Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.21.5
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
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barha-āpīḍam
—
peacock feather as the decoration of His head
Barha (peacock-feather) + āpīḍa (crest-ornament). Mayūra-piccha is Kṛṣṇa's emblem of Vraja — His Mathurā/Dvārakā crowns are bejeweled, but in Vṛndāvana He wears what He picked up from the dancing peacocks. A sign He is theirs.
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naṭa-vara
—
of the best of dancers
Naṭa-vara — 'topmost actor.' Gauḍīyas treat Kṛṣṇa's līlā as nāṭya in the technical Bharatamuni sense: a staged manifestation of rasa, where the audience (devotee) is drawn into the very emotion being performed.
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vaijayantīm
—
named Vaijayantī
The five-coloured forest-garland made of pārijāta, mandāra, kunda, kuṅkuma and tamāla flowers — only Viṣṇu wears Vaijayantī (cf. SB 8.18.2). Its presence here marks the cowherd boy as svayaṁ-bhagavān, not a junior avatāra.
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adhara-sudhayā
—
with the nectar of His lips
Adhara (lower lip) + sudhā (immortal nectar). In mādhurya-rasa lexicon, adhara-sudhā is the supreme rasa, accessible only through gopī-bhāva; Rūpa Gosvāmī's Padyāvalī gathers verses on it. The flute drinks what the gopīs ache for.
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vṛndā-araṇyam
—
the forest of Vṛndāvana
Vṛndā (the tulasī-devī presiding over the forest) + araṇya (forest). Gauḍīyas hold Vṛndāvana to be aprākṛta — non-material; the same land in Vraja-maṇḍala that the Six Gosvāmīs uncovered, identical with Goloka above.
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sva-pada
—
of His own lotus feet
Sva (own) + pada (foot). Kṛṣṇa-caraṇa-reṇu — the dust of His feet — is the supreme prayojana, more valuable than mukti (Brahma in SB 10.14.34 prays to be reborn as grass to feel it). Here the dust is given freely, just by walking.
The gopīs remembered all the transcendental qualities of Kṛṣṇa mentioned in this verse. Kṛṣṇa’s artful way of dressing and the beautiful blue flowers placed over His ears excited the gopīs’ romantic desires, and as He poured the nectar of His lips into His flute, they simply lost themselves in ecstatic love for Him.
Overcome with emotion, Śukadeva elaborates the description in two verses. The bahuvrīhi compound naṭa-vara-vapuḥ indicates non-difference of the person from the object mentioned. Naṭa-vara-vapuḥ means that Kṛṣṇa had a body of a dancer. yan martya-līlaupayikaṁ sva-yoga- māyā-balaṁ darśayatā gṛhītam vismāpanaṁ svasya ca saubhagarddheḥ paraṁ padaṁ bhūṣaṇa-bhūṣaṇāṅgam Kṛṣṇa possesses that form suitable for human pastimes to show the full capacity of his yoga-māyā. That form astonishes even himself. It is the pinnacle of auspicious qualities and enhances the beauty of his ornaments. SB 3.2.12 Since his beauty astonishes even himself, it is natural that he is the best among dancers; among all his associates he is the most attractive. But now he was also dressed as a dancer (naṭa-veśa). Or, possessing such a body, he was nourished by the appearance of its continual beauty. Another version has naṭa-vara. The karṇikāra flower is yellow with the shape of a lotus. The Vaijayantī garland is made from flowers of five different colors. He filled the holes of the flute with the nectar of his lips. This indicates that the sound of the flute coming from the holes would be as attractive as the nectar of his lips. He entered the forest of Vṛndā. Vṛndā, the protector of the forest, cleaned and decorated it specially with the intention of stimulating Kṛṣṇa for pastimes. That forest gave bliss (ramaṇam) to all persons and to Vṛndā since it was marked everywhere with his extraordinary foot prints. Or the forest was attractive to his feet by being filled with charming, soft dust, fragrance of flowers, leaves etc. Since Vraja was within Vṛndāvana, the beauty of his foot prints extended there also. He was glorified by the cowherd boys’ songs. They praised him in various ways with beauty and skill. Or seeing the gopīs’ emotions, he glorified them with songs, not mentioning them specifically out of shyness. His pearl necklace and gold armbands are not mentioned since they were there naturally as his eternal decorations, or because of the overwhelming attractiveness of his forest ornaments. Or, on coming to the beginning of the forest, he put on only forest decorations, in order to dress appropriately for pastimes on the first day of autumn. Balarāma was included among the cowherd boys. He is not mentioned because the gopīs were attracted to Kṛṣṇa. Thus Balarāma was an assistant as one among his entourage.
Assuming a special bhāva, Śukadeva remembers Kṛṣṇa’s dress on that occasion. After describing the gopīs he describes Kṛṣṇa. Śrīdhara Svāmī explains that the intention of the verse is to describe the form that disturbed their minds. By remembering his activities, their minds became disturbed from his forest dress. Thus they could not speak. This verse thus gives another reason why they could not speak by describing his form (rather than just his activities). Or later, with effort they were able to speak this verse since the next verse begins with iti, indicating someone just spoke. He was dressed as a human and a dancer, with colorful clothing (naṭa-nara-vapuḥ). Devatās always wear colorful clothing. Among humans the dancer at certain times wears colorful clothing for dancing. Thus he wore a peacock feather etc. Or he manifested a body which causes all jīvas to dance in joy. Or he had a human body of a dancer. Instead of nara the word vara is also seen. He had a karṇikāra flower on each ear. The karṇikāra flower is yellow and shaped like a lotus. He had two pieces of yellow cloth. In the spring and autumn these flowers are plentiful and create beauty. He wore a vaijayantī garland, which is made of flowers having five colors. He filled the holes of his flute with the nectar from his lips. This means he played the flute with a special bhāva, which enchanted him as well as the gopīs. . He entered the forest of Vṛndā, who was the controller of that forest. She was always eager to make arrangements for Kṛṣṇa’s special pastimes. The forest was charming (ramaṇam) or gave happiness to all because of his extraordinary footprints everywhere. Or the forest produced rati or attraction for his feet since it was soft and covered with flower pollen and petals. He was glorified, because of his beauty and skills, with songs by the cowherd boys. Or he glorifies the gopīs with songs showing his special bhāva (gīta-kīrtiḥ). He did not directly name the gopīs out of shyness. His gold ornaments and pearl necklaces are not mentioned, since he has them all the time. Or on the first day of autumn he entered the forest wearing a forest dress, in order to play freely in the forest. It is not mentioned that Balarāma was with him, though this has been mentioned previously and will also be mentioned later, since having the special bhāva would be embarrassing for him in front of his elder brother. Or because Śukadeva was completely overcome by the activities to be described, mentioning Balarāma would not add to the description of Kṛṣṇa. He is however included in the phrase gopa-vṛndaiḥ.
- Which feature of Kṛṣṇa's form do I rarely visualize, and what would that absence be costing me?
- Where could a few minutes of detailed visualization deepen my next sit?
He is the dance and the dancer — peacock-feather above, karṇikāra-flower at each ear, kanaka-yellow cloth, Vaijayantī swinging on His chest — and the flute is the lip-cup He drinks Himself into. Vṛndāvana's dust is being signed by His feet; her trees are being signed by the song. Bhakti is when both signatures fall on the same heart.
My note
Source: vedabase.io