Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.64.4
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
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carma - jaiḥ
—
made of leather
Carma (hide) + ja (born of). The hardest, toughest thongs the kṣatriya household uses for binding animals — and they are still not enough. The poet is showing the exhaustion of human method.
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tāntavaiḥ
—
made of spun thread
From tantu (thread). The other extreme — fine woven ropes braided strong. Neither extreme works. Gauḍīyas read this as the kṛpaṇa's failure: every kind of self-effort proves insufficient before a fall caused by aparādha.
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na aśaknuran samuddhartum
—
they were not able to lift him out
Sam-ud-√hṛ (to lift up completely). Same root cluster that names the act of deliverance (uddhāra) throughout the Bhāgavatam — Gajendra-uddhāra, jīva-uddhāra. The Yadus cannot perform it; only Bhagavān can.
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kṛṣṇāya ācakhyuḥ
—
they reported to Kṛṣṇa
The first right step. Gauḍīya śaraṇāgati begins exactly here — exhaust your own ropes, then go to Kṛṣṇa. Rūpa Gosvāmī lists this surrender (ātma-nikṣepa) among the six limbs of śaraṇāgati.
Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī explains that because in this chapter the Yadu boys, even Śrī Pradyumna, are described as quite young, this must be an early pastime.
Tying the lizard with ropes made of leather and threads, they could not lift the lizard out.
This verse describes their actions. The lizard was fallen (patitam) because it attained a lizard body by sin. They could not take it out since they were boys. Since they were children they did not yet have bold character. Sometimes tam uddartum is seen instead of samuddartum.
This verse describes their actions. Being compassionate, they first tried surrounding it with leather ropes. Being children they thought the lizard had fallen into the well or that the lizard had come and purposely fallen in the well so that they could deliver it, or that it had fallen from Svarga with a lizard form (patitam). They could not lift it out since they were boys. They had not yet developed boldness, as part of their childhood pastimes.
Leather and woven rope are the best instruments the kṣatriya hands of Dvārakā can offer, and they fail. Bhakti's first humility begins here: the moment one's own ropes prove useless and one runs to Kṛṣṇa, the rescue has already begun.
My note
Source: vedabase.io