Devanagari
नैतच्चित्रं भगवति ह्यनन्ते जगदीश्वरे ।
ओतप्रोतमिदं यस्मिंस्तन्तुष्वङ्ग यथा पट: ॥ ३५ ॥
Verse text
naitac citraṁ bhagavati
hy anante jagad-īśvare
ota-protam idaṁ yasmiṁs
tantuṣv aṅga yathā paṭaḥ
Synonyms
na
—
not
;
etat
—
this
;
citram
—
surprising
;
bhagavati
—
for the Personality of Godhead
;
hi
—
indeed
;
anante
—
who is the unlimited
;
jagat
—
īśvare — the Lord of the the universe
;
ota
—
protam — spread out horizontally and vertically
;
idam
—
this universe
;
yasmin
—
upon whom
;
tantuṣu
—
upon its threads
;
aṅga
—
my dear Parīkṣit
;
yathā
—
just as
;
paṭaḥ
—
a cloth .
Translation
My dear Parīkṣit, that Lord Balarāma killed Dhenukāsura is not such a wonderful thing, considering that He is the unlimited Personality of Godhead, the controller of the entire universe. Indeed, the entire cosmos rests upon Him just as a woven cloth rests upon its own horizontal and vertical threads.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
My dear Parīkṣit, that Lord Balarāma killed Dhenukāsura is not such a wonderful thing, considering that He is the unlimited Personality of Godhead, the controller of the entire universe. Indeed, the entire cosmos rests upon Him just as a woven cloth rests upon its own horizontal and vertical threads.
KB 10.15.35
This exhibition of extraordinary strength is not astonishing because Balarāma is the Personality of Godhead known as Ananta Śeṣa Nāga, who is holding all the planets on the hoods of His millions of heads. He maintains the whole cosmic manifestation exactly as horizontal and vertical threads hold the weaving of a cloth.
Purport
Unfortunate persons cannot appreciate the blissful pastimes of the Supreme Lord. In this connection Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī explains that the Supreme Lord possesses unlimited potency and strength, as expressed here by the word
anante.
The Lord exhibits a tiny fraction of His power according to the need of a particular situation. Lord Balarāma desired to vanquish the gang of demoniac asses who had unlawfully seized the Tālavana forest, and therefore He exhibited just enough divine opulence to easily kill Dhenukāsura and the other demons.
Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
This was not astonishing for Baladeva, who binds up the universe like a piece of cloth woven of horizontal and vertical threads.
Purport (Jiva Goswami)
It will be said later:
thity-udbhavāntaṁ bhuvana-trayasya yaḥ
samīhite ’nanta-guṇaḥ sva-līlayā
na tasya citraṁ para-pakṣa-nigrahas
tathāpi martyānuvidhasya varṇyate
For the Lord who orchestrates the creation, maintenance and destruction of the three worlds and who possesses unlimited spiritual qualities, it is hardly amazing that he subdues an opposing party. Still, when the Lord does so, imitating human behavior, sages glorify his acts. SB 10.50.29
It is astonishing the Lord reveals strength which is equally matched by the opponent in his human pastimes-- not showing powerful qualities in his pastimes. This is not astonishing because he is Bhagavān, endowed with all śaktis. He is unlimited by the nature of his svarūpa (anānte), and he is Lord of the universe, even though he has a relationship with it, like thread in relation to a cloth. In the example, thread, as the cause, is different from the effect, the cloth. Similarly the Lord is different from the universe caused by him. Calling Balarāma Bhagavān is suitable since Balarāma is the chief of Kṛṣṇa’s expansions, and has a similar position.
Purport (Sanatana Goswami)
Though this is astonishing to the world, it is not astonishing considering Balarāma’s real position.
His ability to easily kill Dhenuka and throw him in the tree is not astonishing for he is Bhagavān, who is endowed with all powers, who is unlimited in śaktis (anante) and is thus the lord of the universe (jagadīśvare). The nature of bhagavān is shown. All this universe is non-different from the avatāra of the Lord. An example is given. He is interwoven in everything and is not different from it as cloth and threads.
Or the word bhagavati is used to show respect for Balarāma as the elder brother or to indicate his omniscience. Ananta means Śeṣa. He is called lord of the universe because he protects the world by holding it on his head. That earth is then explained. It is made of cause and effect (otaṁ protam). Or he holds on his head the world dense with mountains etc. in all directions. The example of threads and cloth indicates the dense combination.