tata utthāya sambhrāntā
dahyamānā vrajaukasaḥ
kṛṣṇaḿ yayus te śaraṇaḿ
māyā-manujam īśvaram
tatah -- then; utthaya -- waking up; sambhrantah -- agitated; dahyamanah -- about to be burned; vraja-okasah -- the people of Vraja; krishnam -- to Krishna; yayuh -- went; te -- they; saranam -- for shelter; maya -- by His potency; manujam -- appearing like a human being; isvaram -- the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
Then the residents of Vrindavana woke up, extremely disturbed by the great fire threatening to burn them. Thus they took shelter of Krishna, the Supreme Lord, who by His spiritual potency appeared like an ordinary human being.
The sruti, or Vedic mantras, state, svarupa-bhutaya nitya-saktya mayakhyaya: "The Lord's eternal potency named maya is innate in His original form." Thus within the eternal spiritual body of the Supreme Lord there is infinite potency, which effortlessly manipulates all existence according to the omniscient desire of the Absolute Truth. The residents of Vrindavana took shelter of Krishna, thinking, "This blessed boy will certainly be empowered by God to save us." They remembered the words of the sage Garga Muni, spoken at the birth ceremony of Lord Krishna: anena sarva-durgani yuyam anjas tarishyatha. "By His power you will easily be able to cross over all obstacles." (Bhag. 10.8.16) Therefore the residents of Vrindavana, who had full faith in Krishna, took shelter of the Lord in hopes of being saved from the impending disaster threatened by the forest fire.
