Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.19.14
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
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yoga-vīryam
—
the mystic power
Compound: yoga (mystic union, power) + vīrya (potency). Kṛṣṇa's vīrya — His specific power — is here labeled yoga-vīrya. The Gītā's vibhūti-yoga elaborates the same category.
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yoga-māyā
—
His internal power of illusion
Compound: yoga + māyā. Crucial Gauḍīya distinction: yoga-māyā is Kṛṣṇa's internal potency that arranges and protects His līlās, opposite of mahā-māyā which deludes conditioned souls. Here yoga-māyā lets the sakhās keep mistaking Him for a peer.
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anubhāvitam
—
effected
Past participle of anu + √bhū with causal force — brought about. The miracle is anubhāvita — accomplished — by yoga-māyā. Vraja's miracles are not random; they are crafted by His own internal power.
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kṣemam
—
the deliverance, the welfare
From √kṣi (to abide, dwell safely). Kṣema is the Gītā's word for what Kṛṣṇa promises to His bhakta (yoga-kṣemaṁ vahāmy aham, BG 9.22). The Bhāgavatam narrates the promise being kept.
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amaram
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a demigod
Literally "deathless one" — a deva. The boys think Kṛṣṇa is one of these. Gauḍīyas savor the irony: He is the source of all amaras (SB 1.3.28), not one among them. Their mistake is the rasa's protection.
The cowherd boys of Vṛndāvana simply loved Kṛṣṇa as their only friend and exclusive object of devotion. To increase their ecstasy, Kṛṣṇa displayed to them His mystic potency and saved them from a terrible forest fire. The cowherd boys could never give up their ecstatic loving friendship with Kṛṣṇa. Therefore, rather than considering Kṛṣṇa to be God, after they saw His extraordinary power they thought that perhaps He was a demigod. But since Lord Kṛṣṇa was their beloved friend, they were on the same level with Him, and thus they thought that they too must be demigods. In this way Kṛṣṇa’s cowherd friends became overwhelmed with ecstasy.
This verse shows that though they had seen Krsna’s power, that knowledge could not be cover the strength of their sakhya prema, as was the case of Arjuna and others. Yogavirya means power to attain or achieve extraordinary things. The extraordinary thing was getting saved. This power arose through the instruction of yogamaya (yogamaya anubhavita). Seeing the power of Krsna to save them, accomplished through his yogamaya sakti, they thought Krsna was a type of deva (amara). Even that realization was slightly informal, for the boys thought, "because Krsna has done things humans cannot do, he must be a deva, not a human. Because we are his friends, we must also be devas. How could we be friends if we are not similar?" Thinking like this, they were overwhelmed with bliss.
Previously it was said: itthaṁ satāṁ brahma-sukhānubhūtyā dāsyaṁ gatānāṁ para-daivatena māyāśritānāṁ nara-dārakeṇa sākaṁ vijahruḥ kṛta-puṇya-puñjāḥ In this way with an abundance of splendor caused by Kṛṣṇa, they played with him, though he is pure consciousness or happiness known as Brahman for the jñānīs, is the Supreme Lord for the devotees with dāsya-bhāva and is an ordinary human child for those covered by material illusion. SB 10.12.11 Knowledge of Kṛṣṇa’s powers could not cover up the cowherd boys’ pure friendship with Kṛṣṇa, which is praised by all. However some little knowledge of his powers arose at this time. His power was revealed (anubhāvitam) by his natural inconceivable power, yoga-māyā. Viśva-prakāśa says that yoga means that which produces the extraordinary. The boys reflected on his powers which were revealed by yoga-māyā and then thought he was a special devatā. What was his power? He had rescued them from the forest fire. He had done what was auspicious (kṣemam). Or the boys then considered that because of Kṛṣṇa they did not die (amaram). “We will not be separated from Kṛṣṇa on account of dying if we surrender to him.”
Seeing the greatness (vīryam) of his power (yoga), the boys thought. To refute the idea that this power was illusory it is said that this power was produced (anubhāvitam) by a special śakti of eternity knowledge and bliss (yoga-māyā). The material māyā was insignificant for the boys who were also eternity, knowledge and bliss. What was the power? They were saved from the forest fire so that they could play with Kṛṣṇa in Vṛndāvana for a long time. They thought he was a person for whom there is no death (amaram). By surrendering to him we will never die from separation.
- Where is my devotion drifting more toward awe than friendship?
- Could I love Kṛṣṇa more as a friend even after seeing His God-like acts, instead of less?
The boys, seeing themselves saved by Kṛṣṇa's mystic power, conclude that He must be a demigod — and that very mis-conclusion is the genius of Vraja-rasa. Sakhya is preserved by precisely such forgetfulness: if they remembered Him fully as Bhagavān, the play would collapse into formal worship. Yoga-māyā keeps the rasa intact.
When Yaśodā saw the universes inside Kṛṣṇa's mouth in SB 10.8, she nearly broke into aiśvarya-awe — and Kṛṣṇa, through yoga-māyā, made her forget. She picked Him up as her child again and the vātsalya-līlā continued.
The boys' demigod-thought here is the sakhya parallel. Yoga-māyā is not deception but the protective veil that lets the rasas of Vraja stay what they are.
My note
Source: vedabase.io