Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.34.23
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
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sarva-bhūtānām
—
of all living beings
Sarva (all) + bhūta (being). Their song is not narrow-cast to the gopīs only — every prāṇī within earshot is drawn. Gauḍīyas note: kṛṣṇa-kathā has universal pull (sarvātma-snapana) even when its target audience is rāgātmika.
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manaḥ-śravaṇa-maṅgalam
—
auspicious for mind and ears
Manaḥ (mind) + śravaṇa (ears, hearing) + maṅgala (auspiciousness). The same maṅgala that titles the maṅgalācaraṇa. Kṛṣṇa's song is mangala — every śravaṇa of it is good fortune. The classical justification for kīrtana as itself bhakti.
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svara-maṇḍala
—
the entire scale of musical tones
Svara (tone, note — the seven svaras of Indian music) + maṇḍala (circle, range). The Brothers sing the complete tonal range. Gauḍīya rasa-śāstra: Kṛṣṇa is the substratum of nāda — every legitimate musical tone returns to Him as its source.
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mūrcchitam
—
augmented, intensified (technical: mūrcchanā)
From √mūrch — to swell, to become intense. In Indian music theory mūrcchanā is a melodic ascending-descending pattern. The same root, in passive, also yields the stunned 'fainting' of the gopīs in the next verse — Śuka's pun: music's mūrcchanā produces the gopīs' mūrcchā.
They respected the beginning of night (nisamukham), fragrant with winds laden with perfume of the water lilies (kumuda vayuna), served by the rising moon and stars and bees maddened by the fragrance of jasmine flowers.
Their singing brought happiness (maṅgalam) to the ears and minds all beings. The songs had mūrcchanas of all the notes. Saṅgīta-sāra describes this. When the seven notes ascending and descending are sung in order it is called mūrcchana. From these, staring with each note of the scale seven scales are derived. These are played or sung in three grāmas (basic scales) making twenty-one mūrcchanas.
Their singing brought happiness (maṅgalam) to the ears and minds all beings. The songs had mūrcchanas of all the notes. Saṅgīta-sāra describes this. When the seven notes ascending and descending are sung in order it is called mūrcchana. From these, staring with each note of the scale, seven scales are derived. These are played or sung in three grāmas (basic scales) making twenty-one mūrcchanas. The two had pastimes of singing with the gopīs, skillful at singing songs which amazed the universe. The singing became excellent because of the two singing together. The gopīs became blissful with this. The purpose was to give happiness to Balarāma who is the ācārya of singing as Śeṣa avatāra, in association of the gopīs expert at music.
- When did kīrtana last actually bring happiness, not just relief, to your mind?
- What forms of His name and song best reach you?
Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma sing the full svara-maṇḍala simultaneously, sound that brings happiness to every ear and mind — the Veda-source Himself doing music. The Sāma-veda, Gauḍīyas remember, is the singing of Kṛṣṇa-kathā; this forest concert is its original.
My note
Source: vedabase.io