bÄṇÄrthe bhagavÄn rudraḥ
sa-sutaḥ pramathair vṛtaḥ
Äruhya nandi-vṛṣabhaá¹
yuyudhe rÄma-kṛṣṇayoḥ
bÄṇa-arthe - for BÄṇa's sake; bhagavÄn rudraḥ - Lord Åšiva; sa-sutaḥ - together with his son (KÄrtikeya, the general of the demigods' army); pramathaiḥ - by the Pramathas (mystic sages who always attend Lord Åšiva, appearing in a multitude of forms); vá¹›taḥ - accompanied; Äruhya - riding; nandi - on Nandi; vṛṣabham - his bull; yuyudhe - he fought; rÄma-kṛṣṇayoḥ - with BalarÄma and Kṛṣṇa.
Lord Rudra, accompanied by his son KÄrtikeya and the Pramathas, came riding on Nandi, his bull carrier, to fight BalarÄma and Kṛṣṇa on BÄṇa’s behalf.
ÅšrÄ«la ÅšrÄ«dhara SvÄmÄ« states that the word bhagavÄn is used here to indicate that Lord Åšiva is by nature all-knowing and thus well aware of Lord Kṛṣṇa’s greatness. Still, although Åšiva knew Lord Kṛṣṇa would defeat him, he joined the battle against Him to demonstrate the glories of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. ÅšrÄ«la ViÅ›vanÄtha CakravartÄ« ṬhÄkura states that Lord Åšiva entered the battle for two reasons: first, to increase Lord Kṛṣṇa’s pleasure and enthusiasm; and second, to demonstrate that the Lord’s incarnation as Kṛṣṇa, although enacting humanlike pastimes, is superior to other avatÄras, such as Lord RÄmacandra. ÅšrÄ«la ViÅ›vanÄtha CakravartÄ« further states in this regard that Yoga-mÄyÄ, Lord Kṛṣṇa’s internal potency, bewildered Lord Åšiva just as she had bewildered BrahmÄ. In support of this statement, the ÄcÄrya cites the phrase brahma-rudrÄdi-mohanam from Bhakti-rasÄmá¹›ta-sindhu. Of course, Yoga-mÄyÄ’s job is to make fine arrangements for the Lord’s pastimes, and thus Åšiva became enthusiastic to battle the Supreme Lord, Kṛṣṇa.
