nirīkṣya tad-balaḿ kṛṣṇa
udvelam iva sāgaram
sva-puraḿ tena saḿruddhaḿ
sva-janaḿ ca bhayākulam
cintayām āsa bhagavān
hariḥ kāraṇa-mānuṣaḥ
tad-deśa-kālānuguṇaḿ
svāvatāra-prayojanam
nirikshya -- observing; tat -- of him (Jarasandha); balam -- the military force; krishnah -- Lord Krishna; udvelam -- having overflowed its boundaries; iva -- like; sagaram -- an ocean; sva -- His own; puram -- city, Mathura; tena -- by it; samruddham -- besieged; sva-janam -- His subjects; ca -- and; bhaya -- by fear; akulam -- disturbed; cintayam asa -- He thought; bhagavan -- the Supreme Personality of Godhead; harih -- Lord Hari; karana -- the cause of everything; manushah -- appearing as a human being; tat -- for that; desa -- place; kala -- and time; anugunam -- suitable; sva-avatara -- of His descent to this world; prayojanam -- the purpose.
Although Lord Krishna, 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 Jarasandha'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 acaryas point out that the Supreme Godhead did not have to worry about a mortal attack from Jarasandha and his soldiers. But, as stated here, Sri Krishna was playing the part of a human being (karana-manushah), and He played the part well. This play is called lila, 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 Srila Sridhara Svami points out that Sri Krishna thought as follows: "How should I defeat Jarasandha? Should I kill the army but not Jarasandha, or should I kill Jarasandha and take the army for Myself? Or perhaps I should just kill both of them." Lord Krishna's conclusion is described in the following verses.
