nanda-vrajaá¹ Å›aurir upetya tatra tÄn
gopÄn prasuptÄn upalabhya nidrayÄ
sutaá¹ yaÅ›odÄ-Å›ayane nidhÄya tat-
sutÄm upÄdÄya punar gá¹›hÄn agÄt
nanda-vrajam - the village or the house of Nanda MahÄrÄja; Å›auriḥ - Vasudeva; upetya - reaching; tatra - there; tÄn - all the members; gopÄn - the cowherd men; prasuptÄn - were fast asleep; upalabhya - understanding that; nidrayÄ - in deep sleep; sutam - the son (Vasudeva's son); yaÅ›odÄ-Å›ayane - on the bed where mother YaÅ›odÄ was sleeping; nidhÄya - placing; tat-sutÄm - her daughter; upÄdÄya - picking up; punaḥ - again; gá¹›hÄn - to his own house; agÄt - returned.
When Vasudeva reached the house of Nanda MahÄrÄja, he saw that all the cowherd men were fast asleep. Thus he placed his own son on the bed of YaÅ›odÄ, picked up her daughter, an expansion of Yoga-mÄyÄ, and then returned to his residence, the prison house of Kaá¹sa.
Vasudeva knew very well that as soon as the daughter was in the prison house of Kaá¹sa, Kaá¹sa would immediately kill her; but to protect his own child, he had to kill the child of his friend. Nanda MahÄrÄja was his friend, but out of deep affection and attachment for his own son, he knowingly did this. ÅšrÄ«la ViÅ›vanÄtha CakravartÄ« ṬhÄkura says that one cannot be blamed for protecting one’s own child at the sacrifice of another’s. Furthermore, Vasudeva cannot be accused of callousness, since his actions were impelled by the force of Yoga-mÄyÄ.
