Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.41.1
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
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bhagavān
—
the Supreme Lord
Parāśara's six aiśvaryas (Viṣṇu Purāṇa 6.5.47) — wealth, strength, fame, beauty, knowledge, renunciation — fully present. Gauḍīyas read bhagavān here as Kṛṣṇa svayaṁ, not a partial expansion (kṛṣṇas tu bhagavān svayam, SB 1.3.28).
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darśayitvā
—
having shown
Causative absolutive of √dṛś. The vision was actively granted, not stumbled upon — a deliberate gift to Akrūra's bhāva. Darśana in Gauḍīya use is always relational: Bhagavān shows Himself to the eye He chooses.
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samāharat
—
He withdrew
Imperfect of saṁ + √hṛ — to gather back, fold up. The same verb-field used for an actor packing his costume. The Lord's līlā-rūpas are not metaphysical illusions but real forms He controls absolutely.
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naṭaḥ
—
an actor
Vyāsa's chosen image: Bhagavān as nartaka. Caitanya-line ācāryas (Viśvanātha) read this carefully — the analogy concerns sovereign control over the play, not unreality of the role. Every līlā is fully real and fully chosen.
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ātmanaḥ
—
his own
Genitive of ātman. The actor winds up his own performance — the Lord owns His forms. No outside script binds Him; aiśvarya-darśana and Vraja-līlā alike are svecchā-mayī.
Lord Kṛṣṇa withdrew from Akrūra’s sight the Viṣṇu form along with the vision of the spiritual sky and its eternal inhabitants.
In the forty first chapter, Krsna goes to see Mathura, and attracts all the women there. He kills Kamsa’s washerman and bestows boons to the weaver and the garland maker named Sudama. Having shown Akrura his remarkable form in the water, he made that form disappear without asking Akrura. The disregard for Akrura is expressed by the use of the sixth case (tasya) instead of the second case (tam). Just as the players give up their costumes at the conclusion of a play, Krsna, after showing the eternal objects of Vaikuntha within the water, made that scene disappear. Krsna, seeing the astonishment on Akrura’s face and in his eyes, asked him, "It appears that you must have seen something very astonishing, for your eyes are wide with wonder and full of tears."
Stuvatas tasya in the genitive case indicates that Kṛṣṇa was not much attracted to the prayers. Thus, without asking Akrūra he withdrew that form, as quickly as an actor sheds his costume after a play. But this form he was Kṛṣṇa’s own (ātmanaḥ) body, an eternal form.
As Akrūra offered prayers, Kṛṣṇa then (bhuyaḥ) made the form disappear. Genitive case indicates disinterest on the part of Kṛṣṇa. Or having showed the form in the water explicitly (bhuyaḥ) he showed the form since he was bhagavān, full of all powers. This was one of his powers. He withdrew the form since he was fond of fun (kṛṣṇaḥ) or attracted to his devotee by his affection. Otherwise he could not accomplish bliss in realizing his sweetness. He showed and withdrew the form by himself, easily (ātmanaḥ). The form was non-different from himself. He was like an actor who shows many forms. This indicates that the form shown was not his only form. It arose from Kṛṣṇa.
- SB 10-41-01 10-41-52 - Krsna and Balarama Enter Mathura - Gauranga Darshan Prabhu 2016-08-24
- NRM SB 10-41-01-29
- Gauranga Darshan Pr SB 10-41-01 10-41-52 - Krsna and Balarama Enter Mathura - 2016-08-24
- Vijaya Pr SB 10-41-01-17 - Dallas
- Bhakti Marg Sw SB 10-41-01 - 2014-04-29 ISKCON Alachua
- Bhanu Sw SB 10-41-01-17 - Akrura glorifying Krsna%27s supremacy on the way Mathura - ISKCON Chennai
- 01 - RGS SB 10-41-01-52 - Kamsa Vadh-Krishna and Balaram Enter Mathura - 2011-04-11 Charkop Kandivali
- 01 - RGS SB 10-41-01-18 - Mathura Lila-01 - 2008 Haridwar
- 01 - RGS SB 10-41-01-30 - Krishna ka Mathura mai Pravesh-01 - Chicago
- When have you clung to a peak experience after Kṛṣṇa was already 'closing the curtain'?
- How does seeing experiences as His performance change your grip on them?
Like an actor who lowers the curtain the moment his role is done, Kṛṣṇa folds away the four-armed Nārāyaṇa-darśana in the Yamunā the instant Akrūra's stuti is complete. The form was not illusion — it was a precise gift, opened only for the eye that prayed.
When Brahmā stole the calves and boys in SB 10.13, Kṛṣṇa expanded into millions of cowherds and calves identical to the originals. After a full year, He withdrew the entire display in a single moment and showed Brahmā the four-armed Viṣṇu-forms of each.
The same poet-grammar is at work here: the Lord opens aiśvarya-darśana to a specific devotee at a specific moment, then closes it without trace. Bhagavān is the actor; the līlā is the play; the curtain is His will.
My note
Source: vedabase.io