Srimad-Bhagavatam: Canto 10 - Chapter 1 - Verse 52

Sanskrit:

इति स्वाघमनुस्मृत्य कृष्णे ते कृतहेलना: ।दिदृक्षवो व्रजमथ कंसाद् भीता न चाचलन् ॥ ५२ ॥

ITRANS:

iti svāgham anusmṛtyakṛṣṇe te kṛta-helanāḥdidṛkṣavo vrajam athakaṁsād bhītā na cācalan

Translation:

Thus reflecting on the sin they had committed by neglecting Lord Kṛṣṇa, they became very eager to see Him. But being afraid of King Kaṁsa, they did not dare go to Vraja.

Purport:

Realizing their offense against Lord Kṛṣṇa, and finally appreciating His almighty position, the brāhmaṇas naturally wanted to rush to Vraja and surrender at the lotus feet of the Lord. But they were afraid that Kaṁsa would certainly kill them when his spies reported that they had gone to Kṛṣṇa. The brāhmaṇas’ wives were absorbed in ecstatic Kṛṣṇa consciousness and thus went to Kṛṣṇa anyway, just as the gopīs, simply to dance with the Lord, traveled in the dead of night through a forest inhabited by wild animals. But the brāhmaṇas were not on such an advanced platform of Kṛṣṇa consciousness and thus, overcome by fear of Kaṁsa, could not see the Lord face to face.