Shloka 22
The Syamantaka Jewel: Accusation, Recovery, and Kṛṣṇa’s Marriage to Satyabhāmā
स वै भगवता तेन युयुधे स्वामिनात्मन: । पुरुषं प्राकृतं मत्वा कुपितो नानुभाववित् ॥ २२ ॥
sa vai bhagavatā tena yuyudhe svāmīnātmanaḥ puruṣam prākṛtaṁ matvā kupito nānubhāva-vit
తన ప్రభువైన శ్రీకృష్ణుని ప్రభావము తెలియక, ఆయనను సామాన్య మానవునిగా తలచి, జాంబవంతుడు కోపంతో ఆయనతో యుద్ధానికి దిగాడు.
The words puruṣaṁ prākṛtaṁ matvā, “thinking Him a mundane person,” are very significant. So-called Vedic scholars, including most Western ones, enjoy translating the word puruṣam as “man” even when the word refers to Lord Kṛṣṇa, and thus their unauthorized translations of Vedic literature are tainted by their materialistic conceptions of the Godhead. However, here it is clearly stated that it was because Jāmbavān misunderstood the Lord’s position that he considered Him prākṛta-puruṣa, “a mundane person.” In other words, the Lord is actually puruṣottama, “the ultimate transcendental person.”
FAQs
This verse explains that due to anger and ignorance of Kṛṣṇa’s divine potency, a person may see Him as merely worldly (prākṛta) and act offensively—leading to ruin rather than protection.
In the Syamantaka-jewel narrative, Śatadhanvā, driven by fear and rage after wrongdoing, confronted Kṛṣṇa, not recognizing Him as Bhagavān and the indwelling Lord—thus he dared to fight.
Do not let anger and bias distort spiritual vision—approach sacred persons, teachings, and the Divine with humility and inquiry, because misjudgment (seeing the sacred as ordinary) often leads to harmful choices.