वधः स्मृतोऽनेन समुद्यतेन किम् ।
एवं ब्रुवंस्त्वभ्यपतद् गदायुधो
नदन् नृसिंहं प्रति दैत्यकुञ्जरः ॥२३॥
prÄyeṇa me 'yaá¹ hariṇorumÄyinÄ
vadhaḥ smṛto 'nena samudyatena kim
evaá¹ bruvaá¹s tv abhyapatad gadÄyudho
nadan ná¹›siá¹haá¹ prati daitya-kuñjaraḥ
prÄyeṇa - probably; me - of me; ayam - this; hariá¹‡Ä - by the Supreme Lord; uru-mÄyinÄ - who possesses the great mystic power; vadhaḥ - the death; smá¹›taḥ - planned; anena - with this; samudyatena - endeavor; kim - what use; evam - in this way; bruvan - murmuring; tu - indeed; abhyapatat - attacked; gadÄ-Äyudhaḥ - armed with his weapon, the club; nadan - loudly roaring; ná¹›-siá¹ham - the Lord, appearing in the form of half lion and half man; prati - toward; daitya-kuñjaraḥ - HiraṇyakaÅ›ipu, who was like an elephant.
Hiraṇyakaśipu murmured to himself, “Lord Viṣṇu, who possesses great mystic power, has made this plan to kill me, but what is the use of such an attempt? Who can fight with me?†Thinking like this and taking up his club, Hiraṇyakaśipu attacked the Lord like an elephant.
In the jungle there are sometimes fights between lions and elephants. Here the Lord appeared like a lion, and Hiraṇyakaśipu, unafraid of the Lord, attacked Him like an elephant. Generally the elephant is defeated by the lion, and therefore the comparison in this verse is appropriate.
