• saṁstūyamāṇaḥ — being nicely praised
  Sam + √stu — present passive. Bhagavān is the object of stuti throughout 8–16; verse 17 marks the hinge from prayer to reply, structurally important.
• mukta-bandhanaiḥ — by those whose bondage is loosed
  Mukta — freed; bandhana — bondage. The freedom is double: physical (Jarāsandha's chain) and ontological (saṁsāra's chain, by the very stuti they just offered).
• karuṇaḥ — merciful
  Karuṇā in Vaiṣṇava idiom is the response to ārta — the wounded. The kings became ārta in their prayer; Bhagavān becomes karuṇa in His reply. The two attributes meet across the verse.
• śaraṇyaḥ — the giver of shelter
  From √śri — that to which one resorts. Śaraṇya is the technical complement of śaraṇāgata. The kings made themselves śaraṇāgata in verse 8; Kṛṣṇa here is named śaraṇya in confirmation.
• ślakṣṇayā — with gentle (words)
  Ślakṣṇa — smooth, soft. Paired with girā ('words'). The adjective marks the rasa-quality of Bhagavān's instruction: vātsalya toward newly humbled children.

After the river of stuti slows, Bhagavān speaks — and the brief is striking: ślakṣṇayā girā, with a soft voice. The Lord of all worlds, whom Jarāsandha could not match, lowers His voice for the men who have just confessed they were cruel. The volume of Bhagavān's reply is itself an answer to the prayer.