Devanagari
क्रूरस्त्वमक्रूरसमाख्यया स्म न-
श्चक्षुर्हि दत्तं हरसे बताज्ञवत् ।
येनैकदेशेऽखिलसर्गसौष्ठवं
त्वदीयमद्राक्ष्म वयं मधुद्विष: ॥ २१ ॥
Verse text
krūras tvam akrūra-samākhyayā sma naś
cakṣur hi dattaṁ harase batājṣa-vat
yenaika-deśe ’khila-sarga-sauṣṭhavaṁ
tvadīyam adrākṣma vayaṁ madhu-dviṣaḥ
Synonyms
krūraḥ
—
cruel
;
tvam
—
you (are)
;
akrūra
—
samākhyayā — by the name Akrūra (which means “not cruel”)
;
sma
—
certainly
;
naḥ
—
our
;
cakṣuḥ
—
eyes
;
hi
—
indeed
;
dattam
—
given
;
harase
—
you are taking
;
bata
—
alas
;
ajṣa
—
a fool
;
vat
—
just like
;
yena
—
with which (eyes)
;
eka
—
in one
;
deśe
—
place
;
akhila
—
of all
;
sarga
—
the creation
;
sauṣṭhavam
—
the perfection
;
tvadīyam
—
your
;
adrākṣma
—
have seen
;
vayam
—
we
;
madhudviṣaḥ
—
of Lord Kṛṣṇa, enemy of the demon Madhu .
Translation
O Providence, though you come here with the name Akrūra, you are indeed cruel, for like a fool you are taking away what you once gave us — those eyes with which we have seen, even in one feature of Lord Madhudviṣa’s form, the perfection of your entire creation.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
O Providence, though you come here with the name Akrūra, you are indeed cruel, for like a fool you are taking away what you once gave us—those eyes with which we have seen, even in one feature of Lord Madhudviṣa's form, the perfection of your entire creation.
KB 10.39.21
“O Providence, you are so cruel! But most astonishingly you appear now as Akrūra, which means ‘not cruel.’ In the beginning we appreciated your workmanship in giving us these eyes to see the beautiful face of Kṛṣṇa, but now, just like a foolish creature, you are taking away our eyes by not letting us see Kṛṣṇa here anymore.
Purport
The
gopīs
did not care to see anything but Kṛṣṇa; therefore if Kṛṣṇa left Vṛndāvana, their eyes would have no function. Thus Kṛṣṇa’s departure was blinding these poor girls, and in their distress they berated Akrūra, whose name means “not cruel,” as cruel indeed.
Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
"Akrura is taking him to Mathura, not I."
"Though you are cruel (krura), you have come with a name of opposite meaning (akrura). No one except you could do such cruel work, giving and then taking back from us our eyes. "
"You are complaining that I, like a person ignorant of sin and piety who takes back what he has given, I have done the same. But I have come to take Krsna, so why do you speak about your eyes?"
"Because we will become blind without Krsna, when you take Krsna, you also take our eyes. What will we do with these eyes which have seen the pinnacle of all beauty in the face and eyes of Madhusudana? Therefore we will become blind."
Purport (Jiva Goswami)
Certainly (hi) you have stolen him. Bata indicates lamentation. Viṣṇu Purāṇa says:
aho gopī-janasyāsya darśayitvā mahā-indhim
utkṛttāny adya netrāṇi vidhātrā karuṇātmanā
Having shown the one great treasure to the gopīs, the merciful creator has torn out their eyes today.
This is like a person who does not know sin and piety, who takes back what he has given. Though you are omniscient you act like a fool. Since you end up by giving us the greatest suffering this is more sinful than doing an act in ignorance. How did you steal our eyes? By those eyes we saw the pinnacle of all beauty in your creation, in one particle of Kṛṣṇa. We saw in a portion of a portion of the ocean of beauty of his eyes and face the perfection of the beauty of the lotus and moon. Since our eyes have no taste for any other object, by taking him, you have taken our eyes as well. Madhudviṣaḥ (killer of sweetness) here indicates that his sweetness makes all sweetness derived from material objects or liberation useless. He is endowed with all qualities since he is “like Nārāyaṇa.” Or he takes away (dveṣṭi) the sweetness of liberation and material enjoyment (madhu) from his devotees. Or, he is the hater (dviṣaḥ) or Kaṁsa who is called madhu since he was the king of Madhupuri (Mathurā) and was thus equivalent to the city. If he kills Kaṁsa and attains the kingdom, he will not come back here.