Text-08-11
SB 10.35.8-11
anucaraih samanuvarnita-virya
adi-purusa ivacala-bhutih
vana-caro giri-tatesu carantir
venunahvayati gah sa yada hi
vana-latas tarava atmani visnum
vyañjayantya iva puspa-phaladhyah
pranata-bhara-vitapa madhu-dharah
prema-hrsta-tanavo vavrsuh sma
darsaniya-tilako vana-mala-
divya-gandha-tulasi-madhu-mattaih
ali-kulair alaghu gitam abhistam
adriyan yarhi sandhita-venuh
sarasi sarasa-hamsa-vihangas
caru-gita-hrta-cetasa etya
harim upasata te yata-citta
hanta milita-drso dhrta-maunah
Translation:
Krsna moves about the forest in the company of His friends, who vividly chant the glories of His magnificent deeds. He thus appears just like the Supreme Personality of Godhead exhibiting His inexhaustible opulences. When the cows wander onto the mountainsides and Krsna calls out to them with the sound of His flute, the trees and creepers in the forest respond by becoming so luxuriant with fruits and flowers that they seem to be manifesting Lord Visnu within their hearts. As their branches bend low with the weight, the filaments on their trunks and vines stand erect out of the ecstasy of love of God, and both the trees and the creepers pour down a rain of sweet sap.
Purport:
Maddened by the divine, honeylike aroma of the tulasi flowers on the garland Krsna wears, swarms of bees sing loudly for Him, and that most beautiful of all persons thankfully acknowledges and acclaims their song by taking His flute to His lips and playing it. The charming flute-song then steals away the minds of the cranes, swans and other lake-dwelling birds. Indeed they approach Krsna, close their eyes and, maintaining strict silence, worship Him by fixing their consciousness upon Him in deep meditation.
Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura has made several illuminating comments on these verses. He gives the analogy that just as when householder Vaisnavas hear a sankirtana party approaching they become ecstatic and offer obeisances, so the trees and creepers in Vrndavana became ecstatic when they heard Krsna’s flute and bowed low with their branches and vines. The word darsaniya-tilaka in text 10 indicates not only that the Lord is “the most excellent (to see),” but also that He decorated Himself with attractive reddish tilaka taken from the mineral-rich earth of Vrndavana forest.
Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti also points out that tulasi, although exalted in many ways, is not normally considered an especially fragrant plant. However, early in the morning tulasi emits a transcendental fragrance that ordinary people cannot perceive but that transcendental personalities fully appreciate. The bees who are privileged to swarm about the flower garlands worn by the Supreme Personality of Godhead certainly appreciate this fragrance, and Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti quotes from the Bhagavatam (3.15.19) to the effect that the most fragrant plants in Vaikuntha also appreciate the special qualifications of Tulasi-devi.
The word sandhita-venuh in text 10 indicates that Lord Krsna placed His flute firmly upon His lips. And the melody emanating from that flute is certainly the most enchanting of sounds, as the gopis describe in this chapter.