Devanagari
इति घोरतमाद् भावात् सन्निवृत्त: स्वयं प्रभु:
आस्ते प्रतीक्षंस्तज्जन्म हरेर्वैरानुबन्धकृत् ॥ २३ ॥
Verse text
iti ghoratamād bhāvāt
sannivṛttaḥ svayaṁ prabhuḥ
āste pratīkṣaṁs taj-janma
harer vairānubandha-kṛt
Synonyms
iti
—
thus (thinking in the above-mentioned way)
;
ghora
—
tamāt bhāvāt — from the most ghastly contemplation of how to kill his sister
;
sannivṛttaḥ
—
refrained
;
svayam
—
personally deliberating
;
prabhuḥ
—
one who was in full knowledge (Kaṁsa)
;
āste
—
remained
;
pratīkṣan
—
awaiting the moment
;
tat
—
janma — until the birth of Him
;
hareḥ
—
of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Hari
;
vaira
—
anubandha — kṛt — determined to continue such enmity .
Translation
Śukadeva Gosvāmī said: Deliberating in this way, Kaṁsa, although determined to continue in enmity toward the Supreme Personality of Godhead, refrained from the vicious killing of his sister. He decided to wait until the Lord was born and then do what was needed.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Śukadeva Gosvāmī said: Deliberating in this way, Kaṁsa, although determined to continue in enmity toward the Supreme Personality of Godhead, refrained from the vicious killing of his sister. He decided to wait until the Lord was born and then do what was needed.
KB 10.2.23
Kaṁsa thus meditated on all the pros and cons of killing Devakī at that time.
Kaṁsa finally decided not to kill Devakī right away but to wait for the inevitable future. But his mind became absorbed in animosity against the Personality of Godhead. He patiently waited for the delivery of the child, expecting to kill Him, as he had done previously with the other babies of Devakī.
Purport (Jiva Goswami)
Deliberating in this way (iti), he refrained from the terrible intention or act (bhāvāt) completely (sam nivṛttaḥ)-by his own decision, not by advice from ministers. This means he did not even attempt to make her have a miscarriage, because he was independent (prabhuḥ) of others. Or svayam prabhuḥ can mean that he could decide on his own, not depending on others’ opinions. However, actually he would be under the control of antaryāmī. He continued his enmity to the Lord who is famous for being attractive to all through his name and destroys all faults such as enmity to the Lord (hareḥ). It has been said that Kaṁsa reached perfection by fear: bhayāt kaṁsaḥ. (SB 7.1.31) This verse mentions his enmity, for fear turns to enmity. He thus awaited the birth of the Lord. In Hari-vaṁśa Kaṁsa speaks to his ministers:
maṣān vai puṣyamāsādīn gaṇayantu mama striyaḥ
pariṇāme tu garbhasya śeṣaṁ jñāsyāmahe vayam
Let my women count the months from Puṣya. We will know the limit of the infant in the womb by the changes.
The text also says:
yad arthaṁ sapta te garbhāh kaṁsena vinipātitāh
taṁ tu garbhaṁ prayatenena rarakṣus tasya mantriṇaḥ
Kaṁsa’s ministers protected the eighth child in the womb with great care since Kaṁsa had killed the previously seven children with this last child in mind.