Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 11.5.48

vairena yam nripatayah śiśupāla-paundra-

śālvādayo gati-vilāsa-vilokanādyaih

dhyāyanta ākrita-dhiyah śayanāsanādau

tat-sāmyam āpur anurakta-dhiyām punah kim

SYNONYMS

vairena — with envy; yam — whom (Lord Krishna); nri-patayah — kings; śiśupāla-paundra-śālva-ādayah — like Śiśupāla, Paundraka, Śālva, etc.; gati — upon His movements; vilāsa — sporting; vilokana — glances; ādyaih — and so forth; dhyāyantah — meditating; ākrita — thus fixed; dhiyah — their minds; śayana — in the activities of lying down; āsana-ādau — sitting, and so on; tat-sāmyam — a position on the same level with Him (that is, a position in the eternal, spiritual world); āpuh — they achieved; anurakta-dhiyām — for those whose minds are naturally attached in a favorable way; punah kim — what to speak of in comparison.

TRANSLATION

Inimical kings like Śiśupāla, Paundraka and Śālva were always thinking about Lord Krishna. Even while they were lying down, sitting or engaging in other activities, they enviously meditated upon the bodily movements of the Lord, His sporting pastimes, His loving glances upon His devotees, and other attractive features displayed by the Lord. Being thus always absorbed in Krishna, they achieved spiritual liberation in the Lord's own abode. What then can be said of the benedictions offered to those who constantly fix their minds on Lord Krishna in a favorable, loving mood?

PURPORT

On the eve of the disappearance of Lord Krishna from this world, Vasudeva became filled with lamentation thinking that he had not properly utilized the opportunity of the Lord's personal presence to become perfectly Krishna conscious. However, Nārada Muni assured Śrī Vasudeva that the glories of Vasudeva and his good wife Devakī were chanted throughout the universe because even the demigods worshiped the exalted status of the Lord's own parents. Vasudeva was not only concerned about his own spiritual position, but he also lamented for the Yadu dynasty, which had left the world in an apparently inauspicious way, being cursed by great brāhmanas such as Nārada and dying in a fratricidal war. Although the members of the Yadu dynasty were personal associates of the Lord, their disappearance from the earth was apparently inauspicious, and therefore Vasudeva was concerned about their eventual destination. So Nārada here assures Vasudeva that even the demons who opposed Krishna, such as Śiśupāla, Paundraka and Śālva, achieved promotion to the Lord's own abode because of their constant absorption in thinking of Krishna. Therefore what to speak of the exalted members of the Yadu dynasty who actually loved Krishna more than anything (anurakta-dhiyām punah kim)? Similarly, it is stated in the Garuda Purāna,

ajñāninah sura-varam samadhikshipanto

yam pāpino 'pi śiśupāla-suyodhanādyāh

muktim gatāh smarana-mātra-vidhūta-pāpāh

kah samśayah parama-bhaktimatām janānām

"Even foolish sinners like Śiśupāla and Duryodhana who showered abuse upon the Lord were cleansed of all sins simply by remembering Lord Krishna. Somehow or other their minds were absorbed in the Lord, and thus they attained liberation. What doubt then is there about the destination of those who are overwhelmed with devotional feelings for the Lord?"

Vasudeva was also feeling anxiety because on the one hand he was aware that Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, but at the same time he treated the Lord as his beloved son. In the relationship between the father and son, sometimes the father must chastise the son and restrict him in various ways. In this way Vasudeva was feeling that undoubtedly he had offended the Lord in his attempt to train Lord Krishna as his son. However, Lord Krishna is actually pleased when a pure devotee becomes absorbed in parental love for Him and thus devotedly tries to care for Him just as loving parents care for a small child. Krishna reciprocates the intense devotional feelings of such devotees by actually appearing before them as a young boy and acting just like their son.

As mentioned in this verse, the demons actually chastised Krishna with feelings of enmity. Nevertheless, such demons attained liberation due to their absorption in Krishna. Therefore, what to speak of the destination of Vasudeva, who chastised Krishna due to his overwhelming parental love for Him? The conclusion is that the devotees of the Lord should never consider Vasudeva and Devakī to be ordinary, conditioned souls. Their relationship with Lord Krishna is completely on the transcendental platform of vātsalya-rasa, or parental love for the Personality of Godhead. It has nothing to do with the parental love of the material world, which is based on a mood of sense gratification, since the parents see their children as objects of material enjoyment.

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