SB 10.12.24 · Srimad-Bhagavatam

Devanagari

अस्मान् किमत्र ग्रसिता निविष्टा- नयं तथा चेद् बकवद् विनङ्‌क्ष्यति । क्षणादनेनेति बकार्युशन्मुखं वीक्ष्योद्धसन्त: करताडनैर्ययु: ॥ २४ ॥

Verse text

asmān kim atra grasitā niviṣṭān ayaṁ tathā ced bakavad vinaṅkṣyati kṣaṇād aneneti bakāry-uśan-mukhaṁ vīkṣyoddhasantaḥ kara-tāḍanair yayuḥ

Synonyms

asmān — all of us ; kim — whether ; atra — here ; grasitā — will swallow ; niviṣṭān — who have attempted to enter ; ayam — this animal ; tathā — so ; cet — if ; baka — vat — like Bakāsura ; vinaṅkṣyati — he will be vanquished ; kṣaṇāt — immediately ; anena — by this Kṛṣṇa ; iti — in this way ; baka — ari — uśat — mukham — the beautiful face of Kṛṣṇa, the enemy of Bakāsura ; vīkṣya — observing, looking at ; uddhasantaḥ — loudly laughing ; kara — tāḍanaiḥ — with clapping of hands ; yayuḥ — entered the mouth .

Translation

Then the boys said, “Has this living creature come to swallow us? If he does so, he will immediately be killed like Bakāsura, without delay.” Thus they looked at the beautiful face of Kṛṣṇa, the enemy of Bakāsura, and, laughing loudly and clapping their hands, they entered the mouth of the python.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

Then the boys said, "Has this living creature come to swallow us? If he does so, he will immediately be killed like Bakāsura, without delay." Thus they looked at the beautiful face of Kṛṣṇa, the enemy of Bakāsura, and, laughing loudly and clapping their hands, they entered the mouth of the python. KB 10.12.24 Then they further consulted among themselves: “If we all at one time entered into the mouth of this great serpent, how could it possibly swallow all of us? And even if it were to swallow all of us at once, it could not swallow Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa will immediately kill him, as He did Bakāsura.” Talking in this way, all the boys looked at the beautiful lotuslike face of Kṛṣṇa, and they began to clap and smile. And so they marched forward and entered the mouth of the gigantic serpent.

Purport

After talking about the terrible animal this way and that way, they decided to enter the demon’s mouth. They had full faith in Kṛṣṇa because they had experienced how Kṛṣṇa had saved them from the mouth of Bakāsura. Now, here was another asura, Aghāsura. Therefore, they wanted to enjoy the sport of entering the demon’s mouth and being saved by Kṛṣṇa, the enemy of Bakāsura.

Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

Together they spoke with a little fear. "This thing, if this is really a snake, and we enter his mouth, will he swallow us up?" Someone then answered to calm them down. "If it is so, then in an instant (ksanena) he will be killed as Baka was killed by Krsna (anena)." Saying this he smiled while looking at Krsna, who was standing some distance away. "Krsna is within our glance, so what have we to worry?" Getting this answer, they all began to laugh loudly and said, "Friends, we must find out what is in that mouth." Then they entered the mouth out of boyish curiosity. They ran in, clapping their hands, to show their fearlessness and courage, or to dismiss the snake. The calves also raising their tails ran after them inside the snake’s mouth.

Purport (Jiva Goswami)

Saying this, they laughed loudly on making analogies with a snake. Or they looked at Kṛṣṇa’s face and laughed loudly. Or they laughed to show that what they said was a joke, saying “You should be careful here.” To show courage and pride along with fearlessness, as if driving away a snake, they ran forward.