Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 10.9.19

evam sandarśitā hy ańga

harinā bhritya-vaśyatā

sva-vaśenāpi krishnena

yasyedam seśvaram vaśe

SYNONYMS

evam — in this manner; sandarśitā — was exhibited; hi — indeed; ańga — O Mahārāja Parīkshit; harinā — by the Supreme Personality of Godhead; bhritya-vaśyatā — His transcendental quality of becoming subordinate to His servitor or devotee; sva-vaśena — who is within the control only of His own self; api — indeed; krishnena — by Krishna; yasya — of whom; idam — the whole universe; sa-īśvaram — with the powerful demigods like Lord Śiva and Lord Brahmā; vaśe — under the control.

TRANSLATION

O Mahārāja Parīkshit, this entire universe, with its great, exalted demigods like Lord Śiva, Lord Brahmā and Lord Indra, is under the control of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Yet the Supreme Lord has one transcendental attribute: He comes under the control of His devotees. This was now exhibited by Krishna in this pastime.

PURPORT

This pastime of Krishna's is very difficult to understand, but devotees can understand it. It is therefore said, darśayams tad-vidām loka ātmano bhakta-vaśyatām (Bhāg. 10.11.9): the Lord displays the transcendental attribute of coming under the control of His devotees. As stated in the Brahma-samhitā (5.35):

eko 'py asau racayitum jagad-anda-kotim

yac-chaktir asti jagad-anda-cayā yad-antah

andāntara-stha-paramānu-cayāntara-stham

govindam ādi-purusham tam aham bhajāmi

By His one plenary portion as Paramātmā, the Lord controls innumerable universes, with all their demigods; yet He agrees to be controlled by a devotee. In the Upanishads it is said that the Supreme Personality of Godhead can run with more speed than the mind, but here we see that although Krishna wanted to avoid being arrested by His mother, He was finally defeated, and mother Yaśodā captured Him. Lakshmī-sahasra-śata-sambhrama-sevyamānam: [Bs. 5.29] Krishna is served by hundreds and thousands of goddesses of fortune. Nonetheless, He steals butter like one who is poverty-stricken. Yamarāja, the controller of all living entities, fears the order of Krishna, yet Krishna is afraid of His mother's stick. These contradictions cannot be understood by one who is not a devotee, but a devotee can understand how powerful is unalloyed devotional service to Krishna; it is so powerful that Krishna can be controlled by an unalloyed devotee. This bhritya-vaśyatā does not mean that He is under the control of the servant; rather, He is under the control of the servant's pure love. In Bhagavad-gītā (1.21) it is said that Krishna became the chariot driver of Arjuna. Arjuna ordered Him, senayor ubhayor madhye ratham sthāpaya me 'cyuta: "My dear Krishna, You have agreed to be my charioteer and to execute my orders. Place my chariot between the two armies of soldiers." Krishna immediately executed this order, and therefore one may argue that Krishna also is not independent. But this is one's ajñāna, ignorance. Krishna is always fully independent; when He becomes subordinate to His devotees, this is a display of ānanda-cinmaya-rasa, the humor of transcendental qualities that increases His transcendental pleasure. Everyone worships Krishna as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and therefore He sometimes desires to be controlled by someone else. Such a controller can be no one else but a pure devotee.

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