तमापतन्तं स विलक्ष्य दूरात्कुमारहोद्विग्नमना रथेन पराद्रवत्प्राणपरीप्सुरुर्व्यां यावद्गमं रुद्रभयाद्यथार्कः
tam āpatantaṁ sa vilakṣya dūrāt kumāra-hodvigna-manā rathena parādravat prāṇa-parīpsur urvyāṁ yāvad-gamaṁ rudra-bhayād yathārkaḥ
Synonyms
tam—him; āpatantam—coming over furiously; saḥ—he; vilakṣya—seeing; dūrāt—from a distance; kumāra-hā—the murderer of the princes; udvigna-manāḥ—disturbed in mind; rathena—on the chariot; parādravat—fled; prāṇa—life; parīpsuḥ—for protecting; urvyām—with great speed; yāvat-gamam—as he fled; rudra-bhayāt—by fear of Śiva; yathā—as; kaḥ—Brahmā (or arka-Sūrya)..
Translation
Aśvatthāmā, the murderer of the princes, seeing from a great distance Arjuna coming at him with great speed, fled in his chariot, panic-stricken, just to save his life, as Brahmā fled in fear from Śiva.
Purport
According to the reading matter, either kaḥ or arka, there are two references in the Purāṇas. Kaḥ means Brahmā, who once became allured by his daughter and began to follow her, which infuriated Śiva, who attacked Brahmā with his trident. Brahmājī fled in fear of his life. As far as arka is concerned, there is a reference in the Vāmana Purāṇa. There was a demon by the name Vidyunmali who was gifted with a glowing golden airplane which travelled to the back of the sun, and night disappeared because of the glowing effulgence of this plane. Thus the sun-god became angry, and with his virulent rays he melted the plane. This enraged Lord Śiva. Lord Śiva then attacked the sun-god, who fled away and at last fell down at Kāśī (Vārāṇasī), and the place became famous as Lolarka.