Devanagari
श्रीशुक उवाच
बहिरन्त:पुरद्वार: सर्वा: पूर्ववदावृता: ।
ततो बालध्वनिं श्रुत्वा गृहपाला: समुत्थिता: ॥ १ ॥
Verse text
śrī-śuka uvāca
bahir-antaḥ-pura-dvāraḥ
sarvāḥ pūrvavad āvṛtāḥ
tato bāla-dhvaniṁ śrutvā
gṛha-pālāḥ samutthitāḥ
Synonyms
śrī
—
śukaḥ uvāca — Śrī Śukadeva Gosvāmī said
;
bahiḥ
—
antaḥ — pura — dvāraḥ — the doors inside and outside the house
;
sarvāḥ
—
all
;
pūrva
—
vat — like before
;
āvṛtāḥ
—
closed
;
tataḥ
—
thereafter
;
bāla
—
dhvanim — the crying of the newborn child
;
śrutvā
—
hearing
;
gṛha
—
pālāḥ — all the inhabitants of the house, especially the doormen
;
samutthitāḥ
—
awakened .
Translation
Śukadeva Gosvāmī continued: My dear King Parīkṣit, the doors inside and outside the house closed as before. Thereafter, the inhabitants of the house, especially the watchmen, heard the crying of the newborn child and thus awakened from their beds.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Śukadeva Gosvāmī continued: My dear King Parīkṣit, the doors inside and outside the house closed as before. Thereafter, the inhabitants of the house, especially the watchmen, heard the crying of the newborn child and thus awakened from their beds.
KB 10.4.1
After Vasudeva adjusted things as they had been before he carried Kṛṣṇa to Gokula, and all the doors and gates became similarly closed, the gatekeepers awoke and heard the newborn child crying.
Purport
The activities of Yoga-māyā are distinctly visible in this chapter, in which Devakī and Vasudeva excuse Kaṁsa for his many devious, atrocious activities and Kaṁsa becomes repentant and falls at their feet. Before the awakening of the watchmen and the others in the prison house, many other things happened. Kṛṣṇa was born and transferred to the home of Yaśodā in Gokula, the strong doors opened and again closed, and Vasudeva resumed his former condition of being shackled. The watchmen, however, could not understand all this. They awakened only when they heard the crying of the newborn child, Yoga-māyā.
Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura has remarked that the watchmen were just like dogs. At night the dogs in the street act like watchmen. If one dog barks, many other dogs immediately follow it by barking. Although the street dogs are not appointed by anyone to act as watchmen, they think they are responsible for protecting the neighborhood, and as soon as someone unknown enters it, they all begin to bark. Both Yoga-māyā and Mahā-māyā act in all material activities (
prakṛteḥ kriyamāṇāni guṇaiḥ karmāṇi sarvaśaḥ
), but although the energy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead acts under the Supreme Lord’s direction (
mayādhyakṣeṇa prakṛtiḥ sūyate sa-carācaram
), doglike watchmen such as politicians and diplomats think that they are protecting their neighborhoods from the dangers of the outside world. These are the actions of
māyā.
But one who surrenders to Kṛṣṇa is relieved of the protection afforded by the dogs and doglike guardians of this material world.
Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
The fourth chapter relates the repetence of Kamsa on hearing Maya’s words, Devaki’s forgiving Kamsa, and the evil ministers’ advice to Kamsa. Bala dhvani (sound of the infant) means the crying of the infant when he first comes out of the womb. The guards of the doors, who were like dogs (protectors of the house) on hearing that cry, suddenly got up.
Purport (Jiva Goswami)
The locks became locked as before, by themselves. After that hearing the crying of the child, natural for a newborn infant, not knowing it was a girl, guards who were like dogs (gṛha-pālāḥ mean dogs as well as a guards) got up attentively (sam), with swords in hand.