Devanagari
स तल्पात् तूर्णमुत्थाय कालोऽयमिति विह्वल: ।
सूतीगृहमगात् तूर्णं प्रस्खलन् मुक्तमूर्धज: ॥ ३ ॥
Verse text
sa talpāt tūrṇam utthāya
kālo ’yam iti vihvalaḥ
sūtī-gṛham agāt tūrṇaṁ
praskhalan mukta-mūrdhajaḥ
Synonyms
saḥ
—
he (King Kaṁsa)
;
talpāt
—
from the bed
;
tūrṇam
—
very quickly
;
utthāya
—
getting up
;
kālaḥ ayam
—
here is my death, the supreme time
;
iti
—
in this way
;
vihvalaḥ
—
overwhelmed
;
sūtī
—
gṛham — to the maternity home
;
agāt
—
went
;
tūrṇam
—
without delay
;
praskhalan
—
scattering
;
mukta
—
had become opened
;
mūrdha
—
jaḥ — the hair on the head .
Translation
Kaṁsa immediately got up from bed, thinking, “Here is Kāla, the supreme time factor, which has taken birth to kill me!” Thus overwhelmed, Kaṁsa, his hair scattered on his head, at once approached the place where the child had been born.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Kaṁsa immediately got up from bed, thinking, "Here is Kāla, the supreme time factor, which has taken birth to kill me!" Thus overwhelmed, Kaṁsa, his hair scattered on his head, at once approached the place where the child had been born.
KB 10.4.3
At that time, Kaṁsa got up from his bed very quickly and exclaimed, “Now the cruel death of my life is born!” Kaṁsa became perplexed now that his death was approaching, and his hair scattered. Immediately he proceeded toward the place where the child was born.
Purport
The word
kālaḥ
is significant. Although the child was born to kill Kaṁsa, Kaṁsa thought that this was the proper time to kill the child so that he himself would be saved.
Kāla
is actually another name of the Supreme Personality of Godhead when He appears only for the purpose of killing. When Arjuna inquired from Kṛṣṇa in His universal form, “Who are You?” the Lord presented Himself as
kāla,
death personified to kill. By nature’s law, when there is an unwanted increase in population,
kāla
appears, and by some arrangement of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, people are killed wholesale in different ways, by war, pestilence, famine and so on. At that time, even atheistic political leaders go to a church, mosque or temple for protection by God or gods and submissively say, “God willing.” Before that, they pay no attention to God, not caring to know God or His will, but when
kāla
appears, they say “God willing.” Death is but another feature of the supreme
kāla,
the Supreme Personality of Godhead. At the time of death, the atheist must submit to this supreme
kāla,
and then the Supreme Personality of Godhead takes away all his possessions (
mṛtyuḥ sarva-haraś cāham
) and forces him to accept another body (
tathā dehāntara-prāptiḥ
). This the atheists do not know, and if they do know, they neglect it so that they may go on with their normal life. The Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is trying to teach them that although for a few years one may act as a great protector or great watchman, with the appearance of
kāla,
death, one must take another body by the laws of nature. Not knowing this, they unnecessarily waste their time in their occupation as watchdogs and do not try to get the mercy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. As it is clearly said,
aprāpya māṁ nivartante mṛtyu-saṁsāra-vartmani:
without Kṛṣṇa consciousness, one is condemned to continue wandering in birth and death, not knowing what will happen in one’s next birth.
Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
The time has come (kalah ayam) for killing the child. Or the sentence can mean "Out of fear, Kamsa was thinking, that the birth of the child was his own death (kala)."
Purport (Jiva Goswami)
The time has come to kill the child. Or death has now come. He was filled with fear, falling here and there as he walked. Instead of tūrṇam sometimes śīghram is seen.