tīrthaḿ cakre nṛponaḿ yad ajani yaduṣu svaḥ-sarit pāda-śaucaḿ
vidviṭ-snigdhāḥ svarūpaḿ yayur ajita-para śrīr yad-arthe 'nya-yatnaḥ
yan-nāmāmańgala-ghnaḿ śrutam atha gaditaḿ yat-kṛto gotra-dharmaḥ
kṛṣṇasyaitan na citraḿ kṣiti-bhara-haraṇaḿ kāla-cakrāyudhasya
tirtham -- sacred place of pilgrimage; cakre -- made; nripa -- O King (Parikshit); unam -- lesser; yat -- which (glories of Lord Krishna); ajani -- He took birth; yadushu -- among the Yadus; svah -- of heaven; sarit -- the river; pada -- whose feet; saucam -- (the water) which washes; vidvit -- enemies; snigdhah -- and loved ones; svarupam -- whose personal form; yayuh -- attained; ajita -- who is undefeated; para -- and supremely perfect; srih -- the goddess of fortune; yat -- whose; arthe -- for the sake; anya -- of others; yatnah -- endeavor; yat -- whose; nama -- name; amangala -- inauspiciousness; ghnam -- which destroys; srutam -- heard; atha -- or else; gaditam -- chanted; yat -- by whom; kritah -- created; gotra -- among the lines of descent (of various sages); dharmah -- the religious principles; krishnasya -- for Lord Krishna; etat -- this; na -- not; citram -- wonderful; kshiti -- the earth's; bhara -- of the burden; haranam -- the removal; kala -- of time; cakra -- the wheel; ayudhasya -- whose weapon.
The heavenly Ganges is a holy place of pilgrimage because her waters wash Lord Krishna's feet. But when the Lord descended among the Yadus, His glories eclipsed the Ganges as a holy place. Both those who hated Krishna and those who loved Him attained eternal forms like His in the spiritual world. The unattainable and supremely self-satisfied goddess of fortune, for the sake of whose favor everyone else struggles, belongs to Him alone. His name destroys all inauspiciousness when heard or chanted. He alone has set forth the principles of the various disciplic successions of sages. What wonder is it that He, whose personal weapon is the wheel of time, relieved the burden of the earth?
From beginning to end, the Tenth Canto of Srimad-Bhagavatam has been exclusively dedicated to reciting the pastimes of Lord Krishna in Vrindavana, Mathura and Dvaraka. As Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti points out, this verse sums up the Tenth Canto by mentioning five special glories of Sri Krishna that even His expansions, plenary portions and incarnations do not display.
First, Lord Krishna's reputation eclipsed that of the holy Ganges when He descended into the Yadu dynasty. Previous to this, mother Ganges was the most sacred of all tirthas, being the water that had bathed Lord Vamanadeva's lotus feet. Another river, the Yamuna, became even greater than the Ganges by contacting the dust from Sri Krishna's feet in the districts of Vraja and Mathura:
ganga-sata-guna prayo
mathure mama mandale
yamuna visruta devi
natra karya vicarana
"The renowned Yamuna in My domain of Mathura is hundreds of times greater than the Ganges. About this there can be no dispute, O goddess." (Varaha Purana)
Second, Lord Krishna gave liberation not only to His surrendered devotees but also to those who considered themselves His enemies. Devotees like the cowherd girls of Vraja and others attained His personal association by entering into His eternal pleasure pastimes in the spiritual world, while inimical demons killed by Him attained the sayujya-mukti of merging into His divine form. When He was present on this earth, Lord Krishna's compassion extended to His family, friends and servants, and also to His enemies and their families, friends and servants. Great authorities like Lord Brahma have mentioned this fact: sad-veshad iva putanapi sa-kula tvam eva devapita. "My Lord, You have already given Yourself to Putana and her family members simply because she dressed herself as a devotee." (Bhag. 10.14.35)
Third, Goddess Lakshmi, Lord Narayana's constant companion, whom great demigods serve menially to win her slight favor, was unable to win the privilege of joining the intimate company of Lord Krishna's devotees in Vraja. Despite her eagerness to participate in the rasa dance and other pastimes enacted by Sri Krishna, and despite the severe austerities she underwent to achieve that end, she could not transcend her natural mood of reverence. The sweetness and intimacy Lord Krishna manifested in Vrindavana constitute a unique kind of opulence found nowhere else, even in Vaikuntha. As Sri Uddhava says,
yan martya-lilaupayikam sva-yoga-
maya-balam darsayata grihitam
vismapanam svasya ca saubhagarddheh
param padam bhushana-bhushanangam
"To exhibit the strength of His spiritual potency, Lord Krishna manifested a form just suitable for His humanlike pastimes in the material world. This form was wonderful even for Him and was the supreme abode of the wealth of good fortune. Its limbs were so beautiful that they increased the beauty of the ornaments worn on different parts of His body." (Bhag. 3.2.12)
Fourth, the name Krishna is superior to the name Narayana and to those of all of Lord Krishna's other expansions. These two syllables -- krish and na -- combine together to destroy all inauspiciousness and illusion. When recited, the name Krishna becomes sruta-matha; that is to say, the recitation of Krishna's name totally crushes (mathnati) the excellence of all other spiritual practices described in the revealed scriptures (sruta). In the words of the Brahmanda Purana,
sahasra-namnam punyanam
trir avrittya tu yat phalam
ekavrittya tu krishnasya
namaikam tat prayacchati
"By uttering the single name of Krishna just once, one attains the same benefit as that gained by reciting Lord Vishnu's thousand names three times."
Fifth, Lord Krishna solidly reinstated dharma, the bull of religion, on his four legs of compassion, austerity, cleanliness and truth. Thus dharma could once again become go-tra, the protector of the earth. Sri Krishna also established the religious function of Govardhana-puja to honor His favorite hill, the cows and the brahmanas. He also became the hill (gotra) Himself, assuming its form to accept the cowherds' offerings. Moreover, He cultivated the dharma, or loving nature, of Vraja's divine cowherds (gotras), whose love for Him has never been equaled.
These are just a few of the wonderful features of Lord Krishna's unique personality.
