atha tatra kuru-śreṣṭha
devakī sarva-devatā
śrutvānītaḿ guroḥ putram
ātmajābhyāḿ su-vismitā
kṛṣṇa-rāmau samāśrāvya
putrān kaḿsa-vihiḿsitān
smarantī kṛpaṇaḿ prāha
vaiklavyād aśru-locanā
atha -- then; tatra -- at that place; kuru-sreshtha -- O best of the Kurus; devaki -- mother Devaki; sarva -- of everyone; devata -- the supremely worshipable goddess; srutva -- having heard; nitam -- brought back; guroh -- of Their spiritual master; putram -- the son; atmajabhyam -- by her two sons; su -- very much; vismita -- amazed; krishna-ramau -- Krishna and Balarama; samasravya -- clearly addressing; putran -- her sons; kamsa-vihimsitan -- murdered by Kamsa; smaranti -- remembering; kripanam -- pitifully; praha -- she spoke; vaiklavyat -- due to her distraught condition; asru -- (filled with) tears; locana -- her eyes.
At that time, O best of the Kurus, the universally worshiped Devaki took the opportunity to address her two sons, Krishna and Balarama. Previously she had heard with astonishment that They had brought Their spiritual master's son back from death. Now, thinking of her own sons who had been murdered by Kamsa, she felt great sorrow, and thus with tear-filled eyes she beseeched Krishna and Balarama.
Vasudeva's love for Krishna had been disturbed because his awareness of Krishna's opulences conflicted with seeing Him as his son. In a different way, Devaki's love was somewhat distracted by her lamentation for her dead sons. So Krishna arranged to relieve her of the mistaken idea that anyone else but Him was actually her son. Since Devaki is known to be worshiped by all great souls, her show of maternal affection must actually have been an effect of the Lord's Yogamaya, who increases the pleasure of His pastimes. Thus in Text 54 Devaki will be described as mohita mayaya vishnoh, "bewildered by the internal energy of Lord Vishnu."
