र्व्यालो यथाखुं कुलिशाक्षतत्वचम् ।
द्वार्यूरुमापत्य ददार लीलया
नखैर्यथाहिं गरुडो महाविषम् ॥२९॥
viá¹£vak sphurantaá¹ grahaṇÄturaá¹ harir
vyÄlo yathÄkhuá¹ kuliÅ›Äká¹£ata-tvacam
dvÄry Å«rum Äpatya dadÄra lÄ«layÄ
nakhair yathÄhiá¹ garuá¸o mahÄ-viá¹£am
viá¹£vak - all around; sphurantam - moving his limbs; grahaṇa-Äturam - afflicted because of being captured; hariḥ - the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Ná¹›siá¹hadeva; vyÄlaḥ - a snake; yathÄ - just as; Äkhum - a mouse; kuliÅ›a-aká¹£ata - not cut even by the thunderbolt thrown by Indra; tvacam - whose skin; dvÄri - on the threshold of the door; Å«rum - on His thigh; Äpatya - placing; dadÄra - pierced; lÄ«layÄ - very easily; nakhaiḥ - with the nails; yathÄ - just as; ahim - a snake; garuá¸aḥ - Garuá¸a, the carrier of Lord Viṣṇu; mahÄ-viá¹£am - very venomous.
As a snake captures a mouse or Garuá¸a captures a very venomous snake, Lord Ná¹›siá¹hadeva captured HiraṇyakaÅ›ipu, who could not be pierced even by the thunderbolt of King Indra. As HiraṇyakaÅ›ipu moved his limbs here, there and all around, very much afflicted at being captured, Lord Ná¹›siá¹hadeva placed the demon on His lap, supporting him with His thighs, and in the doorway of the assembly hall the Lord very easily tore the demon to pieces with the nails of His hand.
HiraṇyakaÅ›ipu had received from Lord BrahmÄ the benediction that he would not die on the land or in the sky. Therefore, to keep the promise of Lord BrahmÄ intact, Ná¹›siá¹hadeva placed HiraṇyakaÅ›ipu’s body on His lap, which was neither land nor sky. HiraṇyakaÅ›ipu had received the benediction that he would not die either during the day or at night. Therefore, to keep this promise of BrahmÄ, the Lord killed HiraṇyakaÅ›ipu in the evening, which is the end of day and the beginning of night but is neither day nor night. HiraṇyakaÅ›ipu had taken a benediction from Lord BrahmÄ that he would not die from any weapon or be killed by any person, dead or alive. Therefore, just to keep the word of Lord BrahmÄ, Lord Ná¹›siá¹hadeva pierced HiraṇyakaÅ›ipu’s body with His nails, which were not weapons and were neither living nor dead. Indeed, the nails can be called dead, but at the same time they can be said to be alive. To keep intact all of Lord BrahmÄ’s benedictions, Lord Ná¹›siá¹hadeva paradoxically but very easily killed the great demon HiraṇyakaÅ›ipu.
