Text 17
tāv āha māgadho vīkṣya
he kṛṣṇa puruṣādhama
na tvayā yoddhum icchāmi
bālenaikena lajjayā
guptena hi tvayā manda
na yotsye yāhi bandhu-han
tau — to the two of Them; āha — said; māgadhaḥ — Jarāsandha; vīkṣya — watching; he kṛṣṇa — O Kṛṣṇa; puruṣa-adhama — lowest of men; na — not; tvayā — with You; yoddhum — to fight; icchāmi — do I want; bālena — with a boy; ekena — alone; lajjayā — shamefully; guptena — hidden; hi — indeed; tvayā — with You; manda — O fool; na yotsye — I will not fight; yāhi — go away; bandhu — of relatives; han — O killer.
Jarāsandha looked at the two of Them and said: O Kṛṣṇa, lowest of men! I do not wish to fight alone with You, since it would be a shame to fight with a mere boy. You fool who keep Yourself hidden, O murderer of Your relatives, go away! I will not fight with You.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Svāmī has interpreted Jarāsandha’s words as follows. Puruṣādhama can be understood as puruṣā adhamā yasmāt, meaning “Kṛṣṇa, to whom all men are inferior.” In other words, here Lord Kṛṣṇa is being addressed as “O Puruṣottama, best of living beings.” Similarly, the word guptena, “hidden,” indicates Lord Kṛṣṇa’s aspect of being in everyone’s heart and invisible to material vision. The words tvayā manda can also be divided, according to Sanskrit grammar, as tvayā amanda. In this case Jarāsandha is indicating that Kṛṣṇa is not foolish but rather most alert. The word bandhu was used by Jarāsandha in the sense of “relative,” since Lord Kṛṣṇa killed His maternal uncle, Kaṁsa. However, bandhu comes from the verb bandh, “to bind,” and therefore bandhu-han can be understood as “one who destroys the bondage of ignorance.” Similarly, the word yāhi, “please go,” indicates that Lord Kṛṣṇa should approach the living beings and bless them to become Kṛṣṇa conscious.