Text 42]
Prayers by the Demigods
199
śrī-śuka uvāca ity abhiṣṭūya puruṣam yad-rūpam anidam yathā brahmeśānau purodhāya devāḥ pratiyayur divam
śrī-śukaḥ uvāca—Śrī Śukadeva Gosvāmī said; iti—in this way; abhiṣṭūya—offering prayers; puruṣam—unto the Supreme Personality; yat-rūpam—whose form; anidam—transcendental; yathā—as; brahma—Lord Brahmā; iśānau—and Lord Śiva; purodhāya—keeping them in front; devāḥ—all the demigods; pratiyayuḥ—returned; divam—to their heavenly homes.
TRANSLATION
After thus offering prayers to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Viṣṇu, the Transcendence, all the demigods, with Lord Brahmā and Lord Śiva before them, returned to their homes in the heavenly planets.
PURPORT
It is said:
adyāpiha caitanya e saba līlā kare yān'ra bhāgye thāke, se dekhaye nirantare (Caitanya-bhāgavata, Madhya 23.513)
The incarnations of the Supreme Personality of Godhead appear continuously, like the waves of a river or an ocean. There is no limit to the Lord's incarnations, but they can be perceived only by devotees who are fortunate. The  devatās , the demigods, fortunately understood the incarnation of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and thus they offered their prayers. Then Lord Śiva and Lord Brahmā led the demigods in returning to their homes.
The word  kukṣi-gataḥ , meaning "within the womb of Devakī," has been discussed by Śrī Jīva Gosvāmī in his  Krama-sandarbha  commentary. Since it was said at first that Kṛṣṇa was present within the heart of Vasudeva and was transferred to the heart of Devakī, Śrī Jīva Gosvāmī writes, how is it that Kṛṣṇa was now in the womb? He replies that there