Text 49
māpatya-buddhim akṛthāḥ
kṛṣṇe sarvātmanīśvare
māyā-manuṣya-bhāvena
gūḍhaiśvarye pare ’vyaye
mā — do not; apatya-buddhim — the idea of being your son; akṛthāḥ — impose; kṛṣṇe — on Kṛṣṇa; sarva-ātmani — the Supreme Soul of all; īśvare — the Personality of Godhead; māyā — by His power of illusion; manuṣya-bhāvena — appearing as if an ordinary person; gūḍha-aiśvarye — hiding His opulence; pare — the Supreme; avyaye — infallible.
Do not think of Kṛṣṇa as an ordinary child, because He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, inexhaustible and the Soul of all beings. The Lord has concealed His inconceivable opulences and is thus outwardly appearing to be an ordinary human being.
Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa is the original source of all plenary incarnations of the Absolute Truth. Kṛṣṇas tu bhagavān svayam. His unlimited transcendental opulences are inexhaustible, and thus He very easily brings the entire creation under His personal control. Lord Kṛṣṇa is the eternal well-wisher of every living entity, so there was no need for Vasudeva to be anxious about his future destination, nor that of the other personal associates of Kṛṣṇa, such as the members of the Yadu dynasty. In verse 46 of this chapter, Nārada Muni told Vasudeva, putratām agamad yad vāṁ bhagavān īśvaro hariḥ: “You and your good wife are now glorified throughout the universe because Lord Kṛṣṇa has personally become your son.” In this way Nārada is encouraging Vasudeva to continue to love Kṛṣṇa as his most beloved son, for such ecstatic devotional feelings are never to be given up. But at the same time, Nārada is removing Vasudeva’s doubts about the future by assuring him, “Due to your love for Kṛṣṇa you may think that He is an ordinary human being. You are appearing like a human being, and Lord Kṛṣṇa is simply reciprocating with you. In order to encourage you to love Him as your son, He is placing Himself under your control. And thus, His inconceivable power and opulences are being concealed from you. Don’t assume, however, that there is actually a dangerous situation because of the events of this material world. Although Kṛṣṇa appears to be under your control, He is eternally the supreme controller. Therefore, do not consider Him to be a human being. He is always the Supreme Personality of Godhead.”
The word māyā in this verse indicates that Kṛṣṇa’s manuṣya, or humanlike, activities are actually misleading to the ordinary man because Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Māyā also means “transcendental potencies.” As stated in Bhagavad-gītā, sambhavāmy ātma-māyayā: the Lord descends in His own transcendental form filled with transcendental potencies. And thus the words māyā-manuṣya-bhāvena here also indicate Kṛṣṇa’s original transcendental form, which resembles the humanlike forms experienced in this world. Māyā also indicates “mercy,” or “compassion,” according to the Sanskrit dictionary, and thus the Lord’s incarnation is understood to be His causeless mercy upon the conditioned souls. The Lord’s descent is also His causeless mercy upon the liberated souls, who take immense pleasure in joining the Lord in His pastimes and in chanting and hearing about such exalted spiritual activities (śravaṇaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṇoḥ).
In order to reciprocate the love of Vasudeva for Him, Kṛṣṇa mostly concealed His unlimited opulences. In this way the devotee is fully encouraged in his particular loving relationship with the Lord. However, when Vasudeva was filled with anxiety due to the dangerous situation created by the brāhmaṇa’s curse, Nārada immediately reminded him that such anxiety was unnecessary, since all these events were under the direct control of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Thus, the Vaiṣṇava paramahaṁsas who take the position of the Lord’s parents remain under the shelter of the Lord at all times and never deviate from the loving devotional service of the Lord. They remain fixed in transcendence in all circumstances, unlike ordinary parents of the material world, who are constantly becoming bewildered by illusion due to the bodily concept of life.