Shloka 54
अध्याय १९० — वामदेव-वाम्य-वृत्तान्तः
The Vāmadeva Horses Episode and the Ethics of Promise
स एष कृष्णो वार्ष्णेय: पुराणपुरुषो विभु: । आस्ते हरिरचिन्त्यात्मा क्रीडनज्जिव महाभुज:,ये वृष्णिकुल-भूषण महाबाहु श्रीकृष्ण ही वे सर्वव्यापी, अचिन्त्यस्वरूप, पुराण-पुरुष श्रीहरि हैं जो पहले बालरूपमें मुझे दिखायी दिये थे। वे ही यहाँ अवतीर्ण हो भाँति-भाँतिकी लीलाएँ करते हुए-से दीख रहे हैं
sa eṣa kṛṣṇo vārṣṇeyaḥ purāṇapuruṣo vibhuḥ | āste harir acintyātmā krīḍann iva mahābhujaḥ ||
Mārkaṇḍeya said: “This very Kṛṣṇa, the Vārṣṇeya, is the all-powerful, primeval Person. He abides here as Hari, of inconceivable nature—appearing as though engaged in playful sport, mighty-armed. He is the same all-pervading Śrī Hari whom I once beheld in a childlike form; now descended here, he seems to enact many kinds of divine play.”
मार्कण्डेय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse affirms Kṛṣṇa’s supreme, all-pervading divinity: though he appears as a human hero, he is the primeval Person (purāṇapuruṣa), of inconceivable nature, whose actions are best understood as līlā—divine play—inviting reverence and devotion rather than merely worldly judgment.
Mārkaṇḍeya identifies the present Kṛṣṇa before the listeners as the very same Hari he had previously witnessed in a wondrous child-form. He emphasizes that Kṛṣṇa’s current earthly presence and varied activities are manifestations of the divine, not ordinary human conduct.