Devanagari
मां खेदयत्येतदजस्य जन्म-
विडम्बनं यद्वसुदेवगेहे ।
व्रजे च वासोऽरिभयादिव स्वयं
पुराद् व्यवात्सीद्यदनन्तवीर्य: ॥ १६ ॥
Verse text
māṁ khedayaty etad ajasya janma-
viḍambanaṁ yad vasudeva-gehe
vraje ca vāso ’ri-bhayād iva svayaṁ
purād vyavātsīd yad-ananta-vīryaḥ
Synonyms
mām
—
to me
;
khedayati
—
gives me distress
;
etat
—
this
;
ajasya
—
of the unborn
;
janma
—
birth
;
viḍambanam
—
bewildering
;
yat
—
that
;
vasudeva
—
gehe — in the home of Vasudeva
;
vraje
—
in Vṛndāvana
;
ca
—
also
;
vāsaḥ
—
inhabitation
;
ari
—
enemy
;
bhayāt
—
because of fear
;
iva
—
as if
;
svayam
—
Himself
;
purāt
—
from Mathurā Purī
;
vyavātsīt
—
fled
;
yat
—
one who is
;
ananta
—
vīryaḥ — unlimitedly powerful .
Translation
When I think of Lord Kṛṣṇa — how He was born in the prison house of Vasudeva although He is unborn, how He went away from His father’s protection to Vraja and lived there incognito out of fear of the enemy, and how, although unlimitedly powerful, He fled from Mathurā in fear — all these bewildering incidents give me distress.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Kṛṣṇa’s appearance in the prison house of Kaṁsa in miserable circumstances, his stay in Vraja out of fear of enemies, and his leaving Mathurā though he has infinite power used to give me great suffering.
I have revealed the truth to you as I have understood it. However, I could not understand this difficult subject before, even though I asked learned people. Thus previously I was full of grief. That is explained in this verse. How is it possible for a person without birth to take birth? There should be no grief if what appears to be a birth is actually only an imitation of birth and is not actual birth. It should be understood that Uddhava intends to show that Kṛṣṇa has both actual birth and an appearance of a birth. His birth in the prison of Kaṁsa gives me pain. This actually means it previously gave me pain. The present tense is often used to express times near to the present. Because his birth pastime even in degraded circumstance should create the greatest joy in his mother, father, friends, and other devotees, why did he as the independent lord not do anything about this? He is naturally full of bliss but why is he known to stay in Vraja out of fear of enemies? The word iva is used to express the fact that he should not have been afraid of Kaṁsa while living in Vraja. Then he fled from Mathurā. Though he has unlimited strength he fled from Kālayavana and others out of fear. Bhīṣma has said:
na hy asya karhicid rājan pumān veda vidhitsitam
yad vijijṣāsayā yuktā muhyanti kavayo ’pi hi
O King, no one can know the plan of Kṛṣṇa. Even though great philosophers inquire exhaustively, they are bewildered. SB 1.9.16
However, when I asked the Lord in private he enlightened me. Now my lamentation has gone.
Purport
Because Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa is the original person from whom everything and everyone has emanated —
ahaṁ sarvasya prabhavaḥ
(
Bg. 10.8
),
janmādy asya yataḥ
(
Vedānta-sūtra
1.1.2) — nothing can be equal to or greater than Him. The Lord is supremely perfect, and whenever He enacts His transcendental pastimes as a son, a rival or an object of enmity, He plays the part so perfectly that even pure devotees like Uddhava are bewildered. For example, Uddhava knew perfectly well that Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa is eternally existent and can neither die nor disappear for good, yet he lamented for Lord Kṛṣṇa. All these events are perfect arrangements to give perfection to His supreme glories. It is for enjoyment’s sake. When a father plays with his little son and the father lies down on the floor as if defeated by the son, it is just to give the little son pleasure, and nothing more. Because the Lord is all-powerful, it is possible for Him to adjust opposites such as birth and no birth, power and defeat, fear and fearlessness. A pure devotee knows very well how it is possible for the Lord to adjust opposite things, but he laments for the nondevotees who, not knowing the supreme glories of the Lord, think of Him as imaginary simply because there are so many apparently contradictory statements in the scriptures. Factually there is nothing contradictory; everything is possible when we understand the Lord as the Lord and not as one of us, with all our imperfection.