Chaitanya Bhagavata
by Bhumipati Dāsa | 2008 | 1,349,850 words
The Chaitanya Bhagavata 1.9.40, English translation, including a commentary (Gaudiya-bhasya). This text is similair to the Caitanya-caritamrita and narrates the pastimes of Lord Caitanya, proclaimed to be the direct incarnation of Krishna (as Bhagavan) This is verse 40 of Adi-khanda chapter 9—“Nityananda’s Childhood Pastimes and Travels to Holy Places”.
Verse 1.9.40
Bengali text, Devanagari and Unicode transliteration of verse 1.9.40:
কুবলয, চাণূর, মুষ্টিক-মল্ল মারি’ কংস করি’ কাহারে পাডেন চুলে ধরি’ ॥ ৪০ ॥
कुवलय, चाणूर, मुष्टिक-मल्ल मारि’ कंस करि’ काहारे पाडेन चुले धरि’ ॥ ४० ॥
kuvalaya, cāṇūra, muṣṭika-malla māri’ kaṃsa kari’ kāhāre pāḍena cule dhari’ || 40 ||
kuvalaya, canura, mustika-malla mari’ kamsa kari’ kahare padena cule dhari’ (40)
English translation:
(40) They enacted the pastimes of killing the Kuvalaya elephant and the wrestlers, Cāṇūra and Muṣṭika. Thereafter Kaṃsa was grabbed by the hair and thrown to the ground.
Commentary: Gauḍīya-bhāṣya by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura:
The word kuvalaya refers to a king of elephants named Kuvalayāpīḍa, who on the order of Kaṃsa was stationed near the wrestling arena to kill Kṛṣṇa. In the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam (10.43.13-14) it is stated: “The Supreme Lord Kṛṣṇa, killer of the demon Madhu, confronted the elephant as he attacked. Seizing his trunk with one hand, Kṛṣṇa threw him to the ground. Lord Hari then climbed onto the elephant with the ease of a mighty lion, pulled out a tusk, and with it killed the beast and his keepers. Cāṇūra is one of the wrestlers appointed by Kaṃsa to kill Balarāma and Kṛṣṇa. It is stated in the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam (10.44.22-23): “No more shaken by the demon’s mighty blows than an elephant struck with a flower garland, Lord Kṛṣṇa grabbed Cāṇūra by his arms, swung him
around several times and hurled him onto the ground with great force. His clothes, hair and garland scattering, the wrestler fell down dead, like a thunderbolt.”
Muṣṭika is one of the wrestlers appointed by Kaṃsa to kill Balarāma and Kṛṣṇa. In the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam (10.44.24-25) it is stated: “Similarly, Muṣṭika struck Lord Balabhadra with his fist and was slain. Receiving a violent blow from the mighty Lord’s palm, the demon trembled all over in great pain, vomited blood and then fell lifeless onto the ground, like a tree blown down by the wind.”
The word malla, or mall (“to hold”), means “soldier,” “wrestler,” or “champion.”