Devanagari
ब्रह्मशापोपसंसृष्टे स्वकुले यादवर्षभ: ।
प्रेयसीं सर्वनेत्राणां तनुं स कथमत्यजत् ॥ २ ॥
Verse text
brahma-śāpopasaṁsṛṣṭe
sva-kule yādavarṣabhaḥ
preyasīṁ sarva-netrāṇāṁ
tanuṁ sa katham atyajat
Synonyms
brahma
—
śāpa — by the curse of the brāhmaṇas
;
upasaṁsṛṣṭe
—
having been destroyed
;
sva
—
kule — His own family
;
yādava
—
ṛṣabhaḥ — the chief of the Yadus
;
preyasīm
—
most dear
;
sarva
—
netrāṇām — to all eyes
;
tanum
—
the body
;
saḥ
—
He
;
katham
—
how
;
atyajat
—
gave up .
Translation
After His own dynasty met destruction from the curse of the brāhmaṇas, how could the best of the Yadus give up His body, the dearmost object of all eyes?
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
After his dynasty met destruction from the curse of the brāhmaṇas, how could the best of the Yadus give up his body, the dearest object of all eyes?
When his dynasty was destroyed, how did the Lord give up his body which was most dear for all, even for Śiva? It is heard that some sages maintain that the Lord actually gave up his body. How is that possible? This is not possible at all, since it is impossible that the Lord could give up a body which is eternity, knowledge and bliss. How can a true brāhmaṇa give up his position of being a brāhmaṇa? It is not possible. Sa-viśeṣaṇe vidhi-niṣedhau viśesaṇam upasaṁkrāmataḥ sati viśeṣye bādhe: statements of affirmation and denial change the meaning of their particular descriptive elements if there is a contradiction to the principal subject. (Nyāya-vartika-tātparya by Vacaspati Miśra) In this sentence, it states that the Lord gave up a body which was dear to him. That means he gave up his dynasty (body) manifested on earth. [Note: This is the meaning given to a similar statement in SB 3.4.29.] Another example is as follows. “A traveler gave up a gold pot full of water.” This means that the traveler poured the water out of the pot, because of fatigue due to the weight, and carried the empty gold pot.
Purport
In relation to this verse, Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī explains that the Personality of Godhead never gives up His spiritual body, which is eternal, full of bliss and knowledge. The word
katham
therefore indicates “How is it possible?”, meaning it is not actually possible for Lord Kṛṣṇa to give up His eternal form, which is
preyasīṁ sarva-netrāṇām,
the most attractive object of pleasure for the eyes and all other senses.