Devanagari
श्रीभगवानुवाच
अहो अमी देववरामरार्चितं
पादाम्बुजं ते सुमन:फलार्हणम् ।
नमन्त्युपादाय शिखाभिरात्मन-
स्तमोऽपहत्यै तरुजन्म यत्कृतम् ॥ ५ ॥
Verse text
śrī-bhagavān uvāca
aho amī deva-varāmarārcitaṁ
pādāmbujaṁ te sumanaḥ-phalārhaṇam
namanty upādāya śikhābhir ātmanas
tamo-’pahatyai taru-janma yat-kṛtam
Synonyms
śrī
—
bhagavān uvāca — Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa said
;
aho
—
oh
;
amī
—
these
;
deva
—
vara — O best of Lords (Śrī Balarāma)
;
amara
—
by the immortal demigods
;
arcitam
—
worshiped
;
pāda
—
ambujam — to the lotus feet
;
te
—
of You
;
sumanaḥ
—
of flowers
;
phala
—
and fruits
;
arhaṇam
—
offerings
;
namanti
—
they are bowing down
;
upādāya
—
presenting
;
śikhābhiḥ
—
with their heads
;
ātmanaḥ
—
their own
;
tamaḥ
—
darkness of ignorance
;
apahatyai
—
for the purpose of eliminating
;
taru
—
janma — their birth as trees
;
yat
—
by which ignorance
;
kṛtam
—
created .
Translation
The Supreme Personality of Godhead said: O greatest of Lords, just see how these trees are bowing their heads at Your lotus feet, which are worshipable by the immortal demigods. The trees are offering You their fruits and flowers to eradicate the dark ignorance that has caused their birth as trees.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
The Supreme Personality of Godhead said: O greatest of Lords, just see how these trees are bowing their heads at Your lotus feet, which are worshipable by the immortal demigods. The trees are offering You their fruits and flowers to eradicate the dark ignorance that has caused their birth as trees.
KB 10.15.5
“My dear brother, You are superior to all of us, and Your lotus feet are worshiped by the demigods. Just see how these trees, full with fruits and flowers, have bent down to worship Your lotus feet. It appears that they are trying to get out of the darkness that has obliged them to accept the form of trees. Actually, the trees born in the land of Vṛndāvana are not ordinary living entities. Having held the impersonal point of view in their past lives, they have been put into this stationary condition of life, but now they have the opportunity of seeing You in Vṛndāvana, and they are praying for further advancement in spiritual life through Your personal association. Generally, living entities in the mode of darkness obtain the bodies of trees. The impersonalist philosophers are in that darkness, but they eradicate it by taking full advantage of Your presence.
Purport
The trees of Vṛndāvana were thinking that because of past offenses they had now taken birth as trees and, being immovable, could not accompany Lord Kṛṣṇa in His wanderings throughout the Vṛndāvana area. In fact, all the creatures of Vṛndāvana, including the trees and cows, were great souls who could personally associate with the Supreme Personality of Godhead. But because of ecstatic sentiments of separation, the trees considered themselves in ignorance and thus tried to purify themselves by bowing down at the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma. Lord Kṛṣṇa understanding their mentality, simultaneously glanced at them with affection and praised their devotional service before His older brother, Balarāma.
Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Knowing the minds of the trees who wanted to worship his own lotus feet, Krsna, glancing at the trees, spoke to Balarama about their glories as great devotees. "Holding on their heads gifts of fruits and flowers, they are bowing down to your lotus feet with devotion. Why? They bow to purify themselves of offenses, which had caused them to take birth as trees." "Because we have committed such great offenses, we have become trees and cannot approach Krsna." Krsna in this way interprets the trees’words, stemming from their attraction to Krsna. However, since Brahma prayed to be born as a tree in Vraja, the trees there could not have been born there as a result of offenses.
Purport (Jiva Goswami)
Aho indicates joy or astonishment. O best of the devatās! Though they are trees (amī), taking presentations of flowers and fruits in the tips of their branches (or on their heads), as worthy offerings, they bow to your lotus feet, which are worshipped by Brahmā and liberated souls. How can trees have consciousness? They have taken birth as trees in Vṛndāvana in order to destroy darkness of those who see or hear about this incident. Or, taking birth as trees, they destroy the suffering caused by attachment to your association (and now being separated) by bowing down. This would refer to nitya-siddhas. For sādhana-siddhas they take birth as trees to destroy their suffering of not having attained you yet, as in the prayers of Brahmā. Kṛṣṇa desired to wander freely everywhere to give happiness to all.
Purport (Sanatana Goswami)
Aho indicates joy or astonishment. O best of the devatās! Though they are trees (amī), taking presentations of flowers (sumanaḥ) and fruits in the tips of their branches (or on their heads), as worthy offerings they bow to your lotus feet, which are worshipped by Brahmā and liberated souls. By using the word sumanaḥ (also meaning good natured) it is suggested that the plants have feelings of love. They are worshipped by the devatās having a predominance of sattva. They have taken birth as trees in order to remove ignorance.
Or, O brother (aho)! The trees are worship by those having no death (amara), the best of the devatās (deva-vara) like Brahmā. Even those who are liberated are ignorant, since they are deprived of prema when they merge in Brahman. (Thus they also worship the trees which have the opportunity for service to Kṛṣṇa.) Using their branches as their heads, the trees bring offerings with devotion to the world. They have taken birth as trees to remove ignorance, their bad karma. This is a prayer so that all the plants can be liberated from their ignorant condition. The plants cannot approach you like the animals and birds, which are mobile.
Or they bow down with their branches to remove their (ātṁanaḥ) lamentable condition (tamas)--you gave them birth as trees. Therefore they should always have your association.