28 verses
Maitreya said: O Vidura! Dhruva married the daughter of Prajāpati Śiśumāra, whose name was Bhrami, and her two sons were Kalpa and Vatsara.
In another wife, named Ilā, who was the daughter of Vāyu, he begot a son named Utkala and a very beautiful daughter.
Yoṣid-ratnam means a jewel of a daughter. The word and should be supplied.
Dhruva's younger brother Uttama, who was still unmarried, was killed while hunting in the Himalaya Mountains by a powerful Yakṣa. His mother, Suruci, followed the path of her son.
When Dhruva Mahārāja heard of the killing of his brother Uttama, overwhelmed with lamentation and anger, mounting his victorious chariot, he went to the city of the Yakṣas, Alakāpurī.
Arpitā means filled with.
Going north, the King saw the city filled with Yakṣas and followers of Śiva in a valley of the Himalayas.
Mighty-armed Dhruva blew his conch, causing the directions and sky to echo. By this the wives of the Yakṣas, with anxious eyes, become greatly frightened.
Upadevyaḥ means the wives of the Yakṣas.
The powerful Yakṣa warriors, unable to tolerate the sound, came out of the city with weapons and attacked Dhruva.
Courageous Dhruva, a great charioteer and fierce archer, when attacked by them, attacked them all by simultaneously discharging three arrows at each of them.
Shot in the forehead by arrows, they all thought they would be defeated, but praised Dhruvas action.
They praised him in their minds.
Intolerant of the arrows just as snakes are intolerant of the touch of a foot, the Yakṣas simultaneously fired twice as many arrows in retaliation.
Twice as many means that each person fired six arrows at once in retaliation.
abhyavarṣan prakupitāḥ sarathaṁ saha-sārathim icchantas tat pratīkartum ayutānāṁ trayodaśa
130,000 Yakṣa soldiers, greatly angry, desiring to defeat Dhruva, showered him, along with his chariot and charioteer, with various types of feathered arrows, iron clubs, swords, tridents, lances, pikes, spears and bhuśuṇòī weapons.
Like a mountain covered by torrents of rain, Dhruva could not be seen, since he was covered by a shower of weapons at that time.
He could not be seen, like a mountain covered by heavy showers of rain (āsāreṇa).
Cries of dismay arose from the Siddhas watching in the sky. He has been killed. The grandson of Manu, the sun, has sunk in the ocean of the Yakṣas.
Like the sun in ocean he has disappeared in the ocean of Yakṣas. The hidden meaning is that even in the condition, Dhruva could not be harmed, just as the sun is not harmed by setting in the ocean.
While the Yakṣas were proclaiming victory, suddenly Dhruvas chariot appeared in the battlefield, like the sun appearing through the mist.
Jayakāśiṣu means cries of victory appeared.
Twanging his wondrous bow and creating dismay, he dispelled the mass of weapons with his arrows, just as the wind dispels a mass of clouds.
Vyadhamat means he ground up.
The arrows released from his bow, piercing the armor of the demons, entered their bodies, like sharp thunderbolts piercing mountains.
Two comparisons have been given concerning the mountain. The Yakṣas attacked him like rain torrents covering a mountain. He attacked them like thunderbolts attacking mountains. The arrows of the Yakṣas were insignificant to Dhruva, like rain to the mountain, and served to increase his desire to counterattack, just the rain washes the mountain of dirt and makes it appear bright. The arrows of Dhruva however took away the life of the Yakṣas, like thunderbolts piercing mountains.
hāra-keyūra-mukuṭair uṣṇīṣaiś ca mahā-dhanaiḥ āstṛtās tā raṇa-bhuvo rejur vīra-mano-harāḥ
The battlefields, attractive to minds of heroes, were covered with Yakṣas heads severed by his arrows, as well as with beautiful earrings, with thighs like golden palm trees, with arms, armbands, crowns, necklaces and bracelets and valuable turbans.
Āstṛtā means covered.
The remaining Yakṣas who were not killed, their limbs almost severed by Dhruvas arrows, fled from the battlefield like herd of elephants who had become the plaything of a lion
Not seeing his attackers with weapons in the vast battlefield at all, the best of Manus descendents, though desiring to see the city, did not enter it. One does not know the plan of the deceptive enemy.
Ātatāyinam means persons holding weapons.
Speaking to his charioteer in this way, cautious and worrying about a counterattack by the enemy, Dhruva then heard a sound which seemed to come from the ocean. He then saw dust in all directions caused by the wind.
Dhruva (citrarataḥ) had said, One does not know the plans of deluding enemy. After that (anu) because of wind (nabhasvataḥ) dust was seen.
In a moment the sky became completely covered with a mass of clouds, with flashing lightning and terrifying thunder.
The clouds rained torrents of blood, mucus, pus, stool, urine and marrow. O Vidura! Human trunks began to fall from the sky in front of Dhruva.
Asṛk means the body, that which does not release. Thus it refers to mucus and other components of the body. It usually means blood, but blood has already been mentioned (rudhira). The masculine ending on the word medasaḥ is poetic license. The clouds (subject) rained blood. The bodies fell in front of Dhruva (asya).
Then he saw a mountain in the sky. Maces, swords, iron-spiked clubs and other clubs began to fall from it in all directions along with showers of stones
Sāśma-varṣiṇaḥ means along with showers of stones.
.
Snakes breathing thunderbolts and vomiting fire rushed to attack him with herds of mad elephants, lions and tigers.
The fierce ocean, flooding the earth all directions with waves, making a terrifying sound, approached him like the flood of water at the end of the kalpa.
The cruel-natured Yakṣas, like demons, created many such visions, terrifying to the cowardly by their powers of illusion.
These visions were terrifying to those without courage (amanasvinām). The Yakṣas were like demons.
Hearing that the Yakṣas had cast their magic, difficult to overcome, upon Dhruva, the sages arrived and prayed for his well being.
The sages said: O Dhruva! May the Supreme Lord, carrier of the bow, reliever of distress to the surrendered souls, by hearing or chanting whose name people easily cross unsurpassable death, kill your enemies!
The sages thought that if one can cross death by hearing about the Lord, then Dhruva could easily overcome the Yakṣas magic spell. Thus they made him remember the Nārāyaṇa weapon.
Thus ends the commentary on the Tenth Chapter of the Fourth Canto of the Bhāgavatam for the pleasure of the devotees, in accordance with the previous ācāryas.
The Tenth Chapter describes how Dhruva, hearing that the Yakṣas had killed his brother, goes to Alakāpurī and kills the Yakṣas in battle.