FolioCorpusŚrīmad-Bhāgavatam

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.47.8

खगा वीतफलं वृक्षं भुक्त्वा चातिथयो गृहम् । दग्धं मृगास्तथारण्यं जारा भुक्त्वा रतां स्‍त्रियम् ॥ ८ ॥
khagā vīta-phalaṁ vṛkṣaṁ
[khagaa veeta-phalam vriksham]
bhuktvā cātithayo gṛham
[bhuktvaa chaatithayo griham]
dagdhaṁ mṛgās tathāraṇyaṁ
[dagdham mrigaas tathaaranyam]
jārā bhuktvā ratāṁ striyam
[jaaraa bhuktvaa rataam striyam]
khagāḥ — birds vīta — rid phalam — of its fruits vṛkṣam — a tree bhuktvā — having eaten ca — and atithayaḥ — guests gṛham — a house dagdham — burned down mṛgāḥ — animals tathā — similarly araṇyam — a forest jārāḥ — paramours bhuktvā — having enjoyed ratām — attracted striyam — a woman .
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
khagā vīta-phalaṁ vṛkṣaṁ
khagāḥ
birds
vīta
rid
phalam
of its fruits
vṛkṣam
a tree
bhuktvā cātithayo gṛham
bhuktvā
having eaten
ca
and
atithayaḥ
guests
gṛham
a house
dagdhaṁ mṛgās tathāraṇyaṁ
dagdham
burned down
mṛgāḥ
animals
tathā
similarly
araṇyam
a forest
jārā bhuktvā ratāṁ striyam
jārāḥ
paramours
bhuktvā
having enjoyed
ratām
attracted
striyam
a woman .
  • khagāḥ — birds
    From kha (sky) + ga (going). Sky-goers — wanderers by nature. The gopīs catalog every type of departure; birds become the first emblem of the unfaithful guest.
  • atithayaḥ — guests
    From a + tithi (without fixed date) — one who comes unannounced. The guest is honored but transient. The gopīs are saying: do not let our Kṛṣṇa be the guest who eats and leaves.
  • jārāḥ — paramours
    From √jṝ (to grow old, decay). A jāra is an illicit lover whose interest decays with use. Critically, Gauḍīya theology accepts jāra-bhāva as the highest rasa — the gopīs' very accusation of Kṛṣṇa as jāra is the supreme bhāva Rūpa Gosvāmī celebrates.
  • ratām — attracted
    Past participle of √ram (to delight in). The woman remains in rati; the man departs. The asymmetry is the wound. Yet Gauḍīyas read it as the gopīs' boast: they remain in rati, no matter what He does.
Birds abandon a tree when its fruits are gone, guests a house after they have eaten, animals a forest that has burnt down, and a lover the woman he has enjoyed, even though she remains attached to him.
Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura Gauḍīya
Translation
Birds abandon a tree when its fruits are gone, guests a house after they have eaten, animals a forest that has burnt down, and a lover the woman he has enjoyed, even though she remains attached to him.
Commentary

The last verse explained that friendship do not exist without motivation . This verse illustrates that statement by listing a series of examples (dipaka nyaya). "The prostitute gives up the penniless man. As long as the man has money, she does not give him up. The citizens give up the king who cannot protect them. The priest gives up the sponsor once has given a donation. The bird gives up the tree once the fruit have rotted. A paramour gives up a woman though she is eager enjoyment. As long as she is young he does not give her up. Where the motivation no longer exists, the friendship ceases. Since Krsna has fulfilled his goals with the women of Mathura, how is it possible that we are worthy of his remembrance?" Therefore they indicate that Krsna did not have love for the gopis. In this verse woman in the singular and paramours is in the plural form. This implies that it is alright to reject a woman who is involved with many men out of lust. "However we are many, and we have only one male object of love. ( And it is not impelled by lust since we had prema for him since childhood.) Yet still he does not show us love. By neglecting so many of us, he shows unprecedented cruelty in his heart."

Jīva Gosvāmī Gauḍīya
Commentary

Animals give up a burned down forest. The word jārā (paramour) indicates criticism of the man, not the woman he gives up. The word prostitute is not used to describe the woman. She is simply described as attached. The examples are used to show that the gopīs are faultless. When he discerned our attraction for him, we accepted him with dedication. Having enjoyed us, he rejected us. He is a jāra. The gopīs use the plural for him (jārāḥ) and the singular for the woman (striyam). One woman attached to such men may have many such lovers. Thus she is also criticized. Such a woman regards these men as her own. Thus people expect money, protection, learning, livelihood from performing worship, food, shelter and love. Among these motives some are auspicious and others inauspicious, but all are conditional factors, not based on affection.

Śrīdhara Svāmī Gauḍīya
Commentary

Birds, wandering in the sky and seeing fruit, come there. Guests by invitation or because of hunger come to a house to eat. Animals come to a forest for fresh grass but give it up when it is burned down. Men give up women they have enjoyed. Speaking generally, they do not actually indicate their own condition though they speak out of misery. Since they are dedicated to Kṛṣṇa with the highest prema, they cannot have a relationship like a material man and woman. The eight examples are related to material goals.

Related values
Anahankarah (Freedom from False Ego)Kshama (Forgiveness / Patience)Asteya (Non-stealing / Honesty)Aparigraha (Non-possessiveness)
Related verses
Birds abandon a fruitless tree, guests a house after eating, animals a burnt forest, a lover the enjoyed woman though she remains attached. Asymmetric departure is normal in this world — the user leaves first; the loved one is left holding the attachment.
Reflection Questions
  • Where have you been the one 'still attached' after another moved on?
  • What does Kṛṣṇa's relationship offer that ordinary lovers don't?

Like the doe abandoned by her lover-stag, like a fruit-stripped tree left behind by birds — the gopī sees the world as one long story of departure. And yet, the next breath of the chapter will undo this list: a true devotee does not abandon, because the relationship is the substance.

Sītā in the Aśoka grove

When Rāvaṇa carried Sītā off, Rāma did not abandon her. He crossed the ocean, slew the rākṣasa, and brought her back. Caitanya-caritāmṛta treats Rāma's faithfulness as the dāsya-rasa template — the Lord never truly leaves the soul that has surrendered.

The gopīs of this verse fear they are the abandoned doe; the next chapter will reveal that Kṛṣṇa, like Rāma, never let them go.

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