Text 9]
The Killing of the Demon Pūtanā
9
motherly affection, although artificial, He had to offer her a benediction. Therefore He looked at her with a little perplexity and then closed His eyes again. Pūtanā Rākṣasī also was perplexed. She was not intelligent enough to understand that she was taking a sleeping snake on her lap; she thought the snake to be an ordinary rope. The two words  antakam  and  anantam  are contradictory. Because of not being intelligent, Pūtanā thought that she could kill her  antakam , the source of her annihilation; but because He is  ananta , unlimited, no one can kill Him.
TEXT 9
तां तीक्ष्णचित्तामतिवामचेष्टितां 
    वीक्ष्यान्तरा कोषपरिच्छदासिवत् । 
    वरस्त्रियं तत्प्रभया च धर्षिते 
    निरीक्ष्यमाणे जननी ह्यतिष्ठताम् ॥ ९ ॥
tām tīkṣṇa-cittām ativāma-ceṣṭitām 
    vīkṣyāntarā koṣa-paricchadāsivat 
    vara-striyam tat-prabhayā ca dharṣite 
    nirīkṣyamāṇe jananī hy atiṣṭhatām
tām —that (Pūtanā Rākṣasī);  tīkṣṇa-cittām —having a very fierce heart for killing the child;  ati-vāma-ceṣṭitām —although she was trying to treat the child better than a mother;  vīkṣya antarā —seeing her within the room;  koṣa-paricchada-asi-vat —like a sharp sword within a soft sheath;  vara-striyam —the very beautiful woman;  tat-prabhayā —by her influence;  ca —also;  dharṣite —being overwhelmed;  nirīkṣyamāṇe —were seeing;  jananī —the two mothers;  hi —indeed;  atiṣṭhatām —they remained silent, without prohibiting.
TRANSLATION
Pūtanā Rākṣasī’s heart was fierce and cruel, but she looked like a very affectionate mother. Thus she resembled a sharp sword in a soft sheath. Although seeing her within the room, Yaśodā and Rohiṇī, overwhelmed by her beauty, did not stop her, but remained silent because she treated the child like a mother.