SB 1.6.13 · Srimad-Bhagavatam

Devanagari

नलवेणुशरस्तन्बकुशकीचकगह्वरम् । एक एवातियातोऽहमद्राक्षं विपिनं महत् । घोरं प्रतिभयाकारं व्यालोलूकशिवाजिरम् ॥ १३ ॥

Verse text

nala-veṇu-śaras-tanba- kuśa-kīcaka-gahvaram eka evātiyāto ’ham adrākṣaṁ vipinaṁ mahat ghoraṁ pratibhayākāraṁ vyālolūka-śivājiram

Synonyms

nala — pipes ; veṇu — bamboo ; śaraḥ — pens ; tanba — full of ; kuśa — sharp grass ; kīcaka — weeds ; gahvaram — caves ; ekaḥ — alone ; eva — only ; atiyātaḥ — difficult to go through ; aham — I ; adrākṣam — visited ; vipinam — deep forests ; mahat — great ; ghoram — fearful ; pratibhaya — ākāram — dangerously ; vyāla — snakes ; ulūka — owls ; śiva — jackals ; ajiram — playgrounds .

Translation

I then passed alone through many forests of rushes, bamboo, reeds, sharp grass, weeds and caves, which were very difficult to go through alone. I visited deep, dark and dangerously fearful forests, which were the play yards of snakes, owls and jackals.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

Passing by mountains colored with gold and silver, trees with branches broken by elephants, pools with fresh water, and lakes used by the devatās, beautified by bees wandering about, awakened by the sounds of birds; all alone, I saw a huge, repulsive, fearsome forest dense with reeds, cane, clumps of śara grass, kuśa grass and hollow bamboo which was the playground for snakes, owls and jackals.

Purport

It is the duty of a mendicant ( parivrājakācārya ) to experience all varieties of God’s creation by traveling alone through all forests, hills, towns, villages, etc., to gain faith in God and strength of mind as well as to enlighten the inhabitants with the message of God. A sannyāsī is duty-bound to take all these risks without fear, and the most typical sannyāsī of the present age is Lord Caitanya, who traveled in the same manner through the central Indian jungles, enlightening even the tigers, bears, snakes, deer, elephants and many other jungle animals. In this Age of Kali, sannyāsa is forbidden for ordinary men. One who changes his dress to make propaganda is a different man from the original ideal sannyāsī. One should, however, take the vow to stop social intercourse completely and devote life exclusively to the service of the Lord. The change of dress is only a formality. Lord Caitanya did not accept the name of a sannyāsī, and in this Age of Kali the so-called sannyāsīs should not change their former names, following in the footsteps of Lord Caitanya. In this age, devotional service of hearing and repeating the holy glories of the Lord is strongly recommended, and one who takes the vow of renunciation of family life need not imitate the parivrājakācārya like Nārada or Lord Caitanya, but may sit down at some holy place and devote his whole time and energy to hear and repeatedly chant the holy scriptures left by the great ācāryas like the Six Gosvāmīs of Vṛndāvana.

Commentary (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

There were mountains resplendent with silver and gold and trees whose branches were broken by elephants. There were ponds with auspicious water and lakes (naliṇīḥ). What type of lakes were they? The lakes were beautified with bees wandering here and there roused by the sounds of birds (patra-rathaiḥ). The grammatical sense of these verses is “Passing all these towns and lakes, I saw a dense forest.” Stamba means clumps of grass. Amara-koṣa explains veṇavaḥ kīcakās te sūrye svananty aniloddhatā: kīcaka is hollow bamboo which makes noise when blown by the wind. Ghoram means repulsive because of its fearsome form. It was the playground (ajīram) of snakes, owls and jackals. I did not have surprise or fear in seeing those surprising and fearsome things, because my mind was absorbed in tasting the sweetness of the Lord at that time.