Upanishads · Kṛṣṇa 1.18
॥
Devanāgarī
क्रीडते बालको भूत्वा पूर्ववत्सुमहोदधौ । संहारार्थं च शत्रूणां रक्षणाय च संस्थितः
Transliteration (IAST)
krīḍate bālako bhūtvā pūrvavatsumahodadhau | saṃhārārthaṃ ca śatrūṇāṃ rakṣaṇāya ca saṃsthitaḥ
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
क्रीडते बालकः भूत्वाkrīḍate bālakaḥ bhūtvāhe plays, having become a child
पूर्व-वत् सु-महा-उदधौpūrva-vat su-mahā-udadhauas before — in the great ocean
संहार-अर्थं च शत्रूणांsaṃhāra-arthaṃ ca śatrūṇāṃfor the destruction of enemies
रक्षणाय च संस्थितःrakṣaṇāya ca saṃsthitaḥand for protection he abides
Translation
"He plays, having become a child — as before in the great ocean; for the destruction of enemies and for protection he abides."
Version
d248ff71705e · published Aug 12, 2026, 5:00:00 AM UTC
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It is worth noting the comparison pūrva-vat su-mahā-udadhau, "as before in the great ocean." What is meant is the image discussed when reading the Rudrākṣa-jābāla (3p6): the child on a banyan leaf amid the waters after the dissolution of the world. And it is said: as He played there, so He plays here.
This correspondence, to my mind, is the most precise of all in the book, and it is worth examining. There, a child floats on the waters of an annihilated world; here, a child runs about a village. And in both cases he is playing.
That is, the book places an equals-sign between the end of the world and village childhood; and this equivalence rests on the word krīḍate, "plays." The second half of the line names two purposes: saṃhāra-artham ("for the destruction of enemies") and rakṣaṇāya ("for protection"). This is a word-for-word retelling of the Gītā's famous verse: paritrāṇāya sādhūnāṃ vināśāya ca duṣkṛtām, dharma-saṃsthāpanārthāya sambhavāmi yuge yuge — "for the deliverance of the righteous, for the destruction of evildoers, and for the establishment of law I appear age after age" (4.8).
It is worth noting that the Gītā names three purposes, while here only two are named: destruction and protection; the establishment of law is omitted. This omission, to my mind, is no accident in a book where everything is interpreted from within: law is established among people, while destruction and protection are accomplished within a person; and the book speaks of the latter.