SB 10.26.8

SB 10.26.8

Devanagari

वने सञ्चारयन् वत्सान् सरामो बालकैर्वृत: हन्तुकामं बकं दोर्भ्यां मुखतोऽरिमपाटयत् ॥ ८ ॥

Verse text

vane saṣcārayan vatsān sa-rāmo bālakair vṛtaḥ hantu-kāmaṁ bakaṁ dorbhyāṁ mukhato ’rim apāṭayat

Synonyms

vane in the forest ; saṣcārayan grazing ; vatsān the calves ; sarāmaḥ together with Lord Balarāma ; bālakaiḥ by the cowherd boys ; vṛtaḥ surrounded ; hantu kāmam — desiring to kill ; bakam the demon Baka ; dorbhyām with His arms ; mukhataḥ from the mouth ; arim the enemy ; apāṭayat tore apart .

Translation

Another time, when Kṛṣṇa was tending the calves in the forest together with Balarāma and the cowherd boys, the demon Bakāsura came with the intention of killing Kṛṣṇa. But Kṛṣṇa seized this inimical demon by the mouth and tore him apart.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

Another time, when Kṛṣṇa was tending the calves in the forest together with Balarāma and the cowherd boys, the demon Bakāsura came with the intention of killing Kṛṣṇa. But Kṛṣṇa seized this inimical demon by the mouth and tore him apart. KB 10.26.8 “Once, when He was engaged in tending the calves in the forest along with His elder brother, Balarāma, a demon named Bakāsura appeared, and Kṛṣṇa at once bifurcated the demon’s beak.

Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

How could he take the mouth of the baka demon and starting with the mouth, tear him in two?

Purport (Jiva Goswami)

He tore apart Baka in the presence of Balarāma and other boys. This shows his strength was greater than that of the others with him. He tore him apart starting from the mouth. Baka was an enemy because he desired to kill Kṛṣṇa at any opportunity, since he was born in tamas. But he was especially eager to kill Kṛṣṇa since Kṛṣṇa had killed his sister Pūtanā. Baka was actually killed after Vatsāsura. The order is incorrect since the people were overcome with great astonishment. This will be done in later verses as well.