FolioCorpusBhagavad-gītā

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.35.4-5

హన్త చిత్రమబలా: శ‍ృణుతేదం హారహాస ఉరసి స్థిరవిద్యుత్ । నన్దసూనురయమార్తజనానాం నర్మదో యర్హి కూజితవేణు: ॥ ౪ ॥ వృన్దశో వ్రజవృషా మృగగావో వేణువాద్యహృతచేతస ఆరాత్ । దన్తదష్టకవలా ధృతకర్ణా నిద్రితా లిఖితచిత్రమివాసన్ ॥ ౫ ॥
hanta citram abalāḥ śṛṇutedaṁ
[hanta chitram abalaah shrinutedam]
hāra-hāsa urasi sthira-vidyut
[haara-haasa urasi sthira-vidyut]
nanda-sūnur ayam ārta-janānāṁ
[nanda-soonur ayam aarta-janaanaam]
narma-do yarhi kūjita-veṇuḥ
[narma-do yarhi koojita-venuh]
vṛndaśo vraja-vṛṣā mṛga-gāvo
[vrindasho vraja-vrishaa mriga-gaavo]
veṇu-vādya-hṛta-cetasa ārāt
[venu-vaadya-hrita-chetasa aaraat]
danta-daṣṭa-kavalā dhṛta-karṇā
[danta-dashta-kavalaa dhrita-karnaa]
nidritā likhita-citram ivāsan
[nidritaa likhita-chitram ivaasan]
hanta — ah citram — wonder abalāḥ — O girls śṛṇuta — hear idam — this hāra — (brilliant) like a necklace hāsaḥ — whose smile urasi — upon the chest sthira — motionless vidyut — lightning nanda - sūnuḥ — son of Nanda Mahārāja ayam — this ārta — troubled janānām — for persons narma — of joy daḥ — the giver yarhi — when kūjita — has vibrated veṇuḥ — His flute vrṇdaśaḥ — in groups vraja — kept in the pasture vṛṣāḥ — the bulls mṛga — the deer gāvaḥ — and the cows veṇu — of the flute vādya — by the playing hṛta — stolen away cetasaḥ — their minds ārāt — at a distance danta — by their teeth daṣṭa — bit kavalāḥ — whose mouthfuls dhṛta — holding up karṇāḥ — their ears nidritāḥ — asleep likhita — drawn citram — an illustration iva — as if āsan — they were .
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
hanta citram abalāḥ śṛṇutedaṁ
hanta
ah
citram
wonder
abalāḥ
O girls
śṛṇuta
hear
hāra-hāsa urasi sthira-vidyut
idam
this
hāra
(brilliant) like a necklace
hāsaḥ
whose smile
nanda-sūnur ayam ārta-janānāṁ
urasi
upon the chest
narma-do yarhi kūjita-veṇuḥ
vṛndaśo vraja-vṛṣā mṛga-gāvo
veṇu-vādya-hṛta-cetasa ārāt
danta-daṣṭa-kavalā dhṛta-karṇā
sthira
motionless
vidyut
lightning
nanda - sūnuḥ
son of Nanda Mahārāja
ayam
this
ārta
troubled
janānām
for persons
narma
of joy
daḥ
the giver
yarhi
when
kūjita
has vibrated
veṇuḥ
His flute
vrṇdaśaḥ
in groups
vraja
kept in the pasture
vṛṣāḥ
the bulls
mṛga
the deer
gāvaḥ
and the cows
veṇu
of the flute
nidritā likhita-citram ivāsan
vādya
by the playing
hṛta
stolen away
cetasaḥ
their minds
ārāt
at a distance
danta
by their teeth
daṣṭa
bit
kavalāḥ
whose mouthfuls
dhṛta
holding up
karṇāḥ
their ears
nidritāḥ
asleep
likhita
drawn
citram
an illustration
iva
as if
āsan
they were .
  • nanda-sūnuḥ — son of Nanda Mahārāja
    Compound: nanda (Nanda, the cowherd king) + sūnuḥ (son). The gopīs do not call Him Bhagavān or Viṣṇu — He is Nanda's boy. Vraja-rasa requires the human, paternal frame: aiśvarya hidden, vātsalya foregrounded, the supreme become someone's son.
  • ārta-janānām narma-daḥ — the giver of joy to persons troubled
    Compound: ārta (distressed) + jana (persons) + narma (jest, playful joy) + daḥ (giver). Kṛṣṇa does not merely relieve distress — He replaces it with narma, playful delight. This is the Gauḍīya signature: not mokṣa but rasa-restoration.
  • hāra-hāsaḥ — whose smile is like a necklace
    Compound: hāra (necklace) + hāsaḥ (smile). His teeth glint like a pearl strand laid across His face. The gopīs habitually describe Kṛṣṇa in ornament-metaphors because, for them, He is the only ornament — everything else is decoration on Him.
  • sthira-vidyut — steady lightning
    Compound: sthira (motionless) + vidyut (lightning). The Śrīvatsa-mark and Lakṣmī on His chest gleam like lightning that does not flicker. Lightning fixed in place — an oxymoron only Bhagavān resolves. Gauḍīyas read the steady-vidyut as the permanence of His mādhurya, not the flash of mere power.
  • hṛta-cetasaḥ — whose minds are stolen away
    Compound: hṛta (stolen) + cetasaḥ (minds, hearts). The cows', deer's, and bulls' minds are robbed by the flute. The same verb hṛ that names Hari — the One who steals hearts. The animals' theft is the gopīs' theft writ small.
  • likhita-citram — drawn as an illustration
    Compound: likhita (drawn) + citram (picture). The deer become a painting — frozen, ears erect, mid-bite. Rūpa Gosvāmī cites this image to show that the highest absorption looks from outside like stillness, but is internally saturated with rasa.
O girls! This son of Nanda, who gives joy to the distressed, bears steady lightning on His chest and has a smile like a jeweled necklace. Now please hear something wonderful. When He vibrates His flute, Vraja’s bulls, deer and cows, standing in groups at a great distance, are all captivated by the sound, and they stop chewing the food in their mouths and cock their ears. Stunned, they appear as if asleep, or like figures in a painting.

