Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.12.13
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
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agha-nāma
—
named Agha (sin)
Agha literally means sin / evil. The demon's name itself is his function — a personification of pāpa. Gauḍīyas note that Kṛṣṇa's contact dissolves him utterly: Agha attains sārūpya-mukti in verse 38, which Śuka calls otherwise impossible for the impure.
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mahā-asuraḥ
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great demon
Compound: mahā (great) + asura (a-sura, non-deva). The asuras of Bhāgavatam are not metaphors — they are real beings opposed to Viṣṇu. Their 'greatness' is in size and power, not virtue.
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sukha-krīḍana
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joyful play
Compound: sukha (joy) + krīḍana (play). What Aghāsura cannot tolerate is precisely the rasa Śuka has just described. Demoniac nature is constitutively unable to bear the sight of bhakti-sukha; it must attack.
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pīta-amṛtaiḥ
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by those who have drunk nectar
Compound: pīta (drunk) + amṛta (nectar). The devas drank amṛta from the milk-ocean churning. Yet amṛta only extends life — it does not remove fear. Gauḍīyas: amṛta is not the same as Kṛṣṇa-prema; long life without bhakti is still anxious.
One may ask how Kṛṣṇa’s pastimes could be interrupted by a demon. Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura answers this question by saying that although the transcendental pleasure being enjoyed by the cowherd boys could not be stopped, unless they stopped the transcendental pleasure of their various activities they could not eat their lunch. Therefore at lunchtime Aghāsura appeared by the arrangement of Yoga-māyā, so that for the time being they could stop their activities and take lunch. Changing varieties is the mother of enjoyment. The cowherd boys would continuously play, then stop, and then again enjoy in a different way. Therefore every day a demon would come and interrupt their sporting pastimes. The demon would be killed, and then the boys would engage again in their transcendental pastimes.
The lila sakti of the Lord, seeing that the bliss of the boys from playing was increasing and increasing at ever moment, and was not possible for them to stop playing, and seeing that without stopping playing they could not eat and that the eating time had already passed, and seeing that it was also necessary to kill the demon, brought the Aghasura demon towards the boys, inspiring him through paramatma. Aghasura could not tolerate the fun the boys were having. The playing gave them pleasure, but gave him suffering. The devatas (amaraih), who drank amrta, were afraid of death from the demon, and therefore were waiting for his death ( yad antah). Yad can also refer to the playing and antah can mean in the heart. In that case the meaning would be: Aghasura could not tolerate the playing, which was meditated upon by the devata, which alone gave them desire to maintain their lives (nija jivtepsubhih), though they already drank amrta.
Atha indicates a different topic with a different rasa from the present topic. Agha suddenly came in front of them (abhyapatāt). He could not tolerate seeing their joyful playing. The verb abhūt (existed) should be added. Śrīdhara Svāmī explains. The devatās, though they had drunk nectar, were fearful of death, and thus waited for his weak point (antaḥ), thinking “When and how will he die?” He gives another explanation. Agha could not tolerate the playing which the devatās who had drunk nectar were contemplating in their hearts (antar). Their lives were not fulfilled just by drinking nectar. They were fulfilled by remembering the pastimes of the Lord. Thus they constantly contemplated him. Or, the meaning can be “Even though the devatās were fully absorbed (pīta) in liberation (amṛta), they awaited his death.” They wanted to live long in order see the pastimes of Kṛṣṇa. They were without death (amaraiḥ) because of accepting bodies for pastimes, or their subtle and gross bodies were without destruction. It is said muktā api līlayā vigrahaṁ kṛtvā bhajante: even the liberated accept forms and participate in the pastimes. The devatās were expecting (pratīkṣyate) the pastimes. (Śrīdhara Svāmī’s commentary on Nṛsimha-tāpanī Upaniṣad)
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- What recent interruption — illness, conflict, delay — may have actually been Kṛṣṇa's way of making me stop and 'eat'?
- Where in my life is variety being denied because I refuse to let any interruption land?
Picture a serpent so vast that even those who drink amṛta daily are still afraid — the demigods' immortality does not free them from fear, because fear is not removed by living long but by taking shelter of Kṛṣṇa. The boys playing tag in the previous verses have no nectar and no fear; the devas have nectar and are terrified.
Gajendra, king of elephants (SB 8.2–3), was held by a crocodile for a thousand celestial years. None of his elephant strength, none of the demigods, could free him. Only when he abandoned all hope in his own power and called Bhagavān's name did the Lord arrive on Garuḍa.
Aghāsura is the cosmic crocodile of this chapter. The devas fear him from behind clouds; only Kṛṣṇa's direct intervention removes the threat. Gauḍīyas read both episodes as instances of śaraṇāgati — the rakṣiṣyatīti viśvāsa limb: 'He will surely protect.'
My note
Source: vedabase.io