Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 10.9.9

tām ātta-yashtim prasamīkshya satvaras

tato 'varuhyāpasasāra bhītavat

gopy anvadhāvan na yam āpa yoginām

kshamam praveshtum tapaseritam manah

SYNONYMS

tām — unto mother Yaśodā; ātta-yashtim — carrying in her hand a stick; prasamīkshya — Krishna, seeing her in that attitude; satvarah — very quickly; tatah — from there; avaruhya — getting down; apasasāra — began to flee; bhīta-vat — as if very much afraid; gopī — mother Yaśodā; anvadhāvat — began to follow Him; na — not; yam — unto whom; āpa — failed to reach; yoginām — of great yogīs, mystics; kshamam — who could reach Him; praveshtum — trying to enter into the Brahman effulgence or Paramātmā; tapasā — with great austerities and penances; īritam — trying for that purpose; manah — by meditation.

TRANSLATION

When Lord Śrī Krishna saw His mother, stick in hand, He very quickly got down from the top of the mortar and began to flee as if very much afraid. Although yogīs try to capture Him as Paramātmā by meditation, desiring to enter into the effulgence of the Lord with great austerities and penances, they fail to reach Him. But mother Yaśodā, thinking that same Personality of Godhead, Krishna, to be her son, began following Krishna to catch Him.

PURPORT

Yogīs, mystics, want to catch Krishna as Paramātmā, and with great austerities and penances they try to approach Him, yet they cannot. Here we see, however, that Krishna is going to be caught by Yaśodā and is running away in fear. This illustrates the difference between the bhakta and the yogī. Yogīs cannot reach Krishna, but for pure devotees like mother Yaśodā, Krishna is already caught. Krishna was even afraid of mother Yaśodā's stick. This was mentioned by Queen Kuntī in her prayers: bhaya-bhāvanayā sthitasya (Bhāg. 1.8.31). Krishna is afraid of mother Yaśodā, and yogīs are afraid of Krishna. Yogīs try to reach Krishna by jñāna-yoga and other yogas, but fail. Yet although mother Yaśodā was a woman, Krishna was afraid of her, as clearly described in this verse.

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His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, Founder Ācārya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness
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