SB 10.85.28 · Srimad-Bhagavatam

Devanagari

अथ तत्र कुरुश्रेष्ठ देवकी सर्वदेवता । श्रुत्वानीतं गुरो: पुत्रमात्मजाभ्यां सुविस्मिता ॥ २७ ॥ कृष्णरामौ समाश्राव्य पुत्रान् कंसविहिंसितान् । स्मरन्ती कृपणं प्राह वैक्लव्यादश्रुलोचना ॥ २८ ॥

Verse text

atha tatra kuru-śreṣṭha devakī sarva-devatā śrutvānītaṁ guroḥ putram ātmajābhyāṁ su-vismitā kṛṣṇa-rāmau samāśrāvya putrān kaṁsa-vihiṁsitān smarantī kṛpaṇaṁ prāha vaiklavyād aśru-locanā

Synonyms

atha — then ; tatra — at that place ; kuru — śreṣṭha — O best of the Kurus ; devakī — Mother Devakī ; sarva — of everyone ; devatā — the supremely worshipable goddess ; śrutvā — having heard ; nītam — brought back ; guroḥ — of Their spiritual master ; putram — the son ; ātmajābhyām — by her two sons ; su — very much ; vismitā — amazed ; kṛṣṇa — rāmau — Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma ; samāśrāvya — clearly addressing ; putrān — her sons ; kaṁsa — vihiṁsitān — murdered by Kaṁsa ; smarantī — remembering ; kṛpaṇam — pitifully ; prāha — she spoke ; vaiklavyāt — due to her distraught condition ; aśru — (filled with) tears ; locanā — her eyes .

Translation

At that time, O best of the Kurus, the universally worshiped Devakī took the opportunity to address her two sons, Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma. Previously she had heard with astonishment that They had brought Their spiritual master’s son back from death. Now, thinking of her own sons who had been murdered by Kaṁsa, she felt great sorrow, and thus with tear-filled eyes she beseeched Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

At that time, O best of the Kurus, the universally worshiped Devakī took the opportunity to address her two sons, Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma. Previously she had heard with astonishment that They had brought Their spiritual master's son back from death. Now, thinking of her own sons who had been murdered by Kaṁsa, she felt great sorrow, and thus with tear-filled eyes she beseeched Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma. KB 10.85.27-28 In the meantime, Devakī, the mother of Lord Kṛṣṇa, sat by the side of her husband. Previously she had heard that Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma were so kind to Their teacher that They had brought back the teacher’s dead son from the clutches of the superintendent of death, Yamarāja. Since she had heard of this incident, she had also been thinking of her own sons who were killed by Kaṁsa, and while remembering them she was overwhelmed with grief. Out of compassion for her dead sons, Devakī appealed to Lord Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma thus:

Purport

Vasudeva’s love for Kṛṣṇa had been disturbed because his awareness of Kṛṣṇa’s opulences conflicted with seeing Him as his son. In a different way, Devakī’s love was somewhat distracted by her lamentation for her dead sons. So Kṛṣṇa arranged to relieve her of the mistaken idea that anyone else but Him was actually her son. Since Devakī is known to be worshiped by all great souls, her show of maternal affection must actually have been an effect of the Lord’s Yoga-māyā, who increases the pleasure of His pastimes. Thus in text 54 Devakī will be described as mohitā māyayā viṣṇoḥ, “bewildered by the internal energy of Lord Viṣṇu.”

Purport (Jiva Goswami)

Having eliminated his father’s knowledge of the Lord’s greatness which was contrary to seeing the Lord as his son, Kṛṣṇa did not satisfy his mother’s longing for her sons. This related story is now told. Having heard that her two sons had brought back the son of their guru from death, she remained in complete astonishment. After a special realization through the conversation of Kṛṣṇa with Vasudeva, in order to obtain her desires, she spoke. Balarāma is also called ātma-ja, coming from her womb, since she heard that he was taken from her womb and implanted in Rohiṇī’s womb. Devakī is called the devatā (performer of pastimes) for all beings since she was the form of śuddha-sattva wealth of śuddha-sattva pastimes as the mother of the Lord. Therefore her present action (which appears material) is for joyful pastimes of the Lord, arranged by the līlā-śakti of the lord. Later it will be said mohitā māyayā viṣṇoḥ: she was bewildered by the Lord’s yoga-māyā. (SB 10.85.54)

Purport (Sanatana Goswami)

Having satisfied his father, he then satisfied his mother. The verse begins by related a previous incident. After Vasudeva fell silent (atha), Devakī, who was there, worshipable by the devatās, since she was the mother of the Lord, and who ahd heard previously of the son of the guru brought back from the kingdom of death by her two sons with great astonishment, spoke. She thought of them as her sons, not as the Lords, and thus was astonished at their feat. She accepted Balarāma as her son since the father was Vasudeva (Rohiṇī was the mother), or because Balarāma had first been in her womb. Addressing Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma, she spoke. Or telling the two about her sons killed by Kaṁṣa and remembering them, thinking “What is their destination?” she spoke. She had tears in her eyes because of affection for her sons. She spoke humbly (kṛpanam), with affection and praises (pra). Kṛṣṇa is mentioned first because of greater affection for him, or because he was the main person to hear. Or Śukadeva had special affection for Kṛṣṇa.