Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.15.4
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
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vanaspatīn
—
the lordly trees
Compound: vana (forest) + pati (lord). Lord-trees — large fruiting trees. Gauḍīyas read this with affection: in Vraja, even the trees are conscious devotees in tree-form, taking that birth to serve Kṛṣṇa from one fixed spot.
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ādi-pūruṣaḥ
—
the primeval Supreme Lord
ādi (original) + puruṣa (Person). Brahma-saṁhitā 5.1: īśvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṇaḥ sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ, anādir ādir govindaḥ — Kṛṣṇa is the original Person without origin. The trees bow not to a passing prince but to the source of all persons.
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agra-jam
—
to His elder brother, Lord Balarāma
agra (front) + ja (born). The one born first. Gauḍīya: Balarāma is ādi-guru in the Vraja-līlā — the elder whom even Kṛṣṇa addresses with respect. The svayaṁ-bhagavān bows to His own first expansion. Vaiṣṇava etiquette is established by Kṛṣṇa Himself.
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pādayoḥ
—
at His two feet
Dual locative of pāda. The trees' tips touch the two lotus feet — the same feet Lakṣmī massages in Vaikuṇṭha, here walking dust-paths. Vraja-bhakti's central image: those feet, here, accessible to even a tree.
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smayan iva
—
almost laughing
smayan (smiling) + iva (as if). The smile is iva — a near-laugh. Gauḍīyas note: Kṛṣṇa's smile at this moment is the smile of recognition — He sees the trees as His own devotees and smiles in return. The smile, not the speech, is the līlā's center here.
The words mudā smayann iva indicate that Lord Kṛṣṇa was in a joking mood. He knew that the trees were actually bowing down to worship Him. But in the following verse the Lord, speaking in a friendly, lighthearted mood, gives the credit to His brother, Balarāma.
Seeing all the trees bending down with reddish shoots, fruits and flowers to touch his feet, Krsna smiled. Seeing himself glorified by the trees, it was improper for him to speak of his own glorification when he praised the trees. Therefore he smiled in great bliss, and unable to remain silent, he began to speak, giving his glorification to Balarama. Thus he addresses Balarama as adi purusa in verse 6. He appeared to smile, or almost smile (hasan iva), in order to hide his intentions from Balarama. Bhagavatamrta says: "When the sweetness of Vrndavana and its inhabitants became strong in the mind of Krsna and he began praising them, through which he himself receives praise, he did so by using Balarama as the object of praise. However the verses do not actually depict Balaraman’s glories. Out of sakhya bhava, Krsna speaks his own glories in a joking way in the name of Balarama." Though Krsna is the younger brother of Balarama, in this verse Krsna is addressed as adi purusa to denote his position as svayam bhagavan.
He saw everywhere (tatra tatra) the trees with branches touching his feet, heavy with flowers and fruit, with a wealth of red shoots. Or, he saw the trees with branches touching his feet, because of being heavy with flowers and fruit. This was the best of forests because it had huge trees (vanaspatīn). According to Amara-koṣa the word vanaspati means a tree which bears fruits without flowers and vānaspati means a tree which bears fruits and flowers. The word vanaspati does not refer to all trees. However by the rule of inclusion by similar form, this word can include vānaspati. His smile indicated a joking mood as indicated in verse 7-9 in which his words stimulate his fickle mood. Playing with boys his own age and identifying with them, with predominance of bālya feelings in his sakhya mood, he puts relationship with his elder brother in a secondary role. That is indicated by the word iva. The two moods as brother or friend will sometimes appear in either of them. kvacit krīḍā-pariśrāntaṁ gopotsaṅgopabarhaṇam svayaṁ viśramayaty āryaṁ pāda-saṁvāhanādibhiḥ When his elder brother, fatigued from playing, would lie down with his head upon the lap of a cowherd boy, Kṛṣṇa would help him relax by personally massaging his feet and offering other services. SB 10.15.14 Since Kṛṣṇa regards him as his elder brother, if there is joking, it is done in the form of praise. “If that is so, why does Balarāma not joke with Kṛṣṇa since he is superior?” Kṛṣṇa is ādi-puruṣa. He is superior in qualities and is puruṣa. Thus Kṛṣṇa praises him as if singing with joking verses. Out of joyful heart for many enjoyments, he first decided to enjoy this one pastime. Because the Lord produces this joking, it also proves to be true.
He saw everywhere (tatra tatra) the huge trees (vanaspatim) with branches touching his feet, heavy with flowers and fruit, with a wealth (śrī) of red shoots. Or because of the weight the branches touching his feet he smiled and spoke. Or because of the beauty (śri) of the buds red, more beautiful than the red buds of his feet he smiled and spoke. The branches touched his feet with devotion. The leaves are not mentioned since they were not so excellent as the fruit and flowers. He smiled because that was natural to him. Or he smiled because spontaneously he would speak descriptions to Balarāma. Kṛṣṇa is called ādi-puruṣa because it was suitable for him to speak to Balarāma, who had appeared as his elder brother for some special pastimes. Since the previous verse mentioned that Kṛṣṇa had developed the urge to enjoy, he would now perform one pastime to give joy to the heart. Or since he is the highest person (ādī-purusaḥ), all types of sweetness and pastimes and respect for Balarāma to teach the people were suitable for him to perform. Here is the principle. Pleased with the trees since they bowed to him, he desired to benedict them, but was shy because of his possession of good qualities. Using the pretext of respecting his elder brother he described the trees’ service attitude. He showed special mercy to the inhabitants of the forest on first entering there by description of the forest’s qualities.
- How readily do I deflect praise toward those who walk beside me?
- What gift have I been receiving lately that I should publicly attribute to someone else?
A tree bowing under fruit is doing two things at once — yielding to gravity and yielding to the gardener. Vṛndāvana's trees, branches heavy with reddish buds and blossoms, bend not because of weight alone but because the original Person is walking among them. The same hand that holds them up has come close enough to receive their offering.
My note
Source: vedabase.io