The word sthira-vidyut, “steady lightning,” refers to the goddess of fortune, who resides on the chest of the Supreme Lord. When the animals of Vṛndāvana hear the sound of the flute, they become stunned in ecstasy, and thus they stop chewing their food and cannot swallow it. The gopīs, in separation from Kṛṣṇa, marvel at the extraordinary effect of the Lord’s flute-playing. Śrīla Śrīdhara Svāmī gives the following explanation of the compound word hāra-hāsa, which compares Lord Kṛṣṇa’s smile to a necklace: “The word can mean ‘He whose smile is brilliantly clear like a jeweled necklace’ or ‘He whose smile is reflected from His jeweled necklaces,’ because while Kṛṣṇa plays the flute He bends His head down and smiles. The word can also mean ‘He whose smile, like a jeweled necklace, casts its effulgence upon His chest’ or ‘He whose necklaces shine brilliantly, just like a smile.’”

— A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda
Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura Gauḍīya
Translation
O girls! This son of Nanda, who gives joy to the distressed, bears steady lightning on His chest and has a smile like a jeweled necklace. Now please hear something wonderful. When He vibrates His flute, Vraja's bulls, deer and cows, standing in groups at a great distance, are all captivated by the sound, and they stop chewing the food in their mouths and cock their ears. Stunned, they appear as if asleep, or like figures in a painting.
Commentary

What to speak of the intelligent wives of the devatas, the inferior animals also became completely bewildered. One other gopi spoke. "This is more astonishing than the most astonishing thing. O young women (abalah -literally weak persons), whose vow of chastity to husband has become stolen by Krsna. On his chest like a cloud effulgent with a necklace like a string of flying crames, flashes the golden line of Laksmi, like stationary lightning. O gopis , the hot sun of your vows of chastity have been covered by that cloud of Krsna’s chest with its lightening and flying cranes. He makes you who are suffering become the object of ridicule for society (narma da). When does he do this? When he blows his flute (kujita venuh). Just on hearing the flute, your belts become loose. When you attain the state of unmada, you become the object of ridicule for all people. Krsna not only enchants you women, but also the animals and other entities. When the bulls, cows and forest animals chew on the grass, and the sound of the flute enters their bodies through their ears, they cannot swallow the grass, but remain stunned, listening to the flute. Their hearts are stolen by the sound of the flute. Their senses are so bewildered that they appear as if sleeping. The chewed grass remained in their mouths, not falling to the ground. They attain the sancari bhava called jadya. Breathing becomes weak, and they remain standing still, like painted pictures. Rather than being like statues, being like painted pictures gives more astonishment. It was as if a remarkable artist had painted pictures on the canvas of the sky. This gives rise to adbuta rasa.

Jīva Gosvāmī Gauḍīya
Commentary

Having come to the edge of the forest, he plays his flute in order to gather together all the cows and cowherds, to give joy to the forest inhabitants and to tell the people of Vraja following him to return home while comforting them. What to speak of the people, all the animals in the forest and Vraja become bewildered. Hanta expresses their astonishment. They then directly speak. “This is astonishing (citram).” O girls (abalāḥ—weak persons)! On hearing the sound of the flute, they have lost the power of their senses to speak because of the agitation caused by prema. Please listen! They give instructions. He has motionless lighting on his chest. This refers to the famous line of Lakṣmī on his chest, but they do not mention this since it is famous. It is astonishing because the lightning is motionless. His chest is compared to a cloud, which accompanies lightning. Worried that Lakṣmī is a competing lover, they become envious on seeing that she stays on his chest without moving away. Along with the clouds and lightning is the image of a crane, indicated by the words hāra (crane) and hāsa (white). This image of the cloud indicates the ability of the chest to relieve suffering. He is the son of Nanda (one who gives joy to the universe). Therefore by his nature he should give us bliss. He gives bliss to those suffering, like the cows and deer. He (ayam) has come out of his house now! Or, he can now be experienced by everyone. He plays the flute. Or, he has an attractive smile (hāra-hasaḥ). Or, his chest is charming and bright. The bulls kept in Vraja for pulling carts, and the black deer, the cows that go to the forest with him, and other animals also, cannot swallow, chew or spit out the grass in their mouths because their hearts have become attracted by the sound of the flute. They fear making any sound that will interrupt the flute. In holding the grass in their mouths they also say, “Do not play the flute any longer, for we will faint.” They appear to be sleeping. But sleeping people also move. No, they are like painted pictures of bulls and cows. A painted picture (likhita-citram) is more astonishing than an engraved image. The singular is used to indicate the group.

