Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.7.35-36
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
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rucira-smitam
—
beautifully smiling face
Rucira (lovely, charming) + smita (smile). Kṛṣṇa's smile, before the yawn opens, is the saumya-rūpa Yaśodā loves. Gauḍīya rasa-texts catalog Kṛṣṇa's smile as one of His principal ornaments — Rūpa Gosvāmī lists smita among the sāttvika sources of mādhurya. The yawn that follows hides the universe inside this same charm.
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jṛmbhataḥ
—
while the child was yawning
Present participle of jṛmbh — to yawn, to open wide. The verb in Vedic texts also names cosmic expansion. Yaśodā's child's yawn is the universe's jṛmbhaṇa in miniature — the same root that names the unfolding of creation names the moment her son's mouth opens.
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jyotiḥ-anīkam
—
the host of luminaries
Jyotis (light) + anīka (army, multitude). The plural is striking: not 'the sun' but 'the army of suns.' Vaiṣṇava cosmology counts innumerable jyotir-maṇḍalas; Yaśodā sees them all inside one yawn. The verse insists Kṛṣṇa is sarvāntaryāmī, the indwelling-within-all-worlds, by direct visual demonstration.
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sthira-jaṅgamāni
—
moving and non-moving (beings)
Sthira (still) + jaṅgama (moving). Standard Vedic taxonomy of beings — plants, mountains, etc. (sthira) and animals, humans (jaṅgama). The compound is exhaustive: nothing in existence is excluded from what Yaśodā sees in Kṛṣṇa's mouth. The Gauḍīya conclusion: sarvaṁ khalv idaṁ kṛṣṇa, all this is verily Kṛṣṇa — visible here as His own play within His own mouth.
By the arrangement of Yoga-māyā, Kṛṣṇa’s pastimes with mother Yaśodā were all regarded as ordinary. So here was an opportunity for Kṛṣṇa to show His mother that the whole universe is situated within Him. In His small form, Kṛṣṇa was kind enough to show His mother the virāṭ-rūpa, the universal form, so that she could enjoy seeing what kind of child she had on her lap. The rivers have been mentioned here as the daughters of the mountains ( nagāṁs tad-duhitṝḥ ). It is the flowing of the rivers that makes big forests possible. There are living entities everywhere, some of them moving and some of them not moving. No place is vacant. This is a special feature of God’s creation.
Krsna had almost completely finished drinking her milk. When he yawned she saw within his mouth (mukhe) this universe (idam-that which we see). In another version it states that while she was kissing him, she saw in his stomach the universes. In the prayers of Brahma the same is mentioned: krsnasya cantar jathare. Though he was in his mother’s lap, by his inconceivable energy he is also the foundation of the whole universe. At the one moment when he yawned, he displayed the universe with all its details by his inconceivable energy. She saw the antariksa, bhuvar loka (kham), svarga, martya and patala, the three worlds (rodasi), the constellations, directions, sun, moon, fire, air, Jambudvipa and the other islands (dvipan), the trees and mountains (nagan), rivers (duhitr), forests and all moving and non moving entities.
Pīta-prayasya means the child was almost finished drinking milk. The phrase “from her breast” has been omitted. The use of the words jananī and sutasya indicate the great affection between them. The child had the most beautiful smile. Therefore she handled him with affection (lālayantī). He then yawned because of sleepiness brought on by her affectionate treatment. She then saw the universe within his mouth (mukhe). Some versions have mukham. In that case the meaning is “she kissed his mouth.” When she was about to do so, she saw the universe in his belly when looking in his mouth. When Brahmā praises Kṛṣṇa, he says that Yaśodā saw the universe in his stomach. (SB 10.14.14) Thus there is no contradiction. Later it will be explained that she saw the universe by looking in his mouth. She saw this (idam). This means that she saw the universe with her own eyes. There could be no mistake about it. This occurred by his inconceivable powers, since he was the Lord. But in doing this, he had no contact with the universe, for the Lord has said: mayā tatam idaṁ sarvaṁ jagad avyakta-mūrtinā | mat-sthāni sarva-bhūtāni na cāhaṁ teṣv avasthitaḥ || I pervade this whole universe by my form which is invisible to material eyes, and simultaneously all entities are within me. But I am not in them. na ca mat-sthāni bhūtāni paśya me yogam aiśvaram | bhūta-bhṛn na ca bhūta-stho mamātmā bhūta-bhāvanaḥ || And the living beings are not in me. See my inconceivable power. I maintain them and protect them, but I am not in them. My mind maintains and protects them. BG 9.4-5 This pastime of having the universe in the belly belongs to Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu, who is an expansion of an expansion of Kṛṣṇa. At the time of destruction (at the end of Brahmā’s day) the universe enters his body in a fine form.
- Today, when you eat or sip water, pause and remember that the same Kṛṣṇa who contains all universes accepts your small offering as a mother's milk.
- Refuse the demigod-confusion: name one 'higher power' you have been treating as ultimate, and re-anchor your surrender in Kṛṣṇa, the source within whom even the sun, moon, and earth abide.
- Speak to someone you usually 'manage' — a child, a parent, a colleague — and consciously look for Kṛṣṇa within them, the way Yaśodā glimpsed the virāṭ-rūpa within her own son.
A mother bends close to her sleepy baby's yawning mouth and, in that single instant, sees the courtyard, the village, the river, the stars — every world she has ever known is in His mouth, and yet His mouth is still her child's mouth. Aiśvarya appears inside mādhurya without breaking it: the universe inside the yawn that her hands had just patted shut.
On Kurukṣetra, when Arjuna asked, Kṛṣṇa showed him the universal form — every god, every realm, every devourer, every sun, all blazing within the friend who had just been holding the reins (Gītā 11). Arjuna trembled and begged for the saumya-rūpa back.
Yaśodā's vision in 10.7.35–36 is Vraja's parallel: aiśvarya-darśana within mādhurya-līlā. But where Arjuna sees the form deliberately granted, Yaśodā glimpses it in a yawn and immediately forgets — because vātsalya in Vraja cannot survive being addressed as aiśvarya. Yoga-māyā closes the window.
Mārkaṇḍeya, witnessing the cosmic dissolution, was swept into the all-devouring waters and at last spied, on a banyan leaf, a small child whose mouth contained the universes Mārkaṇḍeya had just seen drowning (SB 12.9).
The scene is the seed of which 10.7.35–36 is the Vraja-flowering: the universal mouth is the child's mouth. Mārkaṇḍeya sees it as cosmic wonder; Yaśodā sees it as her son's yawn. Same Kṛṣṇa, different rasas, hierarchically arranged with mādhurya at the top.
My note
Source: vedabase.io