śrī-śukaḥ uvāca - Śrī Śukadeva Gosvāmī said; evam - in this way; saḥ - he (Kaṁsa); sāmabhiḥ - by attempts to pacify him (Kaṁsa); bhedaiḥ - by moral instructions that one should not be cruel to anyone else; bodhyamānaḥ api - even being pacified; dāruṇaḥ - he who was the most fiercely cruel; na nyavartata - could not be stopped (from the grievous act); kauravya - O Mahārāja Parīkṣit; puruṣa-adān - the Rākṣasas, man-eaters; anuvrataḥ - following in their footsteps.

Śukadeva Gosvāmī continued: O best of the Kuru dynasty, Kaṁsa was fiercely cruel and was actually a follower of the Rākṣasas. Therefore he could be neither pacified nor terrified by the good instructions given by Vasudeva. He did not care about the results of sinful activities, either in this life or in the next.