nisamya vaisnavam dhama

 parthah parama-vismitah

yat kiñcit paurusam pumsam

 mene krsnanukampitam

 

Translation: 

 

Having seen the domain of Lord Visnu, Arjuna was totally amazed. He concluded that whatever extraordinary power a person exhibits can only be a manifestation of Sri Krsna’s mercy.

 

Purport: 

 

Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti describes Arjuna’s amazement: He thought, “Just see! Even though I am a mere mortal, by Krsna’s mercy I have seen the Supreme Godhead, the root cause of everything.” Then, after a moment, he thought again, “But why did Lord Visnu say that he took away the brahmana’s children out of a desire to see Krsna? Why would the Supreme Personality of Godhead hanker to see His own expansion? This might be the effect of some peculiar temporary circumstance, but since He said didrksuna instead of didrksata — where the specific suffix suna carries the sense of a permanent characteristic, not a temporary one — it has to be concluded that He has always been wanting to see Krsna and myself. Even granted that this is so, why couldn’t He simply see Krsna at Dvaraka? After all, Lord Maha-Visnu is the all-pervading creator of the universe, which He holds like an amalaka fruit in His hand. Is it that He could not see Krsna in Dvaraka because Krsna does not allow anyone to see Him without His special sanction?

 

“And why, also, would Lord Maha-Visnu, the compassionate master of all brahmanas, have repeatedly tormented an elevated brahmana, year after year? He must have acted in this unusual way only because He could not give up His extreme eagerness to see Krsna. All right, He may have acted improperly for that reason, but why couldn’t He have sent a servant to kidnap the brahmana’s sons? Why did He Himself have to come to Dvaraka? Was stealing them out of Lord Krsna’s capital so difficult that no one but Visnu Himself could hope to accomplish it? I can understand that He intended to cause so much distress to a brahmana of Lord Krsna’s city that Krsna would be unable to tolerate it; then He would grant Lord Visnu His audience. Lord Visnu inspired the distressed brahmana to pour out his complaints to Krsna in person. Thus it is clear that Sri Krsna’s status of Godhood is superior to Lord Maha-Visnu’s.”

 

Having thought in this way, Arjuna was totally amazed. He asked Lord Krsna whether these were actually the facts of the matter, and the Lord replied, as related in the Hari-vamsa:

 

mad-darsanartham te bala

 hrtas tena mahatmana

viprartham esyate krsno

 mat-samipam na canyatha

 

“It was to see Me that He, the Supreme Soul, stole the children. He believed, ‘Only on a brahmana’s behalf will Krsna come to see Me, not otherwise.’”

 

Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti states that Lord Krsna further told Arjuna, “I did not go there, however, for the brahmana’s sake; I went there, My friend, just to save your life. If it had been for the brahmana’s sake that I traveled to Vaikuntha, I would have done so after his first child was abducted.”

 

According to Srila Sridhara Svami, although this pastime occurred before the Battle of Kuruksetra, it is recounted here at the end of the Tenth Canto under the general heading of the supremacy of Lord Krsna’s glories.