Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.39.21
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
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akrūra - samākhyayā
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with the name 'Akrūra' (the non-cruel)
Wordplay on the man's name. The Bhāgavata loves this device — Pūtanā ('purifier') who killed children, Bakāsura ('the crane') who swallowed gods. Here Akrūra's gentle name is set against his apparently cruel mission.
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krūraḥ
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cruel
Direct negation of his name. The gopīs are not name-calling but exposing what they perceive as cosmic mislabeling — providence has misnamed its own agent.
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madhudviṣaḥ
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of Madhudviṣ (Kṛṣṇa, enemy of the demon Madhu)
Kṛṣṇa is called 'enemy of Madhu' — pointing toward Mathurā, the city named for that demon. The very epithet that explains why He must leave is the one that names His destination.
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akhila - sarga - sauṣṭhavam
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the excellence of the entire creation
Stunning claim: in one feature of His form the gopīs see the perfection of all sṛṣṭi. This is rasa-śāstra's premise — Kṛṣṇa's vigraha contains all aiśvarya, mādhurya, and the whole created order in concentrated form.
The gopīs did not care to see anything but Kṛṣṇa; therefore if Kṛṣṇa left Vṛndāvana, their eyes would have no function. Thus Kṛṣṇa’s departure was blinding these poor girls, and in their distress they berated Akrūra, whose name means “not cruel,” as cruel indeed.
"Akrura is taking him to Mathura, not I." "Though you are cruel (krura), you have come with a name of opposite meaning (akrura). No one except you could do such cruel work, giving and then taking back from us our eyes. " "You are complaining that I, like a person ignorant of sin and piety who takes back what he has given, I have done the same. But I have come to take Krsna, so why do you speak about your eyes?" "Because we will become blind without Krsna, when you take Krsna, you also take our eyes. What will we do with these eyes which have seen the pinnacle of all beauty in the face and eyes of Madhusudana? Therefore we will become blind."
Certainly (hi) you have stolen him. Bata indicates lamentation. Viṣṇu Purāṇa says: aho gopī-janasyāsya darśayitvā mahā-indhim utkṛttāny adya netrāṇi vidhātrā karuṇātmanā Having shown the one great treasure to the gopīs, the merciful creator has torn out their eyes today. This is like a person who does not know sin and piety, who takes back what he has given. Though you are omniscient you act like a fool. Since you end up by giving us the greatest suffering this is more sinful than doing an act in ignorance. How did you steal our eyes? By those eyes we saw the pinnacle of all beauty in your creation, in one particle of Kṛṣṇa. We saw in a portion of a portion of the ocean of beauty of his eyes and face the perfection of the beauty of the lotus and moon. Since our eyes have no taste for any other object, by taking him, you have taken our eyes as well. Madhudviṣaḥ (killer of sweetness) here indicates that his sweetness makes all sweetness derived from material objects or liberation useless. He is endowed with all qualities since he is “like Nārāyaṇa.” Or he takes away (dveṣṭi) the sweetness of liberation and material enjoyment (madhu) from his devotees. Or, he is the hater (dviṣaḥ) or Kaṁsa who is called madhu since he was the king of Madhupuri (Mathurā) and was thus equivalent to the city. If he kills Kaṁsa and attains the kingdom, he will not come back here.
- Whose name in your life ironically contradicts their actions?
- Where might your own role be undoing the meaning of your name or title?
Like a thief who calls himself 'the kind one' as he carries off the lamp — the gopīs play savagely on Akrūra's name: a-krūra means 'not-cruel,' yet here he is the very embodiment of krūratā. They charge him with taking back the eyes through which the Creator's whole craftsmanship was first seen.
My note
Source: vedabase.io