Live the Bhāgavatam · SB 10.78.5
Ūti· What drives us to actAn Outward Threat, an Inner Homecoming
“You are our maternal cousin, Kṛṣṇa, but You committed violence against my friends, and now You want to kill me also. Therefore, fool, I will kill You with my thunderbolt club.
What the purport teaches
- Dantavakra addressed Kṛṣṇa as his maternal cousin but accused Him of violence against his friends. He threatened to kill Him with his thunderbolt club.
- The ācāryas give an alternate grammatical division in which Dantavakra calls Kṛṣṇa amanda, meaning “not foolish.”
- In this inner meaning, Dantavakra acknowledges that Kṛṣṇa’s powerful club will send him back home, back to Godhead.
Try this today
Reread the purport’s inner meaning and pause over the words “back home, back to Godhead.”
Ask yourself
How does the ācāryas’ explanation change the way I hear this threat?
Carry the question through the day, then answer it in your own words before sleep.
From Canto 10, chapter 14 onward, the translation and purports were completed by Śrīla Prabhupāda's disciples after his departure, and published by the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust.