Devanagari
एवं सन्दर्शिता ह्यङ्ग हरिणा भृत्यवश्यता ।
स्ववशेनापि कृष्णेन यस्येदं सेश्वरं वशे ॥ १९ ॥
Verse text
evaṁ sandarśitā hy aṅga
hariṇā bhṛtya-vaśyatā
sva-vaśenāpi kṛṣṇena
yasyedaṁ seśvaraṁ vaśe
Synonyms
evam
—
in this manner
;
sandarśitā
—
was exhibited
;
hi
—
indeed
;
aṅga
—
O Mahārāja Parīkṣit
;
hariṇā
—
by the Supreme Personality of Godhead
;
bhṛtya
—
vaśyatā — His transcendental quality of becoming subordinate to His servitor or devotee
;
sva
—
vaśena — who is within the control only of His own self
;
api
—
indeed
;
kṛṣṇena
—
by Kṛṣṇa
;
yasya
—
of whom
;
idam
—
the whole universe
;
sa
—
īśvaram — with the powerful demigods like Lord Śiva and Lord Brahmā
;
vaśe
—
under the control .
Translation
O Mahārāja Parīkṣit, this entire universe, with its great, exalted demigods like Lord Śiva, Lord Brahmā and Lord Indra, is under the control of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Yet the Supreme Lord has one transcendental attribute: He comes under the control of His devotees. This was now exhibited by Kṛṣṇa in this pastime.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
O Mahārāja Parīkṣit, this entire universe, with its great, exalted demigods like Lord Śiva, Lord Brahmā and Lord Indra, is under the control of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Yet the Supreme Lord has one transcendental attribute: He comes under the control of His devotees. This was now exhibited by Kṛṣṇa in this pastime.
KB 10.9.19
Kṛṣṇa, playing as a human child in the house of Mother Yaśodā, was performing His own selected pastimes. Otherwise, no one can control the Supreme Personality of Godhead. As the pure devotee surrenders himself unto the lotus feet of the Lord, who may either protect or vanquish the devotee, the devotee forgets his subordinate position. Similarly, the Lord also feels transcendental pleasure by submitting Himself to the protection of the devotee.
Purport
This pastime of Kṛṣṇa’s is very difficult to understand, but devotees can understand it. It is therefore said,
darśayaṁs tad-vidāṁ loka ātmano bhakta-vaśyatām
(
Bhāg.
10.11.9
): the Lord displays the transcendental attribute of coming under the control of His devotees. As stated in the
Brahma-saṁhitā
(5.35)
:
eko ’py asau racayituṁ jagad-aṇḍa-koṭiṁ
yac-chaktir asti jagad-aṇḍa-cayā yad-antaḥ
aṇḍāntara-stha-paramāṇu-cayāntara-sthaṁ
govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi
By His one plenary portion as Paramātmā, the Lord controls innumerable universes, with all their demigods; yet He agrees to be controlled by a devotee. In the
Upaniṣads
it is said that the Supreme Personality of Godhead can run with more speed than the mind, but here we see that although Kṛṣṇa wanted to avoid being arrested by His mother, He was finally defeated, and mother Yaśodā captured Him.
Lakṣmī-sahasra-śata-sambhrama-sevyamānam:
Kṛṣṇa is served by hundreds and thousands of goddesses of fortune. Nonetheless, He steals butter like one who is poverty-stricken. Yamarāja, the controller of all living entities, fears the order of Kṛṣṇa, yet Kṛṣṇa is afraid of His mother’s stick. These contradictions cannot be understood by one who is not a devotee, but a devotee can understand how powerful is unalloyed devotional service to Kṛṣṇa; it is so powerful that Kṛṣṇa can be controlled by an unalloyed devotee. This
bhṛtya-vaśyatā
does not mean that He is under the control of the servant; rather, He is under the control of the servant’s pure love. In
Bhagavad-gītā
(1.21) it is said that Kṛṣṇa became the chariot driver of Arjuna. Arjuna ordered Him,
senayor ubhayor madhye rathaṁ sthāpaya me ’cyuta:
“My dear Kṛṣṇa, You have agreed to be my charioteer and to execute my orders. Place my chariot between the two armies of soldiers.” Kṛṣṇa immediately executed this order, and therefore one may argue that Kṛṣṇa also is not independent. But this is one’s
ajṣāna,
ignorance. Kṛṣṇa is always fully independent; when He becomes subordinate to His devotees, this is a display of
ānanda-cinmaya-rasa,
the humor of transcendental qualities that increases His transcendental pleasure. Everyone worships Kṛṣṇa as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and therefore He sometimes desires to be controlled by someone else. Such a controller can be no one else but a pure devotee.
Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Though he possess all possible powers, the Lord, being controlled by prema, is bound up. This bondage, however, being the most astonishing aspect of the Lord, becomes his ornament, not his fault. The lord, by his very nature, though self-contented (atma rama), suffers from hunger. Though he is full in his desires, he becomes dissatisfied. Though he is the form of pure goodness, he becomes angry. Though he is the master of Laksmi in Vaikuntha, he steals. Though he instills fear through time and death, he flees in fear. Though he travels quickly on the vehicle of the mind, he is caught by the strong grasp of his mother. Though he is condensed bliss, he cries in sorrow. Though he is all pervading, without limit, he is limited by being tied up. In all these incidents, Krsna was revealing directly to Yasoda his innate quality of being controlled by the devotee. All of this cannot be explained as simply an act or imitation performed by Krsna. Such explanations have no proof to support them and arise from ignorance. Brahma, Siva and Sanat Kumara realized this and were truly astonished. In Bhagavatam 10.11.9 it is said, "Krsna in this universe shows his nature of dependence on the devotee to the devotees tainted with jnana, such as Lord Brahma." Though the lord is independent (sva vasena), where do we see his independence? In his control of the universe and the devas (yasya idam sesvaram vase) . It is through prema, the essence of the cit sakti, that being controlled by the devotee arises, and this gives rise to the Lord’s highest bliss. That has been explained previously.
Purport (Jiva Goswami)
“It is concluded that Kṛṣṇa is complete and the supreme in powers as the Lord. He is without hunger and dissatisfaction. Yet it has been described that he was angry, theft-prone, and fearful, and he fled away, was forcibly grabbed by his mother and cried. These characteristics, being confidential, should be understood to be real by you, since they are a cause of rasa. But how can he also be called perfect and supreme?”
True, by qualities, he is perfect and the Lord, but one must consider his mercy to his devotee. Without that mercy, none of the qualities will give happiness to anyone. A person cannot be pleasant if he has a hard heart. If there is no mercy, qualities diminish in value. Qualities which cause happiness in people are good qualities. Lack of mercy is naturally a fault. Such a fault cannot exist in the Lord for, by becoming an ordinary person with faults, he loses his status as the Lord full of good qualities. Ayam ātmāpahata-pāpmā: the Lord is devoid of sin. (Chāndogya Upaniṣad 8.1.5) Eṣa u eva vāmanīḥ vāmāni sarvāṇy abhiyanti: he is full of all auspicious qualities. All qualities come to the person who knows the Lord as such. (Chāndogya Upaniṣad 4.15.3) Mercy produces all other qualities and counters all faults. Therefore it is the chief quality. This is explained in relation to the puṁsavana ceremony described in the Sixth Canto:
yathā tvaṁ kṛpayā bhūtyā tejasā mahimaujasā
juṣṭa īśa guṇaiḥ sarvais tato 'si bhagavān prabhuḥ
Just as you are endowed with mercy by which your powers are hidden, so you are situated as the Supreme Lord, worthy of worship, by being endowed with the śakti of Mahā-lakṣmī, the śakti of independence, the śakti of wealth, all strength and other qualities. SB 6.19.5
That mercy corresponds to the nature of bhakti and is proper since in its absence there is fault. If unconditional bhakti controls the Lord, it is proper that mercy also controls him. By this his powers do not decrease, since they manifest elsewhere. For instance, though Kṛṣṇa was bound up, he showed power to deliver Kuvera’s sons by pulling down the trees. Rather, but the quality of mercy, since it is all attractive, the powers of the Lord double in potency. It is necessary that he is controlled by the devotee. The Lord of Vaikuṇṭha said:
ahaṁ bhakta-parādhīno hy asvatantra iva dvija
sādhubhir grasta-hṛdayo bhaktair bhakta-jana-priyaḥ
O brāhmaṇa! I am completely under the control of my devotees. I am not at all independent. My heart is controlled by the pure devotees. What to speak of my devotee, even those who are devotees of my devotee are very dear to me. SB 9.4.63
The reason the Lord’s heart is controlled by the devotee is because the devotee is sādhu—devoid of other desires. Therefore it is appropriate that the Lord has no other desire than to please the devotee. Being controlled by the devotee takes the form of internal and external actions favorable to the devotee. Because Kṛṣṇa takes on the mood of an infant in response to Yaśodā’s devotion, his assuming that mood is proper. Thinking of this real condition of Kṛṣṇa, Kuntī became bewildered with astonishment and bliss.
gopy ādade tvayi kṛtāgasi dāma tāvad
yā te daśāśru-kalilāñjana-sambhramākṣam |
vaktraṁ ninīya bhaya-bhāvanayā sthitasya
sā māṁ vimohayati bhīr api yad bibheti ||
My dear Kṛṣṇa, Yaśodā took up a rope to bind you when you committed an offense, and your perturbed eyes flooded with tears, which washed the mascara from your eyes. And you were afraid, though fear personified is afraid of you. This sight is bewildering to me. SB 1.8.31
With this intention, Śukadeva speaks this verse. In this way, being controlled by the devotee has been explicitly (san) shown, since elsewhere (outside of Vraja) pastimes with intensely possessive devotees to the extent of being bound up do not occur. Aṅga expresses Śukadeva’s prema for Parīkṣit and hi expresses certainty. Being controlled has been shown graphically by the Lord who attracts the devotees (hariṇā). Independently, because he is Svayam Bhagavān, Kṛṣṇa controls the universe.
Purport (Sanatana Goswami)
From the beginning of the chapter, or in the way stated (evam), it is clearly (hi) shown that the Lord is controlled by his devotee. Aṅga indicates prema. Though Kṛṣṇa is independent (sva-vaśena), since he is the supreme Lord (kṛṣṇena), and controls the universe, he is controlled by the devotees.
This control by Yaśodā shows his being extremely controlled (saṁdarśitā), more than by Brahmā or previously devotees or more than by Yudhiṣṭhira and others, where he acts as the guard, the servant, and the charioteer. No one else could tie him up.