• vatsān — the calves
  Accusative plural of vatsa — calf. Kṛṣṇa is vatsa-pāla, the calf-keeper. The Bhāgavatam returns repeatedly to His calf-tending because it locates the Supreme Being inside the smallest, dustiest sevā of Vraja.
• sarāmaḥ — together with Lord Balarāma
  Saha (with) + Rāma (Balarāma). The two brothers are rarely apart in Vraja. Gauḻīyas treat Balarāma as Kṛṣṇa's first expansion (saṅkarṣaṇa), the source of all gurus — sevā to Kṛṣṇa is always sevā through Balarāma.
• bālakaiḥ — by the cowherd boys
  Instrumental plural of bālaka. The sakhā-companions — eternal associates in sakhya-rasa. Their presence in every demon-killing locates the deed inside friendship, not solo heroism.
• bakam — the demon Baka
  Accusative of Baka (heron). The crane-form is significant — pretending innocence (a wading bird among the calves) while concealing predation. Gauḻīya śāstra warns that the dangerous asura is the one who looks harmless.
• apāṭayat — tore apart
  Causative imperfect of √paṭ — to split. Same root as paṭana, the splitting of bondage. The verse's verb prefigures liberation: Baka's beak split is also his karma's bondage split.

A heron-shaped giant swoops to swallow a boy whole — and finds, mid-gulp, that the throat has become a torch. Kṛṣṇa lets Bakāsura close the mouth on Him precisely so He can split that mouth open, the way light splits the dark by entering it.