Text 33
kalevaraṁ paraśubhiś
chittvā tat te vrajaukasaḥ
dūre kṣiptvāvayavaśo
nyadahan kāṣṭha-veṣṭitam
kalevaram — the gigantic body of Pūtanā; paraśubhiḥ — with the aid of axes; chittvā — after cutting to pieces; tat — that (body); te — all of those; vraja-okasaḥ — inhabitants of Vraja; dūre — far, far away; kṣiptvā — after throwing; avayavaśaḥ — different parts of the body, piece by piece; nyadahan — burned to ashes; kāṣṭha-veṣṭitam — covered by wood.
The inhabitants of Vraja cut the gigantic body of Pūtanā into pieces with the help of axes. Then they threw the pieces far away, covered them with wood and burned them to ashes.
It is the practice that after a snake has been killed, its body is cut into various pieces for fear that it may come to life again simply by interacting with air. Merely killing a serpent is not sufficient; after it is killed, it must be cut to pieces and burned, and then the danger will be over. Pūtanā resembled a great serpent, and therefore the cowherd men took the same precautions by burning her body to ashes.