FolioCorpusBhagavad-gītā

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.8.36

యద్యేవం తర్హి వ్యాదేహీత్యుక్త: స భగవాన్హరి: । వ్యాదత్తావ్యాహతైశ్వర్య: క్రీడామనుజబాలక: ॥ ౩౬ ॥
yady evaṁ tarhi vyādehī-
[yady evam tarhi vyaadehee-]
ty uktaḥ sa bhagavān hariḥ
[ty uktah sa bhagavaan harih]
vyādattāvyāhataiśvaryaḥ
[vyaadattaavyaahataishvaryah]
krīḍā-manuja-bālakaḥ
[kreedaa-manuja-baalakah]
yadi — if evam — it is so tarhi — then vyādehi — open Your mouth wide (I want to see) iti uktaḥ — in this way ordered by mother Yaśodā saḥ — He bhagavān — the Supreme Personality of Godhead hariḥ — the Supreme Lord vyādatta — opened His mouth avyāhata - aiśvaryaḥ — without minimizing any potencies of absolute opulence ( aiśvaryasya samagrasya ) krīḍā — pastimes manuja - bālakaḥ — exactly like the child of a human being .
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
yady evaṁ tarhi vyādehī-
yadi
if
evam
it is so
tarhi
then
vyādehi
open Your mouth wide (I want to see)
iti uktaḥ
in this way ordered by mother Yaśodā
ty uktaḥ sa bhagavān hariḥ
saḥ
He
bhagavān
the Supreme Personality of Godhead
hariḥ
the Supreme Lord
vyādattāvyāhataiśvaryaḥ
vyādatta
opened His mouth
avyāhata - aiśvaryaḥ
without minimizing any potencies of absolute opulence ( aiśvaryasya samagrasya )
krīḍā-manuja-bālakaḥ
krīḍā
pastimes
manuja - bālakaḥ
exactly like the child of a human being .
  • vyādehi — open (Your mouth) wide
    Imperative of vi-ā-√dhā — 'to open wide, to spread apart'. The verbal hinge of the universal-form revelation. A mother's casual command becomes the instruction that triggers viśva-rūpa-darśana — the cosmic in the everyday.
  • bhagavān hariḥ — the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the Lord
    Bhagavān (full of six opulences) + Hari (the remover). The verse names Him with His most majestic titles at the very moment He acts most child-like. Gauḍīya doctrinal core: aiśvarya is never absent in mādhurya, only veiled.
  • avyāhata - aiśvaryaḥ — without minimizing His potencies of opulence
    A (not) + vyāhata (obstructed, diminished) + aiśvarya (opulence). The verse explicitly clears the Advaita-leaning reading: Kṛṣṇa's full Bhagavān-tattva is uninterrupted even when He plays as a child. The infant body holds, not hides, the six opulences.
  • krīḍā — pastimes, play
    From √krīḍ. The verse names mukha-vidāraṇa as krīḍā — pure līlā. Yaśodā thinks she is administering discipline; Bhagavān is performing krīḍā. Same act, two registers.
  • manuja - bālakaḥ — exactly like a human child
    Manuja (human) + bālaka (boy). Iva-vat ('like') is the Gauḍīya hermeneutic key: Kṛṣṇa appears manuja-bālaka-vat — like a human child — but is in fact svayaṁ-bhagavān. The verse's compound itself is the qualifier.
Mother Yaśodā challenged Kṛṣṇa, “If You have not eaten earth, then open Your mouth wide.” When challenged by His mother in this way, Kṛṣṇa, the son of Nanda Mahārāja and Yaśodā, to exhibit pastimes like a human child, opened His mouth. Although the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, who is full of all opulences, did not disturb His mother’s parental affection, His opulence was automatically displayed, for Kṛṣṇa’s opulence is never lost at any stage, but is manifest at the proper time.

Without disturbing the ecstasy of His mother’s affection, Kṛṣṇa opened His mouth and displayed His own natural opulences. When a person is given varieties of food, there may be a hundred and one varieties, but if one likes ordinary śāka, spinach, he prefers to eat that. Similarly, although Kṛṣṇa was full of opulences, now, by the order of mother Yaśodā, He opened wide His mouth like a human child and did not neglect the transcendental humor of maternal affection.

