1 · Learn4 of 6 · 5 min

Study a Verse

Read one verse of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam with its Sanskrit, word meanings, translation and study points.

Or browse by canto and chapter

Canto

Canto 8 · Withdrawal of the Cosmic Creations · 24 chapters

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24

Choose a chapter to see all its verses.

How to study this verse, in six steps

1Chant the verse. Say the Sanskrit slowly and carefully.
2Read the word meanings. Go through each Sanskrit word and its meaning.
3Find the meaning yourself. Before the translation, piece the meaning together from the words.
4Read the translation. Ask: what is the Lord teaching here, and how does it apply to my life?
5Read the purport slowly. Read it two or three times. Don't rush.
6Write down what touched you. Note the main points in your own notebook.

Read the full guide: how to hear the Bhāgavatam ›

Canto 8 · Chapter 10: The Battle Between the Demigods and the Demons

8.10.39 8.10.41

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam · Text 8.10.40

Īśānukathā· The Lord and His devotees

Who is speaking and story frame

Speaking:Śukadeva Gosvāmīsince 8.10.1inside 2 frames: Sūta Gosvāmī → the sages at NaimiṣāraṇyaŚukadeva Gosvāmī → King Parīkṣit

कबन्धास्तत्र चोत्पेतु: पतितस्वशिरोऽक्षिभि: ।

उद्यतायुधदोर्दण्डैराधावन्तो भटान् मृधे ॥ ४० ॥

kabandhās tatra cotpetuḥ

patita-sva-śiro-’kṣibhiḥ

udyatāyudha-dordaṇḍair

ādhāvanto bhaṭān mṛdhe

Translation

Many headless trunks were generated on that battlefield. With weapons in their arms, those ghostly trunks, which could see with the eyes in the fallen heads, attacked the enemy soldiers.

Read Śrīla Prabhupāda's purport on Vedabase.io

Understand it

Three study points drawn from the translation and purport.

Ghostly Fighters Continue the Battle

1
The translation describes headless trunks attacking enemy soldiers with weapons in their arms.
2
These ghostly trunks could see through the eyes in their fallen heads.
3
Śrīla Prabhupāda explains that it appears the slain heroes immediately became ghosts. New trunks thus appeared to join the fight.

Key points from the purport

It appears that the heroes who died on the battlefield immediately became ghosts, and although their heads had been severed from their bodies, new trunks were generated, and these new trunks, seeing with the eyes in the severed heads, began to attack the enemy.
In other words, many ghosts were generated to join the fight, and thus new trunks appeared on the battlefield.

Śrīla Prabhupāda's own sentences, chosen from the purport as its central points. Read the full purport on Vedabase to see them in place.

How it feels

Danger and ambition → Divine rescue and surprise. Cooperation, rivalry and revelation alternate rapidly.

Chapters 5–12 of Canto 8: Churning the ocean, poison and nectar. An editorial reading of the story's mood, not the text itself. See the emotional arc

Chapter 10: The Battle Between the Demigods and the Demons

From the chapter summary, the lines nearest this verse:

In this fight the demons were defeated, and to save themselves from death they began to manifest many illusions through material maneuvers, killing many soldiers on the side of the demigods. The demigods, finding no other recourse, surrendered again to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Viṣṇu, who then appeared and counteracted all the illusions presented by the jugglery of the demons.

Read the whole chapter summary Back to this verse in chapter 8.10