कलेवरं परशुभिश्छित्त्वा तत्ते व्रजौकसः दूरे क्षिप्त्वावयवशो न्यदहन्काष्ठवेष्टितम्
kalevaraṁ paraśubhiś chittvā tat te vrajaukasaḥ dūre kṣiptvāvayavaśo nyadahan kāṣṭha-veṣṭitam
Synonyms
kalevaram—the gigantic body of Pūtanā; paraśubhiḥ—with the aid of axes; chittvā—after cutting to pieces; tat—that (body); te—all of those; vraja-okasaḥ—inhabitants of Vraja; dūre—far, far away; kṣiptvā—after throwing; avayavaśaḥ—different parts of the body, piece by piece; nyadahan—burned to ashes; kāṣṭha-veṣṭitam—covered by wood..
Translation
The inhabitants of Vraja cut the gigantic body of Pūtanā into pieces with the help of axes. Then they threw the pieces far away, covered them with wood and burned them to ashes.
Purport
It is the practice that after a snake has been killed, its body is cut into various pieces for fear that it may come to life again simply by interacting with air. Merely killing a serpent is not sufficient; after it is killed, it must be cut to pieces and burned, and then the danger will be over. Pūtanā resembled a great serpent, and therefore the cowherd men took the same precautions by burning her body to ashes.