Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.45.12
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
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mātāmaham
—
His maternal grandfather
Mātāmaha = mother's father. Kṛṣṇa's installation of Ugrasena specifically — Devakī's father, the wronged elder Kaṁsa had imprisoned — is restorative justice in family terms first, political terms second.
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ugrasenam
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Ugrasena
The name means 'of fierce army.' Kaṁsa's father, deposed by his own son. Restoring him is undoing Kaṁsa's primordial sin (parricide-in-effect) at its root.
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yadūnām
—
of the Yadus
The Yadu clan — Kṛṣṇa's vaṁśa. Kṛṣṇa's first political act after Kaṁsa's death is to make the Yadus a community with a head again, restoring the prajā-pālana that Kaṁsa had destroyed.
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devakī - sutaḥ
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the son of Devakī
Kṛṣṇa is named by His mother's family in the very verse where He restores His mother's father. The vocabulary tracks the rasa: this is a daughter's-son-as-vindicator scene.
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akarot
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He made (king)
Aorist of √kṛ — He performed the kingmaking. The Lord of all in active third-person performing rāja-sūya-tattva for someone else.
Krsna’s comforting Vasudeva and Devaki occurred out of the sight of Nanda. "My son tired from the fight, has retired to the inner chambers where Vasudeva and others, in great bliss, are feeding him out of affection. Since he has gone there, I will go to my own rooms since I have no fear for my son’s safety now." Saying that he went to his rooms, and therefore did not see the exchange between Krsna and Devaki and Vasudeva.
Ugrasena was qualified to be the king of the Yadus because he should be respected, being a maternal grandfather, and because he should be respected for his relation with his parents. The word tu indicates his main aim in doing this: his desire to return to Gokula. In Hari-vaṁśa Kṛṣṇa speaks to Ugrasena: ahaṁ sa eva go-madhye gopaiḥ saha vanecaraḥ / prītimān vicariṣyāmi kāmacārī yathā gajaḥ // etāvac chataśo 'py evaṁ satyena prabravīmi te / na me kāryaṁ nṛpatvena vijñāpyaṁ kriyatām idam // bhavān rajas tu me mānyo yadūnām agraṇīḥ prabhuḥ / vijayāyābhiṣicyasva svarājye rājasattama With great affection I wander at will like an elephant among the cows along with the cowherds in Vṛndāvana. I say to you a hundred times that, in truth, I do not want to be the king. Announce this publicly. I consider that you, the best of the Yadus, should be the king and master. Best of kings! You should be consecrated in your kingdom. Kṛṣṇa made Ugrasena the king, but not as he was before, since this was done by Bhagavān: he who can do nor not do, or do otherwise. Because of the Lord’s affection for his devotee, the curse of Yayāti-- that Yadus should not be kings-- was not considered relevant. Thus previous kingship in the Yadu dynasty was actually imaginary. Ugrasena was made king after freeing him from prison. This was explained at the end of the first chapter. Viṣṇu Purāṇa says: ugrasenaṁ tato bandhān mumoca madhusūdanaḥ / abhyasiṁcat tadaivainaṁ nija-rājye hatātmajam // Kṛṣṇa freed Ugrasena from his bondage and consecrated him in his kingdom now that his son was dead. Hari-vaṁśa describes Ugrasena lamenting from Kaṁsa’s death, but it should be understood that his lamentation was only customary. This is not even considered by Śukadeva. Other facts in Hari-vamśa such as Vasudeva not being imprisoned are narrations from different kalpas.
- Where do you move to restructure things before you have comforted the people involved?
- Whom in your 'extended family' deserves to be installed in their proper position?
Kṛṣṇa installs His maternal grandfather Ugrasena as king the way a son who has come home for the festival hands the lamp to the elder before sitting down. Bhagavān will not Himself take Mathurā's throne — He restores it to the rightful elder and stands beside as servant.
Across the Bhāgavatam, Kṛṣṇa systematically refuses kingship for Himself: He installs Ugrasena here, Yudhiṣṭhira at Indraprastha after the rājasūya (SB 10.74), and serves as Pārtha-sārathi at Kurukṣetra. The throne He is content with is the chariot-seat, the lap, the kuñja.
Gauḍīyas read this as the structural humility of Bhagavān: He is the Lord of all, but His līlā-form refuses public symbols of lordship. The svayam-bhagavān walks the earth as son, sārathi, sakhā, lover — never as crowned monarch.
My note
Source: vedabase.io