Devanagari
श्रीशुक उवाच
एवमभ्यर्थितोऽदित्या कस्तामाह स्मयन्निव ।
अहो मायाबलं विष्णो: स्नेहबद्धमिदं जगत् ॥ १८ ॥
Verse text
śrī-śuka uvāca
evam abhyarthito ’dityā
kas tām āha smayann iva
aho māyā-balaṁ viṣṇoḥ
sneha-baddham idaṁ jagat
Synonyms
śrī
—
śukaḥ uvāca — Śrī Śukadeva Gosvāmī said
;
evam
—
in this way
;
abhyarthitaḥ
—
being requested
;
adityā
—
by Aditi
;
kaḥ
—
Kaśyapa Muni
;
tām
—
unto her
;
āha
—
said
;
smayan
—
smiling
;
iva
—
just like
;
aho
—
alas
;
māyā
—
balam — the influence of the illusory energy
;
viṣṇoḥ
—
of Lord Viṣṇu
;
sneha
—
baddham — influenced by this affection
;
idam
—
this
;
jagat
—
whole world .
Translation
Śukadeva Gosvāmī continued: When Kaśyapa Muni was thus requested by Aditi, he slightly smiled. “Alas,” he said, “how powerful is the illusory energy of Lord Viṣṇu, by which the entire world is bound by affection for children!”
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Śukadeva Gosvāmī said: When Kaśyapa Muni was thus requested by Aditi, he slightly smiled and spoke. "Alas, the entire world is bound by affection, the strength of Viṣṇu’s māyā."
Kaḥ means Kaśyapa. He appeared to smile, but actually he did not. He was pained internally by her suffering.
Purport
Kaśyapa Muni was surely sympathetic to his wife’s affliction, yet he was surprised at how the whole world is influenced by affection.