Devanagari
श्रीशुक उवाच
स्तुवतस्तस्य भगवान् दर्शयित्वा जले वपु: ।
भूय: समाहरत् कृष्णो नटो नाट्यमिवात्मन: ॥ १ ॥
Verse text
śrī-śuka uvāca
stuvatas tasya bhagavān
darśayitvā jale vapuḥ
bhūyaḥ samāharat kṛṣṇo
naṭo nāṭyam ivātmanaḥ
Synonyms
śrī
—
śukaḥ uvāca — Śukadeva Gosvāmī said
;
stuvataḥ
—
while praying
;
tasya
—
he, Akrūra
;
bhagavān
—
the Supreme Lord
;
darśayitvā
—
having shown
;
jale
—
in the water
;
vapuḥ
—
His personal form
;
bhūyaḥ
—
again
;
samāharat
—
withdrew
;
kṛṣṇaḥ
—
Śrī Kṛṣṇa
;
naṭaḥ
—
an actor
;
nāṭyam
—
the performance
;
iva
—
as
;
ātmanaḥ
—
his own .
Translation
Śukadeva Gosvāmī said: While Akrūra was still offering prayers, the Supreme Lord Kṛṣṇa withdrew His form that He had revealed in the water, just as an actor winds up his performance.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Śukadeva Gosvāmī said: While Akrūra was still offering prayers, the Supreme Lord Kṛṣṇa withdrew His form that He had revealed in the water, just as an actor winds up his performance.
KB 10.41.1
While Akrūra was offering his prayers to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the Lord disappeared from the water, exactly as an expert dramatic actor changes his dress and assumes his original feature.
Purport
Lord Kṛṣṇa withdrew from Akrūra’s sight the Viṣṇu form along with the vision of the spiritual sky and its eternal inhabitants.
Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
In the forty first chapter, Krsna goes to see Mathura, and attracts all the women there. He kills Kamsa’s washerman and bestows boons to the weaver and the garland maker named Sudama.
Having shown Akrura his remarkable form in the water, he made that form disappear without asking Akrura. The disregard for Akrura is expressed by the use of the sixth case (tasya) instead of the second case (tam). Just as the players give up their costumes at the conclusion of a play, Krsna, after showing the eternal objects of Vaikuntha within the water, made that scene disappear. Krsna, seeing the astonishment on Akrura’s face and in his eyes, asked him, "It appears that you must have seen something very astonishing, for your eyes are wide with wonder and full of tears."
Purport (Jiva Goswami)
Stuvatas tasya in the genitive case indicates that Kṛṣṇa was not much attracted to the prayers. Thus, without asking Akrūra he withdrew that form, as quickly as an actor sheds his costume after a play. But this form he was Kṛṣṇa’s own (ātmanaḥ) body, an eternal form.
Purport (Sanatana Goswami)
As Akrūra offered prayers, Kṛṣṇa then (bhuyaḥ) made the form disappear. Genitive case indicates disinterest on the part of Kṛṣṇa. Or having showed the form in the water explicitly (bhuyaḥ) he showed the form since he was bhagavān, full of all powers. This was one of his powers. He withdrew the form since he was fond of fun (kṛṣṇaḥ) or attracted to his devotee by his affection. Otherwise he could not accomplish bliss in realizing his sweetness. He showed and withdrew the form by himself, easily (ātmanaḥ). The form was non-different from himself. He was like an actor who shows many forms. This indicates that the form shown was not his only form. It arose from Kṛṣṇa.