Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.12.38
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
-
manuja-arbha-māyinaḥ
—
of Him who plays as a human child
Compound: manuja (human) + arbha (child) + māyin (one who wields māyā). Kṛṣṇa's humanity is a deliberate display of His yoga-māyā — not a constraint. Gauḍīyas: Bhagavān is paripūrṇa-tattva; His appearance as child is svecchā-līlā.
-
para-avarāṇām
—
of higher and lower (causes)
Compound: para (higher) + avara (lower). All causes — material and spiritual — proceed from Him. Gauḍīyas: Bhagavān is sarva-kāraṇa-kāraṇam (Brahma-saṁhitā 5.1).
-
yat-sparśana-dhauta-pātakaḥ
—
whose sins were washed away by mere contact with Him
Compound: yat (whose) + sparśana (touch) + dhauta (washed) + pātaka (sin). Touch alone cleansed Aghāsura's sins. Gauḍīyas: this is the doctrinal basis for kṛṣṇa-sparśana — physical and even imagined contact carries purifying power.
-
ātma-sāmyam
—
the form similar to His own
Compound: ātma (self) + sāmya (similarity). The technical term for sārūpya-mukti — one of the five forms of liberation, in which the liberated soul attains a form like the Lord's. Gauḍīyas distinguish sāmya (similarity) from aikya (identity); Aghāsura attains similarity, not Advaitin merger.
-
asatām sudurlabham
—
very difficult for the impure to attain
Compound: asat (impure, non-devotee) + su-durlabha (very rare). The verse stresses how exceptional Aghāsura's gift was. Gauḍīyas: this confirms the verse is not propagating universalism — Aghāsura's liberation is rare, not standard, and is given by Kṛṣṇa's exceptional mercy.
The word māyā is also used in connection with love. Out of māyā, love, a father has affection for his child. Therefore the word māyinaḥ indicates that Kṛṣṇa, out of love, appeared as the son of Nanda Mahārāja and assumed the form of a human child ( manujārbha ). Kṛṣṇa is the cause of all causes. He is the creator of cause and effect, and He is the supreme controller. Nothing is impossible for Him. Therefore, that He enabled even a living being like Aghāsura to attain the salvation of sārūpya-mukti was not at all wonderful for Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa took pleasure in entering the mouth of Aghāsura in a sporting spirit along with His associates. Therefore, when Aghāsura, by that sporting association, as maintained in the spiritual world, was purified of all contamination, he attained sārūpya-mukti and vimukti by the grace of Kṛṣṇa. For Kṛṣṇa this was not at all wonderful.
The human child form of Krsna is his svarupa (manuja mayinah), for maya is well known to mean svarupa in the srutis. He is one who causes by his own free will (vedhasah) and is the supreme form among all the expansions and expansions of expansions (paravaranam). For him it is not remarkable, that Aghasura was purified of all his sins by touching him (or he was purified of his bad odor by touch). This second meaning can be taken because in Putana’s case also her body was freed of bad odor. Because Krsna and his friends used his dead body as a playground it must have been so. He also attained a similar body to Krsna (atma samyam), which was very, very rare for a demon (asatam). Sayujya is rare for the demons, and sarupya is even rarer (su durlabham), as this is reserved for the devotees.
Seeing that some people would be astonished that a greatly sinful person like Agha could get liberation, Śukadeva speaks of the Lord’s power in two verses. Nothing is astonishing for the Lord who is the best among lower and higher creatures, among all aṁśas and aṁśīs since he causes creation (vedhasaḥ). This means that he is the supreme independent being. Because of that, he was most merciful (māyinaḥ) as the son of Nanda (manujārbha). His famous, outstanding characteristic is his mercy in showing informal pastimes without reverence. Therefore this is not astonishing. The word sāmyam is sometimes replaced with sātmyam. Agha had a similar form since without a similar form the soul could not enter into Kṛṣṇa. This was not attainable by sinful people. How could such a great offender to great devotees, the boys of Gokula, get similarity to the Lord? The sinful nature was destroyed by the special power of the touch of the Lord who appears in this world by mercy independently, without considering pure or impure, in order to pay attention to the degraded state of fallen jīvas like Agha. The ātmā was not a demon. The demonic nature is a covering or upādhi. That covering was destroyed. It is not a fault of the Lord to show mercy to his faultless part. Rather it is praiseworthy since the Lord showed the highest mercy in destroying the demonic nature of Agha.
