He stopped the music which he had commissioned (sva-tūryānī), not the devatā music which he could not stop since he had lost his powers now. Or he could not stop the music which played by itself. Sometimes sa is seen instead of sva. Viṣṇu Purāṇa explains that the music stopped previously. bala-kṣayaṁ vivṛddhiṁ ca dṛṣṭvā cāṇūra-kṛṣṇayoḥ / vārayāmāsa tūryāṇi kaṁsaḥ kopa-parāyaṇaḥ // mṛdaṅgādiṣu tūryeṣu pratiṣiddheṣu tat-kṣaṇāt / khe saṁgatāny avādyanta deva-tūryāṇy anekaśaḥ // jaya govinda cāṇūraṁ jahi keśava dānavam / antardhānagatā devās tam ūcur atiharṣitāḥ // Seeing the destruction of Cāṇūra’ strength and the increase of Kṛṣṇa’s strength, Kaṁsa, full of anger stopped the music. When the mṛdaṅgas and other instruments stopped, at that moment in the sky the devatas’ many instruments began to sound together. The devatās spoke in joy in the sky “Victory to Govinda! Keśava! Kill the demon Cāṇūra.” Hari-vaṁśa says: tataḥ prasvinna-vadanaḥ kṛṣṇa-praṇihitekṣaṇaḥ / nyavārayata tūryāṇi kaṁsaḥ savyena pāṇinā // With sweating face, Kaṁsa glared at Kṛṣṇa and stopped the music with his left hand. svayam eva pravādyanta tūryaghoṣāś ca sarvaśaḥ All the instruments began playing on their own. This means music again sounded though Kaṁsa stopped it. He stopped it on the pretext of speaking so that his words could be heard. He spoke clearly (ha). Kaṁsa was king of some people of the Bhoja dynasty, a branch of the Yadus, but now, everyone held him in disrespect.

His best wrestlers had been killed. Others had quickly fled in fear far away. He stopped his instruments but could not stop the heavenly instruments, according to Viṣṇu Purāṇa. Or according to Śukadeva, the devatās out of fear of Kaṁsa did not have instruments. Kaṁsa alone had instruments to inspire his wrestlers with a desire for victory. Because his desire was thwarted, he stopped the music. He revealed his wicked nature by his words. He spoke clearly (ha) so that everyone could hear his instructions. Actually he spoke with internal suffering. He informed the Bhojas who were his followers. He ruled because of some portion of the Yadus called Bhojas (bhoja-rāṭ).