nirīkṣya tad-balaṠkṛṣṇa
udvelam iva sÄgaram
sva-puraá¹ tena saá¹ruddhaá¹
sva-janaá¹ ca bhayÄkulam
cintayÄm Äsa bhagavÄn
hariḥ kÄraṇa-mÄnuá¹£aḥ
tad-deÅ›a-kÄlÄnuguṇaá¹
svÄvatÄra-prayojanam
nirÄ«ká¹£ya - observing; tat - of him (JarÄsandha); balam - the military force; kṛṣṇaḥ - Lord Kṛṣṇa; udvelam - having overflowed its boundaries; iva - like; sÄgaram - an ocean; sva - His own; puram - city, MathurÄ; tena - by it; saá¹ruddham - besieged; sva-janam - His subjects; ca - and; bhaya - by fear; Äkulam - disturbed; cintayÄm Äsa - He thought; bhagavÄn - the Supreme Personality of Godhead; hariḥ - Lord Hari; kÄraṇa - the cause of everything; mÄnuá¹£aḥ - appearing as a human being; tat - for that; deÅ›a - place; kÄla - and time; anuguṇam - suitable; sva-avatÄra - of His descent to this world; prayojanam - the purpose.
Although Lord Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is the original cause of this world, when He descended to the earth He played the role of a human being. Thus when He saw JarÄsandha’s assembled army surrounding His city like a great ocean overflowing its shores, and when He saw how this army was striking fear into His subjects, the Lord considered what His suitable response should be according to the time, place and specific purpose of His current incarnation.
The ÄcÄryas point out that the Supreme Godhead did not have to worry about a mortal attack from JarÄsandha and his soldiers. But, as stated here, ÅšrÄ« Kṛṣṇa was playing the part of a human being (kÄraṇa-mÄnuá¹£aḥ), and He played the part well. This play is called lÄ«lÄ, the Lord’s enactment of spiritual pastimes for the pleasure of His devotees. Although ordinary persons may be dumbfounded by the Lord’s pastimes, the devotees derive tremendous pleasure from His inimitable style of behavior. Thus ÅšrÄ«la ÅšrÄ«dhara SvÄmÄ« points out that ÅšrÄ« Kṛṣṇa thought as follows: “How should I defeat JarÄsandha? Should I kill the army but not JarÄsandha, or should I kill JarÄsandha and take the army for Myself? Or perhaps I should just kill both of them.†Lord Kṛṣṇa’s conclusion is described in the following verses.
