SB 10.7.31 · Srimad-Bhagavatam

Devanagari

अहो बतात्यद्भ‍ुतमेष रक्षसा बालो निवृत्तिं गमितोऽभ्यगात् पुन: । हिंस्र: स्वपापेन विहिंसित: खल: साधु: समत्वेन भयाद् विमुच्यते ॥ ३१ ॥

Verse text

aho batāty-adbhutam eṣa rakṣasā bālo nivṛttiṁ gamito ’bhyagāt punaḥ hiṁsraḥ sva-pāpena vihiṁsitaḥ khalaḥ sādhuḥ samatvena bhayād vimucyate

Synonyms

aho — alas ; bata — indeed ; ati — very much ; adbhutam — this incident is wonderfully astonishing ; eṣaḥ — this (child) ; rakṣasā — by the man-eating demon ; bālaḥ — the innocent child Kṛṣṇa ; nivṛttim — taken away just to be killed and eaten ; gamitaḥ — went away ; abhyagāt punaḥ — but He has come back again unhurt ; hiṁsraḥ — one who is envious ; sva — pāpena — because of his own sinful activities ; vihiṁsitaḥ — now (that demon) has been killed ; khalaḥ — because he was envious and polluted ; sādhuḥ — any person who is innocent and free from sinful life ; samatvena — being equal to everyone ; bhayāt — from all kinds of fear ; vimucyate — becomes relieved .

Translation

It is most astonishing that although this innocent child was taken away by the Rākṣasa to be eaten, He has returned without having been killed or even injured. Because this demon was envious, cruel and sinful, he has been killed for his own sinful activities. This is the law of nature. An innocent devotee is always protected by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and a sinful person is always vanquished for his sinful life.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

It is most astonishing that although this innocent child was taken away by the Rākṣasa to be eaten, He has returned without having been killed or even injured. Because this demon was envious, cruel and sinful, he has been killed for his own sinful activities. This is the law of nature. An innocent devotee is always protected by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and a sinful person is always vanquished for his sinful life. KB 10.7.31 At that time they began to talk about how wonderful it was that the demon had taken away the child to devour Him but could not do so; instead he fell down dead. Some of them supported the situation: “This is proper because those who are too sinful die from their sinful reactions, and child Kṛṣṇa is pious; therefore He is safe from all kinds of fearful situations.

Purport

Kṛṣṇa conscious life means innocent devotional life, and a sādhu is one who is fully devoted to Kṛṣṇa. As confirmed by Kṛṣṇa in Bhagavad-gītā (9.30) , bhajate māṁ ananya-bhāk sādhur eva sa mantavyaḥ: anyone fully attached to Kṛṣṇa is a sādhu. Nanda Mahārāja and the gopīs and other cowherd men could not understand that Kṛṣṇa was the Supreme Personality of Godhead playing as a human child and that His life was not in danger under any circumstances. Rather, because of their intense parental love for Kṛṣṇa, they thought that Kṛṣṇa was an innocent child and had been saved by the Supreme Lord. In the material world, because of intense lust and desire for enjoyment, one becomes implicated in sinful life more and more ( kāma eṣa krodha eṣa rajo-guṇa-samudbhavaḥ ). Therefore the quality of fear is one of the aspects of material life ( āhāra-nidrā-bhaya-maithunaṁ ca ). But if one becomes Kṛṣṇa conscious, the process of devotional service, śravaṇaṁ kīrtanam, diminishes one’s polluted life of material existence, and one is purified and protected by the Supreme Personality of Godhead. śṛṇvatāṁ sva-kathāḥ kṛṣṇaḥ puṇya-śravaṇa-kīrtanaḥ . In devotional life, one has faith in this process. Such faith is one of the six kinds of surrender. Rakṣiṣyatīti viśvāsaḥ ( Hari-bhakti-vilāsa 11.676). One of the processes of surrender is that one should simply depend on Kṛṣṇa, convinced that He will give one all protection. That Kṛṣṇa will protect His devotee is a fact, and Nanda Mahārāja and the other inhabitants of Vṛndāvana accepted this very simply, although they did not know that the Supreme Lord Himself was present before them. There have been many instances in which a devotee like Prahlāda Mahārāja or Dhruva Mahārāja has been put in difficulty even by his father but has been saved under all circumstances. Therefore our only business is to become Kṛṣṇa conscious and depend fully on Kṛṣṇa for all protection.

Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

Though only a small, delicate child, Krsna clearly manifested the power to kill a great demon. But this did not decrease the affection of Nanda and others, rather it increased it. This idea is expressed in three verses. This was more astonishing than the astonishing, and more astonishing than even that (adi adbhutam etad). That was because the baby had approached his end (nivrti). The word marana (death) is not used because of its inauspicious connotations. Though he neared death, he again returned (abhi agat). He returned to his friends (bandhunam abhimukham) . One among them then said, "But what is so astonishing? Because of his sin, stealing an innocent child (sva papena), the cruel demon was destroyed. Though he is only a child, he is saintly, regarding enemy and friend equally (samatvena), and thus he was released from danger."

Purport (Jiva Goswami)

In joy they speak to each other, unaware of Kṛṣṇa’s powers as the Lord, so that their affection for him would increase. They speak with astonishment or joy (aho). It is astonishing that the tender child (eṣaḥ) could not be harmed by the demon at all. Though he was taken away he has come back in front of us (abhi agāt) or he has come back without fear (abhi). This is not astonishing since the demon was killed. This demon was a cheater (khalaḥ) and violent without reason (hiṁsraḥ). Thus he died because of his sins. The person without faults like violence is freed of fear by seeing others happiness and distress as his own. One should not worry about the disturbances caused by evil Kaṁsa. Or the verse gives a specific instance since the cowherds denote Nanda by the word sādhuḥ. Nanda is free of fear whereas another person, attacked by others, suffers because of his sins.