Devanagari
कीर्तिमन्तं प्रथमजं कंसायानकदुन्दुभि:
अर्पयामास कृच्छ्रेण सोऽनृतादतिविह्वल: ॥ ५७ ॥
Verse text
kīrtimantaṁ prathamajaṁ
kaṁsāyānakadundubhiḥ
arpayām āsa kṛcchreṇa
so ’nṛtād ativihvalaḥ
Synonyms
kīrtimantam
—
by the name Kīrtimān
;
prathama
—
jam — the first-born baby
;
kaṁsāya
—
unto Kaṁsa
;
ānakadundubhiḥ
—
Vasudeva
;
arpayām āsa
—
delivered
;
kṛcchreṇa
—
with great pain
;
saḥ
—
he (Vasudeva)
;
anṛtāt
—
from the breaking of the promise, or from fear of being a liar
;
ati
—
vihvalaḥ — was very much disturbed, being afraid .
Translation
Vasudeva was very much disturbed by fear of becoming a liar by breaking his promise. Thus with great pain he delivered his first-born son, named Kīrtimān, into the hands of Kaṁsa.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Vasudeva was very much disturbed by fear of becoming a liar by breaking his promise. Thus with great pain he delivered his first-born son, named Kīrtimān, into the hands of Kaṁsa.
KB 10.1.57
When the first son was born, Vasudeva kept his word of honor and immediately brought the child before Kaṁsa. It is said that Vasudeva was very much elevated and famous for his word of honor, and he wanted to maintain this fame. Although it was very painful for Vasudeva to hand over the newly born child, Kaṁsa was very glad to receive him. But he became a little compassionate with the behavior of Vasudeva.
Purport
In the Vedic system, as soon as a child is born, especially a male child, the father calls for learned
brāhmaṇas,
and according to the description of the child’s horoscope the child is immediately given a name. This ceremony is called
nāma-karaṇa.
There are ten different
saṁskāras,
or reformatory methods, adopted in the system of
varṇāśrama-dharma,
and the name-giving ceremony is one of them. Although Vasudeva’s first son was to be delivered into the hands of Kaṁsa, the
nāma-karaṇa
ceremony was performed, and thus the child was named Kīrtimān. Such names are given immediately after birth.
Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
It was the custom to name the child on the day he was born. Thus on that day the first child was named Kirtiman.
Purport (Jiva Goswami)
Six sons of Marīci in their third birth became the first six sons of Vasudeva. As sons of Marīci they had two names each such as Smara and Kīrtimān as Marīci’s first son. This is Śrīdhara Svāmī’s explanation (on the assumption that they would to not be given names by Vasudeva since they were immediately killed). Another explanation is that when they were brought back to Devakī from Sutala they were given the names starting with Kīrtimān and sent to Vaikuṇṭha by Kṛṣṇa. This should be the understanding of their names mentioned in SB 9.24.54.