vibudhya tÄá¹ bÄlaka-mÄrikÄ-grahaá¹
carÄcarÄtmÄ sa nimÄ«liteká¹£aṇaḥ
anantam Äropayad aá¹…kam antakaá¹
yathoragaṠsuptam abuddhi-rajju-dhīḥ
vibudhya - understanding; tÄm - her (PÅ«tanÄ); bÄlaka-mÄrikÄ-graham - a witch very expert in killing small babies; cara-acara-ÄtmÄ - Kṛṣṇa, the all-pervading Supersoul; saḥ - He; nimÄ«lita-Ä«ká¹£aṇaḥ - closed His eyes; anantam - the Unlimited; Äropayat - she placed; aá¹…kam - on her lap; antakam - for her own annihilation; yathÄ - as; uragam - a snake; suptam - while sleeping; abuddhi - a person who has no intelligence; rajju-dhīḥ - one who thinks a snake to be a rope.
Lord ÅšrÄ« Kṛṣṇa, the all-pervading Supersoul, lying on the bed, understood that PÅ«tanÄ, a witch who was expert in killing small children, had come to kill Him. Therefore, as if afraid of her, Kṛṣṇa closed His eyes. Thus PÅ«tanÄ took upon her lap Him who was to be her own annihilation, just as an unintelligent person places a sleeping snake on his lap, thinking the snake to be a rope.
In this verse there are two perplexities. When Kṛṣṇa saw that PÅ«tanÄ had come to kill Him, He thought that since this woman was present with motherly affection, although artificial, He had to offer her a benediction. Therefore He looked at her with a little perplexity and then closed His eyes again. PÅ«tanÄ RÄká¹£asÄ« also was perplexed. She was not intelligent enough to understand that she was taking a sleeping snake on her lap; she thought the snake to be an ordinary rope. The two words antakam and anantam are contradictory. Because of not being intelligent, PÅ«tanÄ thought that she could kill her antakam, the source of her annihilation; but because He is ananta, unlimited, no one can kill Him.
