Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 10.4.1

śrī-śuka uvāca

bahir-antah-pura-dvārah

sarvāh pūrvavad āvritāh

tato bāla-dhvanim śrutvā

griha-pālāh samutthitāh

SYNONYMS

śrī-śukah uvāca — Śrī Śukadeva Gosvāmī said; bahih-antah-pura-dvārah — the doors inside and outside the house; sarvāh — all; pūrva-vat — like before; āvritāh — closed; tatah — thereafter; bāla-dhvanim — the crying of the newborn child; śrutvā — hearing; griha-pālāh — all the inhabitants of the house, especially the doormen; samutthitāh — awakened.

TRANSLATION

Śukadeva Gosvāmī continued: My dear King Parīkshit, the doors inside and outside the house closed as before. Thereafter, the inhabitants of the house, especially the watchmen, heard the crying of the newborn child and thus awakened from their beds.

PURPORT

The activities of Yogamāyā are distinctly visible in this chapter, in which Devakī and Vasudeva excuse Kamsa for his many devious, atrocious activities and Kamsa becomes repentant and falls at their feet. Before the awakening of the watchmen and the others in the prison house, many other things happened. Krishna was born and transferred to the home of Yaśodā in Gokula, the strong doors opened and again closed, and Vasudeva resumed his former condition of being shackled. The watchmen, however, could not understand all this. They awakened only when they heard the crying of the newborn child, Yogamāyā.

Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Thākura has remarked that the watchmen were just like dogs. At night the dogs in the street act like watchmen. If one dog barks, many other dogs immediately follow it by barking. Although the street dogs are not appointed by anyone to act as watchmen, they think they are responsible for protecting the neighborhood, and as soon as someone unknown enters it, they all begin to bark. Both Yogamāyā and Mahāmāyā act in all material activities (prakriteh kriyamānāni gunaih karmāni sarvaśah [Bg. 3.27]), but although the energy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead acts under the Supreme Lord's direction (mayādhyakshena prakritih sūyate sa-carācaram [Bg. 9.10]), doglike watchmen such as politicians and diplomats think that they are protecting their neighborhoods from the dangers of the outside world. These are the actions of māyā. But one who surrenders to Krishna is relieved of the protection afforded by the dogs and doglike guardians of this material world.

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