Devanagari
तं तालुमूलं प्रदहन्तमग्निवद्
गोपालसूनुं पितरं जगद्गुरो: ।
चच्छर्द सद्योऽतिरुषाक्षतं बक-
स्तुण्डेन हन्तुं पुनरभ्यपद्यत ॥ ५० ॥
Verse text
taṁ tālu-mūlaṁ pradahantam agnivad
gopāla-sūnuṁ pitaraṁ jagad-guroḥ
caccharda sadyo ’tiruṣākṣataṁ bakas
tuṇḍena hantuṁ punar abhyapadyata
Synonyms
tam
—
Kṛṣṇa
;
tālu
—
mūlam — the root of the throat
;
pradahantam
—
burning
;
agni
—
vat — like fire
;
gopāla
—
sūnum — Kṛṣṇa, the son of a cowherd man
;
pitaram
—
the father
;
jagat
—
guroḥ — of Lord Brahmā
;
caccharda
—
got out of his mouth
;
sadyaḥ
—
immediately
;
ati
—
ruṣā — with great anger
;
akṣatam
—
without being hurt
;
bakaḥ
—
Bakāsura
;
tuṇḍena
—
with his sharp beak
;
hantum
—
to kill
;
punaḥ
—
again
;
abhyapadyata
—
endeavored .
Translation
Kṛṣṇa, who was the father of Lord Brahmā but who was acting as the son of a cowherd man, became like fire, burning the root of the demon’s throat, and the demon Bakāsura immediately disgorged Him. When the demon saw that Kṛṣṇa, although having been swallowed, was unharmed, he immediately attacked Kṛṣṇa again with his sharp beak.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Kṛṣṇa, who was the father of Lord Brahmā but who was acting as the son of a cowherd man, became like fire, burning the root of the demon's throat, and the demon Bakāsura immediately disgorged Him. When the demon saw that Kṛṣṇa, although having been swallowed, was unharmed, he immediately attacked Kṛṣṇa again with his sharp beak.
KB 10.11.50
But when the Bakāsura demon was swallowing up Kṛṣṇa, he felt a burning, fiery sensation in his throat. This was due to the glowing effulgence of Kṛṣṇa. The demon quickly threw Kṛṣṇa up and tried to kill Him by pinching Him in his beak. Bakāsura did not know that although Kṛṣṇa was playing the part of a child of Nanda Mahārāja, He was still the original father of Lord Brahmā, the creator of the universe.
Purport
Although Kṛṣṇa is always as soft as a lotus, within the throat of Bakāsura He created a burning sensation of being hotter than fire. Although Kṛṣṇa’s whole body is sweeter than sugar candy, Bakāsura tasted bitterness and therefore immediately vomited Kṛṣṇa up. As stated in
Bhagavad-gītā
(4.11)
,
ye yathā māṁ prapadyante tāṁs tathaiva bhajāmy aham.
When Kṛṣṇa is accepted as an enemy, He becomes the most intolerable object for the nondevotee, who cannot tolerate Kṛṣṇa within or without. Here this is shown by the example of Bakāsura.
Purport (Jiva Goswami)
Kṛṣṇa became hot in the demon’s palate. When Baka took him in his mouth but could not swallow him, Kṛṣṇa became stuck there in his mouth, since Kṛṣṇa wanted some fun in fighting with him. Though Kṛṣṇa was the son of Nanda he was also the father of Brahmā in one of his expansions. For great fun, Kṛṣṇa allowed himself to be swallowed by Baka. But because of Kṛṣṇa’s great power, Baka could not completely swallow him. In great anger Baka then tried to kill Kṛṣṇa since Kṛṣṇa was still unharmed. Or he tried to kill Kṛṣṇa who could not even be injured when he tried to do so. Because he was so anger, Baka lost is power of discrimination completely.
Purport (Sanatana Goswami)
Kṛṣṇa became hot in the demon’s palate. When Baka took him in his mouth but could not swallow him, Kṛṣṇa became stuck there in his mouth, since Kṛṣṇa wanted some fun in fighting with him.
He became intensely hot (prahantam). Though he was also the father of Brahmā in one of his expansions (pitaram jagad-guroḥ) he was the son of Nanda. Kṛṣṇa performed this most astonishing, inconceivable pastime, which was completely natural for him as the supreme Lord, and completely contrary to him as Nanda’s son. Or though he was the son of a cowherd he was also the father of Brahmā. (Therefore it was not so astonishing.)
For great fun, Kṛṣṇa allowed himself to be swallowed by Baka. But because of Kṛṣṇa’s great power, Baka could not completely swallow him. By showing his unique childhood play and his special powers, he showed his special nature as Bhagavān.
In great anger Baka then tried to kill Kṛṣṇa since Kṛṣṇa was still unharmed. Or he tried to kill Kṛṣṇa who could not even be injured when he tried to do so. Because he was so angry, Baka lost his power of discrimination completely. Or he tried to kill Kṛṣṇa by injuring him (kṣatam).