दामाकल्पश् चलापाङ्गो गाढोलूखलबन्धनः ।आकृष्टोलूखलोऽनन्तः कुबेरसुतशापवित्॥
dāmākalpaś calāpāṅgo gāḍholūkhalabandhanaḥ ·ākṛṣṭolūkhalo'nantaḥ kuberasutaśāpavit
for whom the cord always fell short
no rope could reach around him
'Adorned by the rope as an ornament' — what Yaśodā intends as a punishment becomes Kṛṣṇa's most beautiful ornament; the rope of love binds the Supreme in his most cherished form.
of restless sidelong glances
'Of glancing side-look' — bound to the mortar, the toddler glances sideways with the famous Bhāgavata 'sidelong look' (calāpāṅga); this angle of glance becomes iconic in art.
bound fast to the grinding-mortar
'Tightly bound to the mortar' — Yaśodā wraps the rope tightly several times around his waist and the heavy grinding-mortar; satisfied, she leaves to attend to other work.
who dragged the mortar behind him
Once Yaśodā leaves, the toddler crawls forward, dragging the heavy mortar behind him; the small body pulls the enormous stone object with extraordinary strength.
the endless, the infinite
Ananta Śeṣa, as a form of the Lord, supports all the planetary systems on his hoods; in S.B.G 11 Kṛṣṇa identifies himself as the Ananta who is beyond all counting and ending.
who knew the curse upon Kubera's sons
Nalakūbara and Maṇigrīva
Kṛṣṇa knows that the twin Arjuna trees are the cursed Nala-kūvara and Maṇi-grīva (Kubera's sons), waiting for him to come and free them; his crawling toward those trees is purposeful.
