Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.52.7
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
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mādhavau
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the two Mādhavas (Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma)
Dual form. Mādhava — descendant of Madhu, also 'the Lord of Lakṣmī' (mā = śrī, dhava = husband). Used in the dual because Balarāma and Kṛṣṇa share the title as the two prakāśa of the same Bhagavān-tattva.
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manuṣya-ceṣṭām
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humanlike behavior
Compound: manuṣya (human) + ceṣṭā (gesture, behavior). Technical term for Kṛṣṇa's deliberate imitation of mortal conduct. Gauḍīyas treat it as the door through which devotional rasa enters — without it His pastimes would be too remote to relish.
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āpannau
—
assuming
Past participle dual of ā-√pad. Connotes 'having taken on' a costume or role. The grammar itself signals that the fleeing is donned, not undergone.
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dudruvatuḥ
—
ran away
Perfect dual of √dru (to run). The very verb the Bhāgavatam will use for the gopīs running to Kṛṣṇa in the rāsa līlā — only here the direction is reversed for the sake of the līlā. The vocabulary of motion is the same; only the heart-direction differs.
Seeing the great speed (vega rabhasam) of the enemy troops Krsna and Balarama, assumed the actions of human beings, and quickly fled.
Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma born in Madhu’s dynasty to perform various pastimes, accepting the activities of humans, ran away. Kṛṣṇa joined with Balarāma whom previously he had kept within Mathurā. Viṣṇu Purāṇa says: manuṣya-dharma-śīlasya līlā sā jagatī-pateḥ / astrāṇy aneka-rūpāṇi yad arātiṣu muñcati // manasaiva jagat-sṛṣṭiṁ saṁhāraṁ ca karoti yaḥ / tasyāri-pakṣa-kṣapaṇe kiyān udyama-vistaraḥ // tathāpi yo manuṣyāṇāṁ dharmān tam anuvartate / kurvan balavatā saṁdhiṁ hīnair yuddhaṁ karoty asau // / sāma copapradānaṁ ca tathā bhedaṁ ca darśayan / karoti daṇḍa-pātaṁ ca kvacid eva palāyanam // manuṣya-dehināṁ ceṣṭām ity evam anuvartate / līlā jagat-pates tasya cchandataḥ parivartate // This is the pastime of the Lord of the universe, who has qualities like human beings. He released unlimited weapons on his enemies. He causes creation and destruction of the universe. He is enthusiast to destroy the enemies. He follows the dharmas of human beings. Creating allies with weaker parties, he fights with the strong. He sometimes conciliates and sometimes creates dissension. He sometimes punishes the enemy and sometimes he flees. In this way he follows the actions of humans. The pastimes of the Lord of the universe take place by his will.
- Where do you treat retreat as defeat when it might be Kṛṣṇa's chosen tactic?
- What would running away serve in your current contest?
The two Mādhavas turn and run the way a king might pretend to lose at chess to draw out his opponent's queen — manuṣya-ceṣṭā, the play of imitating mortal behavior, is the costume Bhagavān wears so that the lesson lands in human terms. The flight is the script of His own play.
Throughout the Bhāgavatam Kṛṣṇa repeatedly performs manuṣya-ceṣṭā — eating, sleeping, fleeing, weeping — to make His pastimes accessible to embodied jīvas. SB 10.33.36 says He plays this way to teach by example. Running from Jarāsandha is of the same kind as letting Yaśodā bind Him: ostensible limitation, actual līlā.
This is why Gauḍīyas guard against the impersonalist reflex to apologize for these episodes. The 'flight' is not a blemish on Kṛṣṇa's majesty; it is the very medium of His sweetness.
My note
Source: vedabase.io