taṁ tālu-mūlaṁ pradahantam agnivad
gopāla-sūnuṁ pitaraṁ jagad-guroḥ
caccharda sadyo 'tiruṣākṣataṁ bakas
tuṇḍena hantuṁ punar abhyapadyata
tam - Kṛṣṇa; tālu-mūlam - the root of the throat; pradahantam - burning; agni-vat - like fire; gopāla-sūnum - Kṛṣṇa, the son of a cowherd man; pitaram - the father; jagat-guroḥ - of Lord Brahmā; caccharda - got out of his mouth; sadyaḥ - immediately; ati-ruṣā - with great anger; akṣatam - without being hurt; bakaḥ - Bakāsura; tuṇḍena - with his sharp beak; hantum - to kill; punaḥ - again; abhyapadyata - endeavored.
Kṛṣṇa, who was the father of Lord Brahmā but who was acting as the son of a cowherd man, became like fire, burning the root of the demon’s throat, and the demon Bakāsura immediately disgorged Him. When the demon saw that Kṛṣṇa, although having been swallowed, was unharmed, he immediately attacked Kṛṣṇa again with his sharp beak.
Although Kṛṣṇa is always as soft as a lotus, within the throat of Bakāsura He created a burning sensation of being hotter than fire. Although Kṛṣṇa’s whole body is sweeter than sugar candy, Bakāsura tasted bitterness and therefore immediately vomited Kṛṣṇa up. As stated in Bhagavad-gītā (4.11), ye yathā māṁ prapadyante tāṁs tathaiva bhajāmy aham. When Kṛṣṇa is accepted as an enemy, He becomes the most intolerable object for the nondevotee, who cannot tolerate Kṛṣṇa within or without. Here this is shown by the example of Bakāsura.
