Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.44.18
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
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putra - sneha
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affection for one's son
Compound: putra (son) + sneha (affection). Vātsalya-rasa's exact name. The poet specifies the rasa even in the parents' grief — they suffer in the bhāva that makes them His parents.
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śuca - āturau
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afflicted with sorrow
Compound: śuc (grief) + ātura (afflicted, sick). The same -ātura suffix used in the Bhāgavatam for the suffering of conditioned souls. Devakī and Vasudeva, though parents of Bhagavān, taste ordinary śoka — by His arrangement.
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abudhau
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the two who do not know
Dual of a + budh (knowing). Not 'stupid' but 'not knowing' — specifically not knowing the strength (balam) of their sons. Vātsalya-rasa requires this abudhatā; if Yaśodā knew He was Bhagavān, she could not bind Him.
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balam
—
strength
From √bal. Specifically the strength of Bhagavān, which only Bhagavān knows. Cf. verse 41, where Balarāma's strength (the personification of bala) is shown lion-like. Even the parents of Bala-rāma do not know bala.
Naturally, Kṛṣṇa’s parents would lament in this situation, thinking “Why didn’t we keep our sons at home? Why did we allow Them to participate in this corrupt exhibition?”
Krnsa’s parents, that is Vasudeva and Devaki, or the two fathers (pitarau) Vasudeva and Nanda, began to lament. "In departing from Vraja, why did we not instruct Akrura so that he would not bring Krsna and Balarama to the wrestling arena? Why are my sons in this irreligious city? Why were they not confined to my house? " In this way they regretted. Both mother and father were unaware of the strength of their sons. Out of parental affection, this knowledge became covered, and instead they felt remorse. There is the suggestion that this ignorance of their sons’ powers was temporary.
Another version has upaśrutvā. Hearing the words of the women, because they were close (upa) or hearing the words attentively, Vasudeva and Devakī identified themselves as his parents because of parental affection. Because of this, they saw them as their sons. Because of great sorrow they could not understand that their sons had great strength. They were not able to discern their power. They grieved. “Why was Akrūra not instructed from the beginning, when he was about to go to Vraja, so that this would not happen?” They lamented in retrospect. Abudhau can take the genitive or the accusative (balam). It is said kartṛ-karmaṇoḥ kṛti: possessive ending is after a word to demote the agent and the object, when used with a kṛt affix. (Pāṇini 2.3.65) An example is found in Bhaṭti-kavya: dhāyair āmodam uttamam (possessing the highest pleasure). The accusative case is used instead of the possessive.
Another version has upaśrutvā. Hearing the words of the women, because they were close (upa) or hearing the words attentively, Vasudeva and Devakī identified themselves as his parents because of parental affection. Because of this, they saw them as their sons. Because of great sorrow they could not understand that their sons had great strength. They were not able to discern their power. They grieved. “Why was Akrūra not instructed from the beginning, when he was about to go to Vraja, so that this would not happen?” They lamented in retrospect. Abudhau can take the genitive or the accusative (balam). It is said kartṛ-karmaṇoḥ kṛti: possessive ending is used after a word to denote the agent and the object, when used with a kṛt affix. (Pāṇini 2.3.65) An example is found in Bhaṭti-kavya: dhāyair āmodam uttamam (possessing the highest pleasure). The accusative case is used instead of the possessive.
- Whose anxious commentary has caused you to underestimate Kṛṣṇa lately?
- Where does your love for someone mix dangerously with fear about their safety?
Vasudeva and Devakī, hearing the women's fearful description, fall into grief. They are still in chains; they do not know who their sons are. Their śoka is the most precious in the Bhāgavatam — the lament of parents who underestimate Bhagavān because they have loved Him as a son.
In the Dāmodara chapter, mother Yaśodā tries to bind the child Kṛṣṇa with rope; she succeeds only because He consents. She, like Devakī here, does not know His full strength — and that not-knowing is the very texture of vātsalya-rasa.
Gauḍīyas treat Devakī's grief in this verse as a continuation of the same not-knowing. Vasudeva and Devakī know He is special; they do not yet know He is Bhagavān. Their śoka is the precondition of the awe that will arrive in verse 51.
My note
Source: vedabase.io