Text 28] The Birth of Lord Krsna 243

meditation; mé—not; pratyaksam—directly visible; marhsa-drsa4m—to

those who see with their material eyes; krsisthah—please be.
TRANSLATION

My Lord, because You dispell all the fear of Your devotees, I re-
quest You to save us and give us protection from the terrible fear
of Karnsa. Your form as Vignu, the Supreme Personality of God-
head, is appreciated by yogis in meditation. Please make this form
invisible to those who see with material eyes.

PURPORT

The word dhydna-dhisnyam is significant in this verse because the
form of Lord Visnu is meditated upon by yogis (dhydndvasthita-tad-
gatena manasé pasyanti yarn yoginah). Devaki requested the Lord, who
had appeared as Visnu, to conceal that form, for she wanted to see the
Lord as an ordinary child, like a child appreciated by persons who have
material eyes. Devaki wanted to see whether the Supreme Personality of
Godhead had factually appeared or she was dreaming the Visnu form. If
Karnsa were to come, she thought, upon seeing the Visnu form he would
immediately kill the child, but if he saw a human child, he might recon-
sider. Devaki was afraid of Ugrasena-adtmaja; that is, she was afraid not
of Ugrasena and his men, but of the son of Ugrasena. Thus she requested
the Lord to dissipate that fear, since He is always ready to give protection
(abhayam) to His devotees. “My Lord,” she prayed, “I request You to
save me from the cruel hands of the son of Ugrasena, Karnsa. I am pray-
ing to Your Lordship to please rescue me from this fearful condition be-
cause You are always ready to give protection to Your servitors.” The
Lord has confirmed this statement in the Bhagavad-gita by assuring
Arjuna, “You may declare to the world, My devotee shall never be
vanquished.”

While thus praying to the Lord for rescue, mother Devaki expressed
her motherly affection: “I understand that this transcendental form is
generally perceived in meditation by the great sages, but I am still afraid
because as soon as Karnsa understands that You have appeared, he might
harm You. So I request that for the time being You become invisible to
