Devanagari
क्व शोकमोहौ स्नेहो वा भयं वा येऽज्ञसम्भवा: ।
क्व चाखण्डितविज्ञानज्ञानैश्वर्यस्त्वखण्डित: ॥ ३१ ॥
Verse text
kva śoka-mohau sneho vā
bhayaṁ vā ye ’jṣa-sambhavāḥ
kva cākhaṇḍita-vijṣāna-
jṣānaiśvaryas tv akhaṇḍitaḥ
Synonyms
kva
—
where
;
śoka
—
lamentation
;
mohau
—
and bewilderment
;
snehaḥ
—
material affection
;
vā
—
or
;
bhayam
—
fear
;
vā
—
or
;
ye
—
those which
;
ajṣā
—
out of ignorance
;
sambhavāḥ
—
born
;
kva ca
—
and where, on the other hand
;
akhaṇḍita
—
infinite
;
vijṣāna
—
whose perception
;
jṣāna
—
knowledge
;
aiśvaryaḥ
—
and power
;
tu
—
but
;
akhaṇḍitaḥ
—
the infinite Supreme Lord .
Translation
How can lamentation, bewilderment, material affection or fear, all born out of ignorance, be ascribed to the infinite Supreme Lord, whose perception, knowledge and power are all similarly infinite?
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
How can lamentation, bewilderment, material affection or fear, all born out of ignorance, be ascribed to the infinite Supreme Lord, whose perception, knowledge and power are all similarly infinite?
KB 10.77.31
How could Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the reservoir of all power and knowledge, be bewildered in such a way? Lamentation, aggrievement and bewilderment are characteristics of conditioned souls, but how can such things affect the person of the Supreme, who is full of knowledge, power and all opulence? Actually, it is not at all possible that Lord Kṛṣṇa was misled by the mystic jugglery of Śālva. He was displaying His pastime in playing the role of a human being.
Purport
Śrīla Prabhupāda writes: “Lamentation, aggrievement and bewilderment are characteristics of conditioned souls, but how can such things affect the person of the Supreme, who is full of knowledge, power and all opulence? Actually, it is not at all possible that Lord Kṛṣṇa was misled by the mystic jugglery of Śālva. He was displaying His pastime of playing the role of a human being.”
All the great
Bhāgavatam
commentators conclude that grief, illusion, attachment and fear, which arise out of ignorance of the soul, can never be present in the transcendental dramatic pastimes enacted by the Lord. Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī gives many examples from Kṛṣṇa’s pastimes to illustrate this point. For instance, when the cowherd boys entered the mouth of Aghāsura, Lord Kṛṣṇa was apparently astonished. Similarly, when Brahmā took away Lord Kṛṣṇa’s cowherd boyfriends and calves, the Lord at first began to look for them as if He did not know where they were. Thus the Lord plays the part of an ordinary human being so as to relish transcendental pastimes with His devotees. One should never think the Personality of Godhead is an ordinary person, as Śukadeva Gosvāmī explains in this and the following verse.
Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Moreover, is it possible that Krsna could be bewildered by Salva’s illusions? How are the affection and lamentation for Vasudeva caused by this illusion possible? Nor is possible that he could have fear of Salva. And how is it possible for him to let go of his bow Sarnga by that illusion of Salva? Therefore Sukadeva speaks this verse. Lamentation and other emotions are of two types: caused by ignorance and caused by knowledge. The emotions described here are possible in people who are ignorant, or do not know everything, who are dependent on wrong sources of knowledge. But how is it possible in the supreme lord Krsna who has unlimited knowledge?
The spiritual emotions such as lamentation possible in those who have knowledge, who are beyond illusion,. occur in the devotees and in the Lord who is the very form of all sweet rasa arising as sancari bhavas as part of rasa. This can be very clearly seen in Damodara pastimes (Krsna crying), and the purva raga of the gopis during the rasa lila. Fear mentioned in this verse refers to verse eight. That fear is impossible for Krsna. Fear which caused Krsna to flee is not actual fear as mentioned by Uddhava. If it were real fear then the intelligence of the wise would be erroneous, according to the bhagavatamrta. Such stories prevent the tasting of nectar, like restricting a horse with a halter.
Purport (Jiva Goswami)
Moha means ignorance. Actually the Lord is devoid of lamentation and ignorance and possesses continuous knowledge, since he is the Lord of śuddha-sattva.
Purport (Sanatana Goswami)
Moha means ignorance or possessiveness. These emotions arise from ignorance. They actually arise from the special bhakti of the Lord in Kṛṣṇa. That is the hint. They are actually beyond the guṇas. This ignorance arises even in persons with knowledge. Though jñāna and vijñāna are included in aiśvarya (power), they are mentioned separately because they become especially prominent according to the occasion.
Actually the Lord is devoid of lamentation and ignorance and possesses continuous knowledge, since he is the Lord of śuddha-sattva.