FolioCorpusBhagavad-gītā

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.19.12

తథేతి మీలితాక్షేషు భగవానగ్నిముల్బణమ్ । పీత్వా ముఖేన తాన్కృచ్ఛ్రాద్ యోగాధీశో వ్యమోచయత్ ॥ ౧౨ ॥
tatheti mīlitākṣeṣu
[tatheti meelitaaksheshu]
bhagavān agnim ulbaṇam
[bhagavaan agnim ulbanam]
pītvā mukhena tān kṛcchrād
[peetvaa mukhena taan krichchraad]
yogādhīśo vyamocayat
[yogaadheesho vyamochayat]
tathā — all right iti — thus speaking mīlita — closing akṣeṣu — their eyes bhagavān — the Supreme Lord agnim — the fire ulbaṇam — terrible pītvā — drinking mukhena — with His mouth tān — them kṛcchrāt — from the danger yoga - adhīśaḥ — the supreme controller of all mystic power vyamocayat — delivered .
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
tatheti mīlitākṣeṣu
tathā
all right
iti
thus speaking
mīlita
closing
akṣeṣu
their eyes
bhagavān agnim ulbaṇam
bhagavān
the Supreme Lord
agnim
the fire
ulbaṇam
terrible
pītvā mukhena tān kṛcchrād
pītvā
drinking
mukhena
with His mouth
tān
them
kṛcchrāt
from the danger
yogādhīśo vyamocayat
yoga - adhīśaḥ
the supreme controller of all mystic power
vyamocayat
delivered .
  • mīlita-akṣeṣu — their eyes closed
    Compound: mīlita (closed) + akṣa (eye). The boys' obedience is total: a one-word instruction, immediate compliance. Gauḍīyas read this as the model speed of śaraṇāgati — no negotiation, no delay.
  • agnim-ulbaṇam — the terrible fire
    Noun-adjective pair: agni (fire) + ulbaṇa (terrible). Not a poetic fire but the real, raging Iṣīkāṭavī blaze. The horror is preserved so that the rescue is not abstract.
  • pītvā — drinking, having drunk
    Gerund of √pā (to drink). Kṛṣṇa does not extinguish the fire from outside — He drinks it. The same verb is used of the gopīs drinking the nectar of His face. The Bhāgavatam's vocabulary is consistent: in Vraja, the highest action is drinking.
  • yoga-adhīśaḥ — the supreme controller of all mystic power
    Compound: yoga (mystic power) + adhīśa (supreme controller). The title appears precisely at the moment of the miracle. The Gītā's yogeśvara (BG 18.78) and the Bhāgavatam's yoga-adhīśa are the same Person — and Vraja is His native ground, not an exception to His sovereignty.
  • vyamocayat — He delivered, He freed
    Causative of vi + √muc — caused to be released. The same verbal root as mukti. Vraja's surface narrative — saving boys from a fire — is the Bhāgavatam's inner narrative — Bhagavān releasing the surrendered from saṁsāra.
“All right,” the boys replied, and immediately closed their eyes. Then the Supreme Lord, the master of all mystic power, opened His mouth and swallowed the terrible fire, saving His friends from danger.

The cowherd boys were suffering from extreme fatigue, hunger and thirst, and were about to be consumed by a horrible forest fire. All this is indicated here by the word kṛcchrāt.

— A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda
Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura Gauḍīya
Translation
"All right," the boys replied, and immediately closed their eyes. Then the Supreme Lord, the master of all mystic power, opened His mouth and swallowed the terrible fire, saving His friends from danger.
Commentary

"Friends! Krsna knows everything about the powers of jewels and mantras to take away the effects of poison and fire. But the methods are not effective in everyone’s presence. Therefore, if you close your eyes he will be alone. That is why he is telling us to close our eyes." The boys then agree. Bhagavan here indicates that Krsna was full of all great powers. Thought the fire was fierce he could swallow it. There is one story. Krsna was thirsty. The fire, unable to do anything against the will of Krsna, and being afraid, turned into very cool fragrant drink. It became a small drop on Krsna’s tender hand, and then as yogadisa, he drank it. Some say that yogamaya appeared at this time and she herself took it from his hand and drank it, but this interpretation gives sorrow to the real devotee. Yoga means yoga maya and adisa means the master. Krsna is the master of yoga maya. Therefore Krsna drank the fire in his mouth. Another meaning of mukha is method. Krsna drank the fire by some method. What method? As he is yogadhisa, he used yoga, his aisvarya sakti. By that means he drank the fire. Krsna delivered the boys from all difficulties (krscchra)-- from fatigue and thirst from entering the dense forest. He did this by immediately bringing them to the base of the bhandira tree. "O friends! You can open your eyes now. I have prevented the fire." The boys could understand they and the cows had been saved when they opened their eyes and were astonished.

Jīva Gosvāmī Gauḍīya
Commentary

Having said (iti) “Yes we agree (tathā)” they closed their eyes. “How could he swallow such a fire with his mouth?” He is the master of inconceivable powers (yogādhiśaḥ)--by his power the fire became like dope of a sweet beverage. He freed the boys from danger in a special way (vi -amocayat), since he brought them to Bhāṇḍīra.

Related values
Anahankarah (Freedom from False Ego)
Related verses
Concepts
YogaJiva

The boys say "all right" and close their eyes; Kṛṣṇa opens His mouth and drinks the fire. The mouth that the gopīs feed with butter, that Yaśodā saw the universes in, here swallows the saṁsāra-fire whole. This is yoga-adhīśvara in one gesture: the master of all mystic power dispatches a cosmic emergency between two blinks.

Kṛṣṇa swallowing the fire again

Later, in SB 10.20–24, Kṛṣṇa will perform the same protection in a different forest under different conditions. The Bhāgavatam keeps returning to this image because Vraja's whole theology of saṁsāra-protection rests on it: the Lord's mouth is large enough for any fire.

Gauḍīyas connect it forward to Caitanya Mahāprabhu's mouth in saṅkīrtana — the same mouth that drank the dāva-fire is the mouth that, as Gaurāṅga, drinks the saṁsāra-fire of Kali-yuga through the holy name.

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