Text 17
kṛṣṇas tu tat pauṇḍraka-kāśirājayor
balaṁ gaja-syandana-vāji-patti-mat
gadāsi-cakreṣubhir ārdayad bhṛśaṁ
yathā yugānte huta-bhuk pṛthak prajāḥ
kṛṣṇaḥ — Lord Kṛṣṇa; tu — however; tat — that; pauṇḍraka-kāśirājayoḥ — of Pauṇḍraka and the King of Kāśī; balam — military force; gaja — elephants; syandana — chariots; vāji — horses; patti — and infantry; mat — consisting of; gadā — with His club; asi — sword; cakra — disc; isubhiḥ — and arrows; ārdayat — tormented; bhṛśam — fiercely; yathā — as; yuga — of an age of universal history; ante — at the end; huta-bhuk — the fire (of universal annihilation); pṛthak — of different kinds; prajāḥ — living entities.
But Lord Kṛṣṇa fiercely struck back at the army of Pauṇḍraka and Kāśirāja, which consisted of elephants, chariots, cavalry and infantry. The Lord tormented His enemies with His club, sword, Sudarśana disc and arrows, just as the fire of annihilation torments the various kinds of creatures at the end of a cosmic age.
Śrīla Prabhupāda comments as follows in Kṛṣṇa: “The soldiers on the side of King Pauṇḍraka began to shower their weapons upon Kṛṣṇa. The weapons, including various kinds of tridents, clubs, poles, lances, swords, daggers and arrows, came flying in waves, and Kṛṣṇa counteracted them. He smashed not only the weapons but also the soldiers and assistants of Pauṇḍraka, just as during the dissolution of this universe the fire of devastation burns everything to ashes. The elephants, chariots, horses and infantry belonging to the opposite party were scattered by the weapons of Kṛṣṇa.”