SB 10.38.7 · Srimad-Bhagavatam

Devanagari

कंसो बताद्याकृत मेऽत्यनुग्रहं द्रक्ष्येऽङ्‍‍‍‍‍घ्रिपद्मं प्रहितोऽमुना हरे: । कृतावतारस्य दुरत्ययं तम: पूर्वेऽतरन् यन्नखमण्डलत्विषा ॥ ७ ॥

Verse text

kaṁso batādyākṛta me ’ty-anugrahaṁ drakṣye ’ṅghri-padmaṁ prahito ’munā hareḥ kṛtāvatārasya duratyayaṁ tamaḥ pūrve ’taran yan-nakha-maṇḍala-tviṣā

Synonyms

kaṁsaḥ — King Kaṁsa ; bata — indeed ; adya — today ; akṛta — has done ; me — toward me ; ati — anugraham — an act of extreme kindness ; drakṣye — I will see ; aṅghri — padmam — the lotus feet ; prahitaḥ — sent ; amunā — by him ; hareḥ — of the Supreme Personality of Godhead ; kṛta — who has enacted ; avatārasya — His descent to this world ; duratyayam — insurmountable ; tamaḥ — the darkness of material existence ; pūrve — persons in the past ; ataran — transcended ; yat — whose ; nakha — maṇḍala — of the orb of the toenails ; tviṣā — by the effulgence .

Translation

Indeed, today King Kaṁsa has shown me extreme mercy by sending me to see the lotus feet of Lord Hari, who has now appeared in this world. Simply by the effulgence of His toenails, many souls in the past have transcended the insurmountable darkness of material existence and achieved liberation.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

Indeed, today King Kaṁsa has shown me extreme mercy by sending me to see the lotus feet of Lord Hari, who has now appeared in this world. Simply by the effulgence of His toenails, many souls in the past have transcended the insurmountable darkness of material existence and achieved liberation. KB 10.38.7 Akrūra also considered that he was very much favored by Kaṁsa, who was sending him to bring back Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma and thus enabling him to see the Lord. Akrūra continued to consider that formerly great sages and saintly persons were liberated from the material world simply by seeing the shining nails of the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa. “That Supreme Personality of Godhead has now come just like an ordinary human being, and it is my great fortune to be able to see Him face to face,” Akrūra thought.

Purport

Akrūra noted how ironic it was that the envious, demoniac Kaṁsa had given him an extraordinary blessing by sending him to see the Supreme Lord Kṛṣṇa.

Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

Though I have been sent to do things unfavorable to the Lord by Kamsa, for me this has been very favorable. Amazingly, though Kamsa is a rascal, today he has been merciful to me, because he has sent me to Krsna. Previously such persons as Ambarisa were delivered from the material world by one ray of those feet.

Purport (Jiva Goswami)

With astonishment he speaks of the future mercy of the Lord. Though Kaṁsa is most cruel, he has shown mercy to me. It would be impossible for Kaṁsa to show mercy without the mercy of the Lord. That mercy was my being his dear minister. Sent by him, I will see the lotus feet of the Lord who takes away all inauspiciousness (hareḥ), and has now appeared who will has appeared at this time for showing mercy to all people (kṛtāvatārasya). By just a slight appearance or ray from the disk of his toenail, some have previously crossed samṣāra, by bhakti alone. What to speak of other types of worship they may have performed for him. This indicates that the form of human-like form of Kṛṣṇa is eternal and all other forms are included in it.

Purport (Sanatana Goswami)

He describes the symptoms of the Lord’s mercy. Sent by him, I will see the lotus feet of the Lord who takes away all inauspiciousness (hareḥ), and has now appeared at this time for showing his nature as bhagavān (kṛtāvatārasya). By just a slight appearance or ray from the disk of his toenail, by a little bhakti, some have previously crossed samṣāra. sa vai manaḥ kṛṣṇa-padāravindayor vacāṁsi vaikuṇṭha-guṇānuvarṇane karau harer mandira-mārjanādiṣu śrutiṁ cakārācyuta-sat-kathodaye Mahārāja Ambarīṣa always engaged his mind in meditating upon the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa, his words in describing the glories of the Lord, his hands in cleansing the Lord's temple, and his ears in hearing the words spoken by Kṛṣṇa or about Kṛṣṇa. SB 9.4.18 Ambariṣa, with bhakti to Kṛṣṇa, followed such persons. If such persons cannot fix their minds on Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa has now come as avatāra. Or he whose previous avatāras delivered people from darkness, has not come as the avatarī directly. I can see his lotus feet. Tamaḥ can also refer to ignorance, the root of bad thoughts for persons desiring liberation. Previously devotees who were also sages surpassed the insurmountable root of bad desires by the effulgence of the Lord’s toenails.