Text 38
athānusmṛtya viprās te
anvatapyan kṛtāgasaḥ
yad viśveśvarayor yācñām
ahanma nṛ-viḍambayoḥ
atha — then; anusmṛtya — coming to their senses; viprāḥ — the brāhmaṇas; te — they; anvatapyan — felt great remorse; kṛta-agasaḥ — having committed sinful offenses; yat — because; viśva-īśvarayoḥ — of the two Lords of the universe, Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma; yācñām — the humble supplication; ahanma — we transgressed; nr-viḍambayoḥ — of those who were deceptively appearing as human beings.
The brāhmaṇas then came to their senses and began to feel great remorse. They thought, “We have sinned, for we have denied the request of the two Lords of the universe, who deceptively appeared as ordinary human beings.”
Lord Kṛṣṇa and Lord Balarāma did not try to deceive the brāhmaṇas: They straightforwardly requested food from them. Rather, the brāhmaṇas deceived themselves, as indicated by the Sanskrit word nṛ-viḍambayoḥ, which means that Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma are bewildering for an ordinary human being who considers Them also to be human. Still, because the wives of the brāhmaṇas were great devotees of the Lord, the foolish brāhmaṇas received spiritual benefit and finally came to their senses.