Seeing that some people would be astonished that a greatly sinful person like Agha could get liberation, Śukadeva speaks of the Lord’s power in two verses. The lord is supreme creator (parmasya vedhasaḥ) of lower and higher beings or supreme creator of cause and effect, the supreme creator of all begins in the past and future (parāvarānām). He is the supreme creator because he creates Brahmā and is the cause of all creation. Or he is the best (paramasya) of higher and lower beings because he is their creator. As the supreme lord he is supremely independent. Because of that, he was most merciful (māyinaḥ) as the son of Nanda (manujārbha). Or māyinaḥ can mean he who has wealth or beauty (mā), he who displays his unlimited wealth. Or he is merciful (māyinaḥ) to the cowherd boys (manujārbha). As a cowherd he displays his powers as the Lord. Therefore this pastime is not astonishing. ātmā-sātmyam means he attained the same form as brahma (ātmā), nirvāṇa. Another version with ātma-sāmyam means he became situated in his svarūpa. That is stated in the Second Canto. Muktir hitvānyathā-rūpaṁ svarūpeṇa vyavsthitih: liberation means giving up false forms and being situated in one’s svarūpa. (SB .10.6) He attained what was most rare for demons. “How could this happen for a person who offended the great devotees of Gokula?” He was purified by the touch of the Lord. By the special power of the Lord’s touch his great offense (pātakaḥ) was destroyed.
- NRM SB 10-12-38-44 13-01-11
- Govinda Pr SB 10-12-38 - Krishna Consciousness means being Broad Minded - 2012-09-16 ISKCON Chowpatty
- Radhe Shyam Pr SB 10-12-38 Hindi - 2011-08-13 ISKCON Juhu
- Sarvabhauma Pr Hindi SB 10-12-38 - ISKCON Jhansi
- Sarvabhauma Pr Hindi SB 10-12-38 - 2021
- Sarvabhauma Pr SB 10-12-38 - 2021-10-09 ISKCON Vrindavan
- Amal Bhakta Sw SB 10-12-38 - 2017-04-27 Los Angeles
- DMS SB 10-12-38 - The Killing Of Aghasura
- 05 - RGS SB 10-12-38 10-13-02 Hindi - Aghasur Uddhar Leela-Morning Day-03 - 2014 Haridwar
- Whom in my life have I quietly placed beyond the reach of Kṛṣṇa's mercy?
- How would my speech and prayers change if I really believed His grace can reach the worst miscreant?
Picture a king walking into a slum and one of the slum-thieves accidentally brushing his sleeve — and the thief, instantly, becoming the king's personal companion. Aghāsura was a murderer; he ends with sārūpya — a body in the form of the Lord's own. Kṛṣṇa's mercy does not weigh credentials; it weighs contact.
Ajāmila (SB 6.1–3) was a fallen brāhmaṇa, a thief and adulterer. At death he called out 'Nārāyaṇa' — only because that was the name of his youngest son. Yet the Viṣṇu-dūtas came and stopped the Yamadūtas; Ajāmila was given a chance for full bhakti and ultimately attained the Lord's abode.
Gauḍīyas pair Ajāmila with Aghāsura: both attained liberation through accidental, unintended contact with Bhagavān. The Bhāgavatam systematically teaches that Kṛṣṇa's name and form are independently potent — they liberate whoever they touch, intent notwithstanding.
My note
Source: vedabase.io