Verse 1.4.95-96

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration, Word-for-word and English translation of verse 1.4.95-96:

किन्तु तेनाधुनाऽजस्रं महा-कारुण्य-माधुरी ।
यथा प्रकाश्यमानास् ते गम्भीरा पूर्वतोऽधिका ॥ ९५ ॥
विचित्र-लीला-भङ्गी च तथा परम-मोहिनी ।
मुनीनाम् अप्य् अभिज्ञानां यया स्यात् परमो भ्रमः ॥ ९६ ॥

kintu tenādhunā'jasraṃ mahā-kāruṇya-mādhurī |
yathā prakāśyamānās te gambhīrā pūrvato'dhikā || 95 ||
vicitra-līlā-bhaṅgī ca tathā parama-mohinī |
munīnām apy abhijñānāṃ yayā syāt paramo bhramaḥ || 96 ||

However, Śrī Kṛṣṇa even before this time was exhibiting sweetness, full of profound mercy. His wonderful pastimes of playful sports are extremely deluding. Seeing these pastimes, even learned sages also became greatly perplexed.

Commentary: Dig-darśinī-ṭīkā with Bhāvānuvāda

(By Śrīla Sanātana Gosvāmī himself including a deep purport of that commentary)

However, Śrī Bhagavan before this time also exhibited a profound sweetness, full of great mercy, and also various sequences of attractive līlās or pastimes of playful sports. Being bewildering, namely, due to the profound nature of those līlās and the anticipation of an offence, he is explaining this in four ślokas.

If at anytime one becomes bewildered by considering His pastimes like others, then that would be an offence. Therefore, I am being especially doubtful. Gambhirā means those līlās are profoundly grave, fathomless and unlimited. By saying pūrvataḥ (before) means that compared to līlās exhibited in previous forms such as Śrī Rāmacandra, they are extremely deluding (parama mohinī). In other words, even expert, knowledgeable sages became extremely perplexed. Here bhrama means speculation rooted in the mistaken argument whether, “this is an incarnation (avatāra) or the source of all incarnations (avatārī).”