loke bhavāñ jagad-inaḥ kalayāvatīrṇaḥ sad-rakṣaṇāya khala-nigrahaṇāya cānyaḥ kaścit tvadīyam atiyāti nideśam īśa kiṁ vā janaḥ sva-kṛtam ṛcchati tan na vidmaḥ

Synonyms (Word-for-Word)

loke — into this world; bhavān — You; jagat — of the universe; inaḥ — the predominator; kalayā — with Your expansion Baladeva, or with Your time potency; avatīrṇaḥ — having descended; sat — the saintly; rakṣaṇāya — to protect; khala — the wicked; nigrahaṇāya — to subdue; ca — and; anyaḥ — other; kaścit — someone; tvadīyam — Your; atiyāti — transgresses; nideśam — the law; īśa — O Lord; kim vā — or else; janaḥ — a person; sva — by himself; kṛtam — created; ṛcchati — obtains; tat — that; na vidmaḥ — we do not understand.

Translation

“You are the predominating Lord of the universe and have descended into this world with Your personal power to protect the saintly and suppress the wicked. We cannot understand, O Lord, how anyone can transgress Your law and still continue to enjoy the fruits of his work.”

Bhaktivedanta Purport

By Śrīla Prabhupāda

Śrīdhara Svāmī explains that the kings were bewildered by the suffering that had come upon them. They state here that since the Lord has descended to this world to protect the pious and punish the wicked, how is it that Jarāsandha, who brazenly transgressed the order of the Lord, continued to perform his wicked activities, whereas the kings were put into a miserable condition? Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura similarly states that the kings could not understand how Jarāsandha, who harassed the saintly devotees and nourished the envious, could continue to prosper, whereas the kings were being tormented by the wicked Jarāsandha. Similarly Śrīla Prabhupāda quotes the kings as follows in Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead: “My dear Lord, You are the proprietor of all the worlds, and You have incarnated Yourself along with Your plenary expansion Lord Balarāma. It is said that Your appearance in this incarnation is for the purpose of protecting the faithful and destroying the miscreants. Under the circumstances, how is it possible that miscreants like Jarāsandha can put us into such deplorable conditions of life against Your authority? We are puzzled at the situation and cannot understand how it is possible. It may be that Jarāsandha has been deputed to give us such trouble because of our past misdeeds, but we have heard from revealed scriptures that anyone who surrenders unto Your lotus feet immediately becomes immune to the reactions of sinful life… [We] therefore… wholeheartedly offer ourselves unto Your shelter, and we hope that Your Lordship will now give us full protection.”