śrī-śuka uvāca
pitarāv upalabdhārthau
viditvā puruṣottamaḥ
mā bhūd iti nijāḿ māyāḿ
tatāna jana-mohinīm
sri-sukah uvaca -- Sukadeva Gosvami said; pitarau -- His parents; upalabdha -- having realized; arthau -- the idea (of His opulent position as God); viditva -- knowing; purusha-uttamah -- the Supreme Personality; ma bhut iti -- "this should not be"; nijam -- His personal; mayam -- illusory potency; tatana -- He expanded; jana -- His devotees; mohinim -- which bewilders.
Sukadeva Gosvami said: Understanding that His parents were becoming aware of His transcendental opulences, the Supreme Personality of Godhead thought that this should not be allowed to happen. Thus He expanded His Yogamaya, which bewilders His devotees.
If Vasudeva and Devaki would have seen Krishna as almighty God, their intense love for Him as their son would have been spoiled. Lord Krishna did not want this. Rather, the Lord wanted to enjoy with them the ecstatic love of vatsalya-rasa, the relationship between parents and children. As Srila Prabhupada often pointed out, although we normally think of God as the supreme father, in Krishna consciousness we can enter into the Lord's pastimes and play the part of His parents, thus intensifying our love for Him.
Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura points out that the word jana may be translated here as "devotees," as in the verse diyamanam na grihnanti vina mat-sevanam janah (Bhag. 3.29.13). He further explains that jana may also be translated as "parents," since jana is derived from the verb jan, which in the causative form (janayate) means "to generate or to give birth to." In this sense of the word (as in janani or janakau), the term jana-mohini indicates that the Lord was about to expand His internal illusory potency so that Vasudeva and Devaki would again love Him as their dear child.
