Srimad Bhagavatam — Dashama Skandha, Shloka 17
Kṛṣṇa Slays Kuvalayāpīḍa and Enters Kaṁsa’s Wrestling Arena
मल्लानामशनिर्नृणां नरवर: स्त्रीणां स्मरो मूर्तिमान्गोपानां स्वजनोऽसतां क्षितिभुजां शास्ता स्वपित्रो: शिशु: । मृत्युर्भोजपतेर्विराडविदुषां तत्त्वं परं योगिनांवृष्णीनां परदेवतेति विदितो रङ्गं गत: साग्रज: ॥ १७ ॥
mallānām aśanir nṛṇāṁ nara-varaḥ strīṇāṁ smaro mūrtimān gopānāṁ sva-jano ’satāṁ kṣiti-bhujāṁ śāstā sva-pitroḥ śiśuḥ mṛtyur bhoja-pater virāḍ aviduṣāṁ tattvaṁ paraṁ yogināṁ vṛṣṇīnāṁ para-devateti vidito raṅgaṁ gataḥ sāgrajaḥ
The various groups of people in the arena regarded Kṛṣṇa in different ways when He entered it with His elder brother. The wrestlers saw Kṛṣṇa as a lightning bolt, the men of Mathurā as the best of males, the women as Cupid in person, the cowherd men as their relative, the impious rulers as a chastiser, His parents as their child, the King of the Bhojas as death, the unintelligent as the Supreme Lord’s universal form, the yogīs as the Absolute Truth and the Vṛṣṇis as their supreme worshipable Deity.
Śrīla Śrīdhara Svāmī quotes the following verse, which explains the ten attitudes toward Kṛṣṇa described here:
FAQs
Because Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Person, each observer perceived Him according to their inner disposition—fear, desire, love, ignorance, or spiritual realization—revealing both His līlā and His absolute nature.
Śukadeva Gosvāmī speaks this to Mahārāja Parīkṣit while narrating Kṛṣṇa’s Mathurā līlā, describing Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma entering Kaṁsa’s wrestling arena.
It teaches that our perception of God mirrors our consciousness; by cultivating bhakti—hearing, chanting, and serving—we learn to see Kṛṣṇa not as an object of fear or desire, but as our dearest Lord and the Supreme Truth.