athānusmṛtya viprās te
anvatapyan kṛtāgasaḥ
yad viśveśvarayor yācñām
ahanma nṛ-viḍambayoḥ
atha -- then; anusmritya -- coming to their senses; viprah -- the brahmanas; te -- they; anvatapyan -- felt great remorse; krita-agasah -- having committed sinful offenses; yat -- because; visva-isvarayoh -- of the two Lords of the universe, Krishna and Balarama; yacnam -- the humble supplication; ahanma -- we transgressed; nr-vidambayoh -- of those who were deceptively appearing as human beings.
The brahmanas then came to their senses and began to feel great remorse. They thought, "We have sinned, for we have denied the request of the two Lords of the universe, who deceptively appeared as ordinary human beings."
Lord Krishna and Lord Balarama did not try to deceive the brahmanas: They straightforwardly requested food from them. Rather, the brahmanas deceived themselves, as indicated by the Sanskrit word nri-vidambayoh, which means that Krishna and Balarama are bewildering for an ordinary human being who considers Them also to be human. Still, because the wives of the brahmanas were great devotees of the Lord, the foolish brahmanas received spiritual benefit and finally came to their senses.