Śrīdhara Svāmī Gauḍīya
Commentary

Having come to the edge of the forest, he plays his to give joy to the forest inhabitants, his assistants who have been separated from him by the night and to send the gopīs home following him and pained by separation. The bewilderment of the bulls and other animals of Vraja, by giving mercy to the people of Vraja with his flute, is joyfully described in two verses. Hanta expresses surprise. How astonishing (citra). O girls (abalāḥ)! This (abalāḥ also means weak) suggests that the gopīs have lost the power of their senses because of the disturbance of prema. He has stationary lightning on his chest. This is Lakṣmī, who is fickle and golden. His chest is compared to cloud. This is called adbhūta upamā. Lakṣmī on his chest is like stationary lightning on a cloud. This indicates special beauty. Or not knowing about this line who is Lakṁsī on his chest, they describe it as lightning. He is the son of Nanda. Nanda means he who gives joy to the world. Having his father’s nature, Kṛṣṇa also gives joy to the world. Ayam indicates that he is now leaving the house. The sound of his flute is also very close. Or nandasūnuḥ means the son who gives joy all of Vraja. Ayam indicates that everyone is directly experiencing him. He gives joy (narmadoḥ) to the suffering people. With his flute he announces his journey to the forest, where he will be during the day to the animals and birds of the forest and village, who were separated from him during the night. His flute comforts the gopīs. Kujita-venuḥ is in the past tense (he played his flute) to indicate that the bulls and others did not hear it immediately, since they were far away. It can be inferred that he had his left arm touching his left cheek as described in the previous verses. That is usually how he plays his flute.

Hanta can also express joy or lamentation. He has an attractive smile (hāra-hāsaḥ). He has Lakṣmī, whose special effulgence (vidyut) remains always (sthira) one his chest. He has a flute which sounds to give joy to suffering people. The sound of the flute in this verse can also indicate that it is not a song, just some sounds. All the animals in Vraja—the bulls, the kṛṣṇasāra deer, cows and one year old calves (males and females included in the words bulls and cows) react to the sound. The new calves are far from their mothers. Others being new, are kept within Vraja. These are all indicated here. The buffalos and boars also are similarly affected by the flute. The bulls are specifically mentioned because Kṛṣṇa has affection for them. The deer in Vraja are mentioned since they are friends with the other animals in Vraja. Or the deer are mentioned to represent all other animals. That is implied in the verse. The order of the animals is according to increasing excellence of attraction to the Lord. The deer are superior to the bulls and the cows are superior to the deer. They have more intelligence to relish the song of the flute. The assisting cowherds are not mentioned since they are always completely full of bliss. Their hearts are stolen by the playing (vādya) of the flute, without even seeing him. Thus his playing is mentioned again. They have mouthfuls of chewed grass in their mouths, which is neither swallowed nor spit out, because their hearts have been stolen. It is as if they fear making any noise when they hear the flute. Their ears are raised to hear the flute. In sleeping there is some movement. The example of a painted picture is given to indicate there is no movement at all. The word likhita is used so that the word citra does not mean simply “astonishing” but instead means picture. The depiction in the picture is exact. Or hearing the flute once in the distance, their hearts become agitated. By hearing it again they put their front feet over their ears to prevent the sound, fearing death by separation. They do not swallow food, to prevent the sound from entering within. Then they seem to faint by seeing him and constantly hearing the sound. This response is considered superior to that of the heavenly women.

Related values
Anahankarah (Freedom from False Ego)Kshama (Forgiveness / Patience)Asteya (Non-stealing / Honesty)Aparigraha (Non-possessiveness)
Related verses

When Kṛṣṇa's flute sounds across the pasture, even the bulls and deer stop chewing mid-mouthful and freeze with ears upturned, as if a painter had caught them on canvas. Bhakti is the flute; the painted stillness is samādhi entered involuntarily by creatures who never sought it — the proof that Kṛṣṇa's sweetness conquers the unwilling.

Hari-nāma stuns the forest at Jhāḍakhaṇḍa

Caitanya-caritāmṛta describes how, walking through the Jhāḍakhaṇḍa forest, Mahāprabhu's hari-nāma stilled tigers and deer alike — they danced together, embraced, and forgot their predation while He chanted.

The parallel to verse 4-5 is exact: Kṛṣṇa's flute-sound stops the cows mid-chew; Caitanya's nāma-saṅkīrtana stops carnivores mid-hunt. Gauḍīyas read both as the same śabda-brahman, the same Bhagavān-as-sound, working downward through every level of nature.

📝 My note

← Read full Chapter 35