• ābhicāra-dahanam — the fire created by the abhicāra ritual
  Compound: abhicāra + dahana (burner). The technical name for the conjured fire-being. Gauḍīyas note: the Bhāgavata gives the kṛtyā this exact label so that the reader cannot mistake it for ordinary agni; it is a specific class of conjured retributive fire.
• tatrasuḥ — became frightened
  Perfect plural of √tras (to tremble). Collective fear. Gauḍīyas note that the residents of Dvārakā — Kṛṣṇa's own people — are still subject to fear when not directly meditating on Him; the verse models the human ordinary, not the perfected. The next verses will show what to do with fear.
• vana-dāhe — when there is a forest fire
  Compound locative: vana (forest) + dāha (burning). The classic Bhāgavata simile, used also of Kṛṣṇa swallowing the forest fire in SB 10.19. Gauḍīyas read the simile across the chapters: in 10.19 He extinguished the fire by His own mouth; in 10.66 He will extinguish a darker fire by His own disc.
• mṛgāḥ — animals
  Plural of mṛga (forest-dwelling animal). The image is gentle: the residents of Dvārakā are likened to deer, not to soldiers. Gauḍīyas note: in the Lord's eyes, His people are pasubhāvana — creatures to be sheltered — even when they are warriors in title.

• When fear arises, do I turn toward Kṛṣṇa or away from Him?
• What recent fear could I let become a moment of refuge?

Animals in a forest hear the crackle of fire long before they see the flames; they bolt in every direction. Dvārakā's citizens, hearing the kṛtyā approach, are no different — the body knows fire even when the mind has never named it.