SB 10.12.27 · Srimad-Bhagavatam

Devanagari

तान् वीक्ष्य कृष्ण: सकलाभयप्रदो ह्यनन्यनाथान् स्वकरादवच्युतान् । दीनांश्च मृत्योर्जठराग्निघासान् घृणार्दितो दिष्टकृतेन विस्मित: ॥ २७ ॥

Verse text

tān vīkṣya kṛṣṇaḥ sakalābhaya-prado hy ananya-nāthān sva-karād avacyutān dīnāṁś ca mṛtyor jaṭharāgni-ghāsān ghṛṇārdito diṣṭa-kṛtena vismitaḥ

Synonyms

tān — all those boys ; vīkṣya — seeing ; kṛṣṇaḥ — the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa ; sakala — abhaya — pradaḥ — who is the source of fearlessness for everyone ; hi — indeed ; ananya — nāthān — especially for the cowherd boys, who did not know anyone except Kṛṣṇa ; sva — karāt — from the control of His hand ; avacyutān — now gone out ; dīnān ca — helpless ; mṛtyoḥ jaṭhara — agni — ghāsān — who had all entered like straws into the fire of the abdomen of Aghāsura, who was very bold and hungry, like death personified (because the asura had assumed a big body, he must have had a very strong appetite) ; ghṛṇā — arditaḥ — therefore, being compassionate due to causeless mercy ; diṣṭa — kṛtena — by things arranged by His internal potency ; vismitaḥ — He also, for the time being, was astonished .

Translation

Kṛṣṇa saw that all the cowherd boys, who did not know anyone but Him as their Lord, had now gone out of His hand and were helpless, having entered like straws into the fire of the abdomen of Aghāsura, who was death personified. It was intolerable for Kṛṣṇa to be separated from His friends the cowherd boys. Therefore, as if seeing that this had been arranged by His internal potency, Kṛṣṇa was momentarily struck with wonder and unsure of what to do.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

Kṛṣṇa saw that all the cowherd boys, who did not know anyone but Him as their Lord, had now gone out of His hand and were helpless, having entered like straws into the fire of the abdomen of Aghāsura, who was death personified. It was intolerable for Kṛṣṇa to be separated from His friends the cowherd boys. Therefore, as if seeing that this had been arranged by His internal potency, Kṛṣṇa was momentarily struck with wonder and unsure of what to do. KB 10.12.27 Kṛṣṇa is the assurance of safety to everyone. But when He saw that His friends were already out of His hands and were lying within the belly of a great serpent, He became momentarily aggrieved. He was also struck with wonder at how the external energy works so wonderfully.

Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

Seeing the boys escape from his hands like jewels and fall into the fire of the snake’s stomach like blades of grass, moved with compassion (ghrnaya arditah), Krsna was astonished at the actions of his lila sakti (dista krtena) or of time (dista) in having them enter the serpent’s mouth. What was the cause of astonishment? "It is not possible for these cowherd boys to have prarabdha karma and besides, the supersoul does not give them the tendency for karma. Because supersoul is my expansion, she does not do anything unfavorable to me. Therefore the lila sakti has made this seemingly unfavorable arrangement with a desire to put me, full of prema, into the compassionate mood (karuna rasa) on seeing this unfortunate situation. How astonishing is her control over me, the form of all rasas, the king of all lila ( lila purusottama)." Though the sorrow due to separation from his friends remained, with the rise of astonishment (vismaya bhava), it reduced a little. This is the meaning.

Purport (Jiva Goswami)

Kṛṣṇa who is the giver of fearlessness to the universe saw that the boys solely depending on him had gone far away from his hands which give fearlessness. They were now suffering since by dying they would be separated from him and were now like grass in the fire of digestion of Agha, who was death personified. He became astonished by the results given through prārabdha-karma (diṣta-kṛteṇa). But actually this event occurred according to the mood of the Lord who is filled with pleasure by performing human-like pastimes. Diṣṭa means his appointed (diṣṭa) śakti which covers his pastimes when the Lord comes as avatāra. Or diṣṭa means a principal following his approval. Pāṇini 4.4.60 says asti nasty diṣṭaṁ matiḥ: the suffix ka is added to diṣṭa to indicate a believer in things based on proof. He was astonished by what had been done before his eyes (diṣṭa-kṛteṇa). He was amazed that in front of him, his dear friends had been swallowed up. Or vismitaḥ can mean that he lost his smile out of grief. “Even if Kṛṣṇa was filled with grief, how were the boys under control of karma?” His discrimination vanished because of being controlled by affection (gṛṇārditaḥ). His nature is to be most merciful. Or, though he was soft with compassion for them because they had no other shelter (ananya-nāthān), he understood that they had escaped from his hands and were about to die. Therefore he was astonished.