Text 52
iti svāgham anusmṛtya
kṛṣṇe te kṛta-helanāḥ
didṛkṣavo vrajam atha
kaṁsād bhītā na cācalan
iti — thus; sva-agham — their own offense; anusmṛtya — thinking back upon; kṛṣṇe — against Lord Kṛṣṇa; te — they; kṛta-helanāḥ — having shown contempt; didṛkṣavaḥ — wishing to see; vrajam — to the village of Nanda Mahārāja; atha — then; kaṁsāt — of Kaṁsa; bhītāḥ — afraid; na — not; ca — and; acalan — they went.
Thus reflecting on the sin they had committed by neglecting Lord Kṛṣṇa, they became very eager to see Him. But being afraid of King Kaṁsa, they did not dare go to Vraja.
Realizing their offense against Lord Kṛṣṇa, and finally appreciating His almighty position, the brāhmaṇas naturally wanted to rush to Vraja and surrender at the lotus feet of the Lord. But they were afraid that Kaṁsa would certainly kill them when his spies reported that they had gone to Kṛṣṇa. The brāhmaṇas’ wives were absorbed in ecstatic Kṛṣṇa consciousness and thus went to Kṛṣṇa anyway, just as the gopīs, simply to dance with the Lord, traveled in the dead of night through a forest inhabited by wild animals. But the brāhmaṇas were not on such an advanced platform of Kṛṣṇa consciousness and thus, overcome by fear of Kaṁsa, could not see the Lord face to face.
Thus end the purports of the humble servants of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda to the Tenth Canto, Twenty-third Chapter, of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, entitled “The Brāhmaṇas’ Wives Blessed.”