Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.6.31
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
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vismitāḥ
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struck with wonder
Nominative plural past participle of vi-smi (to be amazed). Bhāgavata's signature emotion at the līlā: vismaya, the speechless astonishment that precedes faith. Gauḍīya rasa-vicāra lists adbhuta-rasa as a vyabhicāri-bhāva supporting all primary rasas — wonder underwrites every loving response.
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pūtanā - deham
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the (gigantic) body of Pūtanā
Compound — Pūtanā + deha (body) + accusative. The leftover of māyā after Kṛṣṇa has acted. Bhāgavata is unsentimental: His mercy leaves visible wreckage, and the devotee does not pretend the wreckage is not there.
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nanda - ādayaḥ
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headed by Nanda Mahārāja
Compound — Nanda + ādi (etc.). Nanda is named first because as gopa-rāja he is the responsible elder. The verse maintains the social order even at the moment of cosmic wonder.
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mathurāyāḥ
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from Mathurā
Ablative of Mathurā. The trip was business — taxes, perhaps offerings — at Kaṁsa's capital. Bhāgavata-tattva note: ordinary commerce was running in Mathurā while in Vraja the Lord was slaying His first demon. Kṛṣṇa's līlā moves on a separate timeline from the world's news cycle.
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vrajam
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to Vṛndāvana / Vraja
Accusative — to Vraja. The verse's geography is precise: Mathurā outward, Vraja inward. Gauḍīya tīrtha-vicāra makes much of this — Mathurā is great, but Vraja (Goloka's manifestation) is greater.
Nanda Mahārāja’s wonder may be understood in various ways. First of all, the cowherd men had never before seen such a gigantic body in Vṛndāvana, and therefore they were struck with wonder. Then they began to consider where such a body had come from, whether it had dropped from the sky, or whether, by some mistake or by the power of some mystic yoginī, they had come to some place other than Vṛndāvana. They could not actually guess what had happened, and therefore they were struck with wonder.
The cowherd men were astonished. Perhaps by mistake, a mountain with unclipped wings fell from the sky and crushed all the huge trees. Perhaps, under the spell of some witch we have come to the wrong place. Or perhaps this is just a magical illusion. In this way many doubts arose in their minds.
The cowherds returned quickly to Vraja. That was mentioned. Coming from Mathurā they came within sight of Vraja. From afar they thought Pūtanā might be a mountain. They imagined various things since at a distance they could see the body properly. They were astonished because Vasudeva’s words about disturbance had come true.
- Notice one disaster Kṛṣṇa quietly averted while you were elsewhere today, and name it aloud as His protection rather than your luck.
- When you encounter the 'gigantic corpse' of a problem already resolved without you, refuse the impulse to credit chance — sit with the wonder and offer thanks.
- Speak to one family member tonight about a danger Kṛṣṇa removed from your household, so the wonder of Nanda Mahārāja becomes shared kṛtajñatā, not private sentiment.
Nanda's party returning from Mathurā to find the twelve-mile corpse of Pūtanā lying across the pasture is the householder who comes home from a business trip to find a great oak felled in his garden — he did not chop it, no storm was reported, and the trunk still steams. So we sometimes return to our lives and discover that Kṛṣṇa, while we were elsewhere, has quietly removed what we did not even know was there.
When Aśvatthāmā unleashed the brahmāstra against the womb of Uttarā, Kṛṣṇa personally entered to protect the embryo Parīkṣit (SB 1.7–8, 1.12). The Pāṇḍavas, who had been managing the larger war's aftermath, learned only later what had been averted in their absence.
Nanda's wonder in 10.6.31 is the householder version of the Pāṇḍava arc: come back from your Mathurā-trip, count the disasters Kṛṣṇa quietly disarmed while you were busy, and let the wonder become kṛtajñatā, not luck.
My note
Source: vedabase.io