Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.13.5
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
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ati-ramyam
—
very, very beautiful
Compound: ati (exceedingly) + ramya (charming, from √ram, where Rāma's name comes from). The same root supplies rati and Rāma — beauty in Vraja is never neutral landscape; it is the medium through which the Lord delights and is delighted.
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pulinam
—
the bank of the river
The Yamunā's sandbank — pulina is a Gauḍīya devotional word, the site of Kṛṣṇa's many līlās with the cowherd boys and later with the gopīs. Six Gosvāmīs identified specific pulinas in Vraja; pilgrims still circle them.
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vayasyāḥ
—
My dear friends
Plural vocative — companions of the same age. The sakhya-rasa term. Kṛṣṇa does not address the boys as 'my devotees' or 'subjects'; He calls them age-mates. Gauḍīyas treasure this word as the signature of sakhya: Bhagavān forgets His aiśvarya in friendship.
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sva-keli-sampat
—
full with all paraphernalia for pastimes of play
Compound: sva (own) + keli (play) + sampat (wealth, fullness). The riverbank's wealth is its suitability for play. Gauḍīyas read keli as the technical word for Kṛṣṇa's līlā with His associates — play is not opposed to seriousness; it is the highest activity in Vraja.
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ali
—
the bumblebees
Vraja's bees are not stage decoration; they are recurrent characters in the līlā, drawn especially to Kṛṣṇa's body-fragrance and to the gopīs' garlands. Their humming is one of the standing sounds of Vṛndāvana's soundscape.
The description of Vṛndāvana forest as given herewith was spoken by Kṛṣṇa five thousand years ago, and the same condition prevailed during the time of the Vaiṣṇava ācāryas three or four hundred years ago. Kūjat-kokila-haṁsa-sārasa-gaṇākīrṇe mayūrākule. Vṛndāvana forest is always filled with the chirping and cooing of birds like cuckoos ( kokila ), ducks ( haṁsa ) and cranes ( sārasa ), and it is also full of peacocks ( mayūrākule ). The same sounds and atmosphere still prevail in the area where our Kṛṣṇa-Balarāma temple is situated. Everyone who visits this temple is pleased to hear the chirping of the birds as described here ( kūjat-kokila-haṁsa-sārasa ).
Here is a glorification of a suitable place for a picnic. There was a place which was wide enough for a large number of people to sit down and eat. It had soft clean sand, suitable for sitting on. It had pools full of blossoming lotuses, whose fragrance attracted bees and birds. In the Yamuna water various sounds arose, echoing in the trees which stood there giving shade.
O friends! This place is suitable for us to eat your meal. The place is described. The place has a wealth of things suitable for playing, fighting and eating in rows. There is soft, clean sand for sitting. Because it is fragrant as incense from blossoming lotuses, it is a suitable place for having our meal. This is a symptom of autumn. The bees hum as if singing for us. There are lotus leaves to use as plates. There is fragrant, clear, cool water and the shade of trees to ward off the hot autumn sun. sphuṭat-saro-gandha-hṛtāli-patrika-dhvani-pratidhvāna is a bahu-vrīhi compound combined with lasad-drumākulam which is a tat-puruṣa compound. The combination is a karma-dhāraya compound.
- Could I describe my current home, neighborhood, or workplace with the same affection Kṛṣṇa describes the riverbank?
- Where am I treating my actual location as an inconvenience rather than as a place fit for Kṛṣṇa's pastime?
A hostess setting a table notices every flower and breeze — Kṛṣṇa here is that hostess, turning a riverbank into a dining hall by naming what is already beautiful. To see Vraja rightly is to receive every detail as His arrangement.
My note
Source: vedabase.io