H.H. Radhanath Swami Maharaj || Srimad Bhagavatam 10.66.32-43 || 13.11.2024

tato ’gnir utthitaḥ kuṇḍān
mūrtimān ati-bhīṣaṇaḥ
tapta-tāmra-śikhā-śmaśrur
aṅgārodgāri-locanaḥ
daṁṣṭrogra-bhru-kuṭī-daṇḍa-
kaṭhorāsyaḥ sva-jihvayā
ālihan sṛkvaṇī nagno
vidhunvaṁs tri-śikhaṁ jvalat

Translation
Thereupon the fire rose up out of the altar pit, assuming the form of an extremely fearsome, naked person. The fiery creature’s beard and tuft of hair were like molten copper, and his eyes emitted blazing hot cinders. His face looked most frightful with its fangs and terrible arched and furrowed brows. As he licked the corners of his mouth with his tongue, the demon shook his flaming trident.ŚB 10.66.34
padbhyāṁ tāla-pramāṇābhyāṁ
kampayann avanī-talam
so ’bhyadhāvad vṛto bhūtair
dvārakāṁ pradahan diśaḥ

Translation
On legs as tall as palm trees, the monster raced toward Dvārakā in the company of ghostly spirits, shaking the ground and burning the world in all directions.

ŚB 10.66.35
tam ābhicāra-dahanam
āyāntaṁ dvārakaukasaḥ
vilokya tatrasuḥ sarve
vana-dāhe mṛgā yathā

Translation
Seeing the approacḥ of the fiery demon created by the abhicāra ritual, the residents of Dvārakā were all struck with fear, like animals terrified by a forest fire.

ŚB 10.66.36
akṣaiḥ sabhāyāṁ krīḍantaṁ
bhagavantaṁ bhayāturāḥ
trāhi trāhi tri-lokeśa
vahneḥ pradahataḥ puram

Translation
Distraught with fear, the people cried out to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who was then playing at dice in the royal court: “Save us! Save us, O Lord of the three worlds, from this fire burning up the city!”ŚB 10.66.37
śrutvā taj jana-vaiklavyaṁ
dṛṣṭvā svānāṁ ca sādhvasam
śaraṇyaḥ samprahasyāha
mā bhaiṣṭety avitāsmy aham

Translation
When Lord Kṛṣṇa heard the people’s agitation and saw that even His own men were disturbed, that most worthy giver of shelter simply laughed and told them, “Do not fear; I shall protect you.”

ŚB 10.66.38
sarvasyāntar-bahiḥ-sākṣī
kṛtyāṁ māheśvarīṁ vibhuḥ
vijñāya tad-vighātārthaṁ
pārśva-sthaṁ cakram ādiśat

Translation
The almighty Lord, the internal and external witness of all, understood that the monster had been produced by Lord Śiva from the sacrificial fire. To defeat the demon, Kṛṣṇa dispatched His disc weapon, who was waiting at His side.

Purport
Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī comments that Lord Kṛṣṇa, playing the part of a king, was absorbed in a gambling match and did not want to be disturbed by such an insignificant matter as the attack of a fiery demon. So He simply dispatched His cakra weapon and ordered him to take the necessary steps.

ŚB 10.66.39
tat sūrya-koṭi-pratimaṁ sudarśanaṁ
jājvalyamānaṁ pralayānala-prabham
sva-tejasā khaṁ kakubho ’tha rodasī
cakraṁ mukundāstraṁ athāgnim ārdayat

Translation
That Sudarśana, the disc weapon of Lord Mukunda, blazed forth like millions of suns. His effulgence blazed like the fire of universal annihilation, and with his heat he pained the sky, all the directions, heaven and earth, and also the fiery demon.ŚB 10.66.40
kṛtyānalaḥ pratihataḥ sa rathānga-pāṇer
astraujasā sa nṛpa bhagna-mukho nivṛttaḥ
vārāṇasīṁ parisametya sudakṣiṇaṁ taṁ
sartvig-janaṁ samadahat sva-kṛto ’bhicāraḥ

Translation
Frustrated by the power of Lord Kṛṣṇa’s weapon, O King, the fiery creature produced by black magic turned his face away and retreated. Created for violence, the demon then returned to Vārāṇasī, where he surrounded the city and then burned Sudakṣiṇa and his priests to death, even though Sudakṣiṇa was his creator.

Purport
Śrīla Prabhupāda comments as follows: “Having failed to set fire to Dvārakā, the fiery demon went back to Vārāṇasī, the kingdom of Kāśirāja. As a result of his return, all the priests who had helped instruct the black art of mantras, along with their employer, Sudakṣiṇa, were burned into ashes by the glaring effulgence of the fiery demon. According to the methods of black-art mantras instructed in the tantra, if the mantra fails to kill the enemy, then, because it must kill someone, it kills the original creator. Sudakṣiṇa was the originator, and the priests assisted him; therefore all of them were burned to ashes. This is the way of the demons: the demons create something to kill God, but by the same weapon the demons themselves are killed.”

ŚB 10.66.41
चक्रं च विष्णोस्तदनुप्रविष्टं
वाराणसीं साट्टसभालयापणाम् ।
सगोपुराट्टालककोष्ठसङ्कुलां
सकोशहस्त्यश्वरथान्नशालिनीम् ॥ ४१ ॥

Translation
Lord Viṣṇu’s disc also entered Vārāṇasī, in pursuit of the fiery demon, and proceeded to burn the city to the ground, including all its assembly halls and residential palaces with raised porches, its numerous marketplaces, gateways, watchtowers, warehouses and treasuries, and all the buildings housing elephants, horses, chariots and grains.