Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti describes Arjuna's amazement: He thought, "Just see! Even though I am a mere mortal, by Krishna's mercy I have seen the Supreme Godhead, the root cause of everything." Then, after a moment, he thought again, "But why did Lord Vishnu say that he took away the brahmana's children out of a desire to see Krishna? Why would the Supreme Personality of Godhead hanker to see His own expansion? This might be the effect of some peculiar temporary circumstance, but since He said didrikshuna instead of didrikshata -- where the specific suffix -shuna carries the sense of a permanent characteristic, not a temporary one -- it has to be concluded that He has always been wanting to see Krishna and myself. Even granted that this is so, why couldn't He simply see Krishna at Dvaraka? After all, Lord Maha-Vishnu is the all-pervading creator of the universe, which He holds like an amalaka fruit in His hand. Is it that He could not see Krishna in Dvaraka because Krishna does not allow anyone to see Him without His special sanction?

"And why, also, would Lord Maha-Vishnu, the compassionate master of all brahmanas, have repeatedly tormented an elevated brahmana, year after year? He must have acted in this unusual way only because He could not give up His extreme eagerness to see Krishna. All right, He may have acted improperly for that reason, but why couldn't He have sent a servant to kidnap the brahmana's sons? Why did He Himself have to come to Dvaraka? Was stealing them out of Lord Krishna's capital so difficult that no one but Vishnu Himself could hope to accomplish it? I can understand that He intended to cause so much distress to a brahmana of Lord Krishna's city that Krishna would be unable to tolerate it; then He would grant Lord Vishnu His audience. Lord Vishnu inspired the distressed brahmana to pour out his complaints to Krishna in person. Thus it is clear that Sri Krishna's status of Godhood is superior to Lord Maha-Vishnu's."

Having thought in this way, Arjuna was totally amazed. He asked Lord Krishna whether these were actually the facts of the matter, and the Lord replied, as related in the Hari-vamsa,

mad-darsanartham te bala

hritas tena mahatmana

viprartham eshyate krishno

mat-samipam na canyatha

"It was to see Me that He, the Supreme Soul, stole the children. He believed, 'Only on a brahmana's behalf will Krishna come to see Me, not otherwise.' "

Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti states that Lord Krishna further told Arjuna, "I did not go there, however, for the brahmana's sake; I went there, My friend, just to save your life. If it had been for the brahmana's sake that I traveled to Vaikuntha, I would have done so after his first child was abducted."

According to Srila Sridhara Svami, although this pastime occurred before the Battle of Kurukshetra, it is recounted here at the end of the Tenth Canto under the general heading of the supremacy of Lord Krishna's glories.