Shloka 28
The Slaying of Śālva and the Destruction of Saubha
ततो मुहूर्तं प्रकृतावुपप्लुत: स्वबोध आस्ते स्वजनानुषङ्गत: । महानुभावस्तदबुध्यदासुरीं मायां स शाल्वप्रसृतां मयोदिताम् ॥ २८ ॥
tato muhūrtaṁ prakṛtāv upaplutaḥ sva-bodha āste sva-janānuṣaṅgataḥ mahānubhāvas tad abudhyad āsurīṁ māyāṁ sa śālva-prasṛtāṁ mayoditām
By nature Lord Kṛṣṇa is full in knowledge, and He possesses unlimited powers of perception. Yet for a moment, out of great affection for His loved ones, He remained absorbed in the mood of an ordinary human being. He soon recalled, however, that this was all a demoniac illusion engineered by Maya Dānava and employed by Śālva.
FAQs
This verse says that the terrifying display was not reality but an āsurī māyā—an illusion produced through Maya Dānava and deployed by Śālva—recognized and dispelled by Kṛṣṇa’s perfect awareness.
In the narrative of Śālva’s attack, Kṛṣṇa enacts humanlike responses as part of His līlā, yet He remains the ‘svabodha’—fully self-aware—and quickly identifies the trick as illusion.
Like Kṛṣṇa, pause when emotions surge, then re-check reality with clear discernment (buddhi) and śāstra-guided awareness before reacting to what may be misleading appearances.