— A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda
Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura Gauḍīya
Translation
Mother Yaśodā challenged Kṛṣṇa, "If You have not eaten earth, then open Your mouth wide." When challenged by His mother in this way, Kṛṣṇa, the son of Nanda Mahārāja and Yaśodā, to exhibit pastimes like a human child, opened His mouth. Although the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, who is full of all opulences, did not disturb His mother's parental affection, His opulence was automatically displayed, for Kṛṣṇa's opulence is never lost at any stage, but is manifest at the proper time.
Commentary

Krsna, afraid of punishment told a lie in order that Yasoda could not detect his fault. How could he do this however? If he were to open his mouth the evidence would be found. The answer is given: he possesses unimpeded, non contradictory power (avyahataisvarya). He whose power is undefeated does not seek out this power because of the influence of sweetness of love. But looking for service, it finds some opportunity. Inspired by the boy’s power of satya sankapa (whose very desire must be fulfilled), this unimpeded aisvarya on its own manifested the universal form, and Yasoda, lost in astonishment, forgot to scold her son. Was it necessary for Krsna to taste the sweetness of prema and thus have to show fear of being beaten? He could have stood there without fear, taking the help of his aisvarya sakti, thinking "I am the Lord." The answer is found in the words krida manuja balakah. This means krida pradhana manuja balakah. Krsna was taking the form of a human child to perform mainly playful, sweet pastimes.

Jīva Gosvāmī Gauḍīya
Commentary

In this pastime Kṛṣṇa is Bhagavān, endowed with eternal, unlimited powers, which cause restriction of love in the mind, and is also Hari, auspiciousness with predominant revelation of sweetness, which attracts the mind. He exists without completely (ā) giving up certain (vi) of his powers. Though he does not care for these powers in these pastimes, these powers remain near him and always wait for the opportunity of his particular pastime where they can serve him. He is a human child through his pastimes (kṛīḍā-manauja-bālakaḥ). Or he is a child endowed with humans like Nanda and Yaśodā who are part of his eternal pastimes, unlike humans bound by māyā and karma. As the scriptures state, he is endowed with eternal pastimes. Both he and they make their appearance by his will for producing rasa in his pastimes. The blue lotus of his mouth blossomed by the slight rays from the sun of Yaśodā’s anger. In the previous verse it was mentioned that he glanced about with fearful eyes. Kṛṣṇa is the enjoyer of the rasa of his pastimes. The aiśvarya or power of this Kṛṣṇa solves what appears to be unsolvable in order to produce his desired rasa in the pastime, either on its own, or by embracing him (taking his consent). His aiśvarya thus displayed the universe within him, in order to nourish Yaśodā’s prema with astonishment and in order to help her by making his words true when he said he did not eat dirt-- by showing that everything exists within him and by producing a differing mood to erase Yaśodā’s anger. In the pastime with Tṛṇāvarta, his aiśvarya made him heavy. It should be understood that his aiśvarya with its inconceivable power to fulfill his desires reaches its highest perfection in these acts.

Śrīdhara Svāmī Gauḍīya
Commentary

Revealing unlimited qualities of Bhagavān (saḥ), the ocean of indescribablely great sweetness, who was the supreme Lord (bhagavān) and who attracted everyone’s heart, opened his mouth. Or he who was full of all powers (bhagavān), who appeared in this world to attract everyone’s heart, whose powers were unobstructed even during his infant pastimes, being superior to Nārāyān, who had power to show the universe with cause and effect in his stomach, opened his mouth. He was a human child performing eternal pastimes. Thus human child form was also eternal. He was a human child performing pastimes. Or he was a child (bālaka) born to play (krīḍām anuja). Or he was a child (bālakaḥ) going quickly (ja) here and there in playing (krīḍām anu), with his hair swining.

Related values
Samata (Equanimity / Even-mindedness)Atma Nigraha (Self-control)Abhaya (Fearlessness)Pratijna (Vow-keeping / Sacred Resolve)Tejas (Inner Radiance / Vigour)Vinaya (Humility / Modesty)Seva (Service / Selfless Action)Apaishunam (Non-slander)Guru Bhakti (Reverence for Teacher)Dana (Charity / Generosity)
Related verses
Kṛṣṇa honors Yaśodā's vātsalya by opening His mouth like a child, yet His aiśvarya shines through — surrender invites, never erases, His glory.
Practical Applications
  • Today, meet a loved one in the role they expect of you (son, parent, friend) without using your 'opulences' to overpower their affection.
  • Notice when you puff up your credentials in an intimate setting; instead, lower yourself like a bālaka and let the relationship lead.
  • When chanting or reading about Kṛṣṇa's childhood pastimes, refuse the impersonalist urge to 'symbolize' them — receive Him as the personal Lord submitting to His mother.

An emperor in disguise, asked by the village headwoman to open his cloak to prove he carries no contraband, opens it — and the cloak reveals not contraband but the imperial seal she had forgotten he wore. Kṛṣṇa opens His mouth at Yaśodā's command, and the aiśvarya she had asked Yoga-māyā to forget shines anyway, undimmed.

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