attainable only through devotion
When Durvāsas seeks help from Viṣṇu after his clash with King Ambarīṣa, Viṣṇu refuses, declaring his devotees are his heart; he is reached only through bhakti, not by power or learning.
भक्तिगम्यस् त्रयीमूर्तिर् भारार्तवसुधास्तुतः ।देवदेवो दयासिन्धुर् देवदेवशिखामणिः॥
bhaktigamyas trayīmūrtir bhārārtavasudhāstutaḥ ·devadevo dayāsindhur devadevaśikhāmaṇiḥ
attainable only through devotion
When Durvāsas seeks help from Viṣṇu after his clash with King Ambarīṣa, Viṣṇu refuses, declaring his devotees are his heart; he is reached only through bhakti, not by power or learning.
embodiment of the three Vedas
Kṛṣṇa teaches that the three Vedas constitute his sacrificial body; he is simultaneously the sacrifice, the offerer, and the oblation—the visible cosmic form of the Veda.
praised by the Earth, distressed by her burden
the appeal that prompts the descent
Earth-goddess (Vasudhā), crushed under wicked kings' armies, takes cow-form and goes weeping to Brahmā; her prayer sets in motion the entire sequence leading to the avatāra.
God of gods
The gods' hymn at the Milk Ocean opens: 'O God of gods—only you can remove this burden'; Brahmā uses the title again in the post-birth praise witnessing the cosmic form in prison.
ocean of compassion
When Sudāmā (Kucela) arrives at Dvārakā impoverished, Kṛṣṇa runs to embrace him weeping with joy, washes his feet personally, and seizes his handful of flat rice with delight—an ocean of compassion.
crest-jewel of the gods of gods
In his hundred-verse hymn after the Brahma-vimohana episode, Brahmā calls Kṛṣṇa the crest-jewel above all gods, confessing he could not fathom even a fraction of this child's glory.