kṛṣṇa-prÄṇÄn nirviÅ›ato
nandÄdÄ«n vÄ«ká¹£ya taá¹ hradam
pratyaá¹£edhat sa bhagavÄn
rÄmaḥ kṛṣṇÄnubhÄva-vit
kṛṣṇa-prÄṇÄn - the men whose very life and soul was Kṛṣṇa; nirviÅ›ataḥ - entering; nanda-ÄdÄ«n - headed by Nanda MahÄrÄja; vÄ«ká¹£ya - seeing; tam - that; hradam - lake; pratyaá¹£edhat - forbade; saḥ - He; bhagavÄn - the all-powerful Lord; rÄmaḥ - BalarÄma; kṛṣṇa - of Lord Kṛṣṇa; anubhÄva - the power; vit - knowing well.
Lord BalarÄma then saw that Nanda MahÄrÄja and the other cowherd men, who had dedicated their very lives to Kṛṣṇa, were beginning to enter the serpent’s lake. As the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord BalarÄma fully knew Lord Kṛṣṇa’s actual power, and therefore He restrained them.
ÅšrÄ«la SanÄtana GosvÄmÄ« explains that Lord BalarÄma checked some of the cowherd men by speaking to them, others by physically holding them and still others by casting upon them His potent smiling glance. Distraught over the situation, they were prepared to give up their lives for Lord Kṛṣṇa by entering the serpent’s lake.
