Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.10.9

te vai lalāṭa-lagnais tair

iṣubhiḥ sarva eva hi

matvā nirastam ātmānam

āśaḿsan karma tasya tat

SYNONYMS

te — they; vai — certainly; lalāṭa-lagnaiḥ — intent upon their heads; taiḥ — by those; iṣubhiḥ — arrows; sarve — all of them; eva — certainly; hi — without fail; matvā — thinking; nirastam — defeated; ātmānam — themselves; āśaḿsan — praised; karma — action; tasya — of him; tat — that.

TRANSLATION

When the heroes of the Yakṣas saw that all their heads were being thus threatened by Dhruva Mahārāja, they could very easily understand their awkward position, and they concluded that they would certainly be defeated. But, as heroes, they lauded the action of Dhruva.

PURPORT

This spirit of fighting in a sporting attitude is very significant in this verse. The Yakṣas were severely attacked. Dhruva Mahārāja was their enemy, but still, upon witnessing the wonderful, heroic acts of Mahārāja Dhruva, they were very pleased with him. This straightforward appreciation of an enemy's prowess is a characteristic of real kṣatriya spirit.

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His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, Founder Ācārya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness