went to kill Kamsa, He stayed there for several months, then He also went back in another form to Vrindavan and then everyone was very happy and Krishna remained there. But another form of Vrajavasis remained in separation and Krishna remained in Mathura, then He went to Dwaraka, and then finally He returned after so many years [Laughs].
Devotee: So many [Laughs].
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: So many expansions [Laughs].
Devotee: It was original, all same, but one that came in Vrindavan and went to Mathura, what about that form?
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: Well, kind of all original [Laughs]. There’s [Laughs] no difference in one sense, between these expanded forms or whatever of Krishna [Laughs]. Because the original is still in the spiritual world [Laughs]. And of course, He is also still in the spiritual world, and He is also in so many of the universes simultaneously, which is original [Laughs]. And He is still, aprakata in Vrindavan here also [Laughs].
Devotee: Yeah. Original means the relative concept.
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: Yeah.
Devotee: I heard that Sadhakas who are practicing, they go to bhauma Vrindavan where Krishna’s pastimes are happening in another universe and then they go to Spiritual world, is it like that Maharaj?
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: That’s one method, maybe not the only method. So they could go directly, or they could go to another universe where Krishna is having His pastimes, depends on Krishna [Laughs].
Devotee: So, sadhakas can go there after they leave the body Maharaj ?
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: Well, if you are doing sadhana, that means you are not perfect yet, so therefore you don’t go. When you are perfect and you have Prema, then you can enter the pastimes either in some universe or in spiritual world.
Devotee: So, after attaining prema only they can go, is it right understanding Maharaj ?
HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj: If they are in Prema, then they can go with the pastimes in the material world, or they can go to Goloka also, depending on Krishna’s will.
Devotees: Grantharaj Srimad Bhagavatam ki jai!!! HH Bhanu Swami Maharaj ki jai!!! Srila Prabhupada ki jai!!!