nirīkṣya tad-vapur alam ambare carat
pradÄ«pta-dá¹›g bhru-kuá¹i-taá¹ogra-daá¹á¹£á¹rakam
jvalac-chikhaá¹ kaá¹aka-kirÄ«á¹a-kuṇá¸ala-
tviá¹£Ädbhutaá¹ haladhara Ä«á¹£ad atrasat
nirÄ«ká¹£ya - seeing; tat - of PralambÄsura; vapuḥ - the body; alam - quickly; ambare - in the sky; carat - moving; pradÄ«pta - blazing; dá¹›k - his eyes; bhru-kuá¹i - of his frown upon his eyebrows; taá¹a - on the edge; ugra - terrible; daá¹á¹£á¹rakam - his teeth; jvalat - fiery; Å›ikham - hair; kaá¹aka - of his armlets; kirÄ«á¹a - crown; kuṇá¸ala - and earrings; tviá¹£Ä - by the effulgence; adbhutam - astonishing; hala-dharaḥ - Lord BalarÄma, the carrier of the plow weapon; Ä«á¹£at - a little; atrasat - became frightened.
When Lord BalarÄma, who carries the plow weapon, saw the gigantic body of the demon as he moved swiftly in the sky — with his blazing eyes, fiery hair, terrible teeth reaching toward his scowling brows, and an amazing effulgence generated by his armlets, crown and earrings — the Lord seemed to become a little frightened.
ÅšrÄ«la SanÄtana GosvÄmÄ« explains Lord Baladeva’s so-called fear as follows: BalarÄma was playfully acting out the role of an ordinary cowherd boy, and to maintain the mood of this pastime He appeared slightly disturbed by the horrible demoniac body. Also because the demon had appeared as a cowherd boyfriend of Kṛṣṇa’s and because Kṛṣṇa had accepted him as a friend, Baladeva was slightly apprehensive about killing him. BalarÄma could also have been worried that since this cowherd boy was actually a demon in disguise, at that very moment another such demon might have been attacking Lord Kṛṣṇa Himself. Thus the omniscient and omnipotent Supreme Lord BalarÄma exhibited the pastime of becoming slightly nervous in the presence of the horrible demon Pralamba.
