SB 10.15.6 · Srimad-Bhagavatam

Devanagari

एतेऽलिनस्तव यशोऽखिललोकतीर्थं गायन्त आदिपुरुषानुपथं भजन्ते । प्रायो अमी मुनिगणा भवदीयमुख्या गूढं वनेऽपि न जहत्यनघात्मदैवम् ॥ ६ ॥

Verse text

ete ’linas tava yaśo ’khila-loka-tīrthaṁ gāyanta ādi-puruṣānupathaṁ bhajante prāyo amī muni-gaṇā bhavadīya-mukhyā gūḍhaṁ vane ’pi na jahaty anaghātma-daivam

Synonyms

ete — these ; alinaḥ — bees ; tava — Your ; yaśaḥ — glories ; akhila — loka — for all worlds ; tīrtham — the place of pilgrimage ; gāyantaḥ — are chanting ; ādi — puruṣa — O original Personality of Godhead ; anupatham — following You along the path ; bhajante — they are engaged in worshiping ; prāyaḥ — for the most part ; amī — these ; muni — gaṇāḥ — great sages ; bhavadīya — among Your devotees ; mukhyāḥ — the most intimate ; gūḍham — hidden ; vane — within the forest ; api — even though ; na jahati — they do not abandon ; anagha — O sinless one ; ātma — daivam — their own worshipable Deity .

Translation

O Original Personality, these bees must all be great sages and most elevated devotees of Yours, for they are worshiping You by following You along the path and chanting Your glories, which are themselves a holy place for the entire world. Though You have disguised Yourself within this forest, O sinless one, they refuse to abandon You, their worshipable Lord.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

O original personality, these bees must all be great sages and most elevated devotees of Yours, for they are worshiping You by following You along the path and chanting Your glories, which are themselves a holy place for the entire world. Though You have disguised Yourself within this forest, O sinless one, they refuse to abandon You, their worshipable Lord. KB 10.15.6 I think the drones that are buzzing all around You must have been Your devotees in their past lives. They cannot leave Your company because no one can be a better, more affectionate master than You. You are the supreme and original Personality of Godhead, and the drones are just trying to spread Your glories by chanting at every moment. I think some of them must be great sages, devotees of Your Lordship, and they are disguising themselves in the form of drones because they are unable to give up Your company even for a moment. My dear brother, You are the supreme worshipable Godhead.

Purport

The word gūḍham is significant in this verse. It indicates that although the Supreme Personality of Godhead in His form of Kṛṣṇa or Balarāma appears like an ordinary human being within the material world, great sages always recognize the Lord as the Supreme Absolute Truth. All the transcendental forms of Godhead are eternal and full of bliss and knowledge, exactly the opposite of our material bodies, which are temporary and full of misery and ignorance. One meaning of the word tīrtha is “the means for crossing beyond material existence.” Simply by hearing the glories of the Supreme Lord or by chanting them, one immediately comes to the spiritual platform, beyond material existence. Thus the Lord’s transcendental glories are here described as a tīrtha for everyone in the world. The word gāyantaḥ indicates that great sages give up their vows of silence and other selfish processes to glorify the activities of the Supreme Lord. Real silence means to not speak nonsense, to limit one’s verbal activities to those sounds, statements and discussions relevant to the loving service of the Supreme Lord. The word anagha indicates that the Supreme Lord never performs sinful or offensive activities. The word also indicates that the Lord immediately excuses a sin or offense committed by a sincere loving devotee who may accidentally deviate from the Lord’s service. In the specific context of this verse, the word anagha indicates that Lord Balarāma was not disturbed by the bees who were constantly following Him ( anupatham ). The Lord blessed them by saying, “O bees, come into My confidential grove and feel free to taste its fragrance.”

Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

In two verses Krsna glorifies the birds and beasts of the forest. "These bees are following you here and there because they are attracted to the fragrance of your body. When you go to secret places for your intimate pastimes where even your confidential associates cannot go, these bees cannot give you up, but keep following you. They follow you to the secluded places and you do not become offended by them." For this reason, Krsna addresses Balarama as anagha (without offense). "Therefore they must be your chief devotees. (bhavadiya mukhya). Those who concentrate on your intimate pastimes (munigana) have become these bees." Here there is the hint that he is giving mercy to them by permitting them to enter his secret groves and without reservation taste his fragrance.

Purport (Jiva Goswami)

Kṛṣṇa points with his finger. The bees chant your glories which are a holy spot, purifying completely the contamination of saṁsāra for all people or which acts as a guru teaching the greatness of devotion directed to you. They follow you along the path. Another version has anupadam instead of anupatham. They follow you at every step. This is proper since you are the best person (ādi-puruṣa). Everyone should serve you at all times with spontaneity. They are perhaps (prayaḥ) sages, the best among the many worshippers of you, my elder brother, by worshipping your complete form. Others engage silently in worshipping you with meditation. They are in a group (gaṇāḥ) or they have followers. Thus they are the chief sages. Since they have attained you, unobtainable by Brahmā in Vṛndāvana they do not give up you, who are unknown (gūdham) to other type of worshippers and remain hidden for pastimes, since you are worthy of their worship (ātmā-daivam) and they are your chief worshippers (bhavadīya-mukhyāḥ). O Balarāma, you do not recognize sin or offense in your devotees (anagha)! You are most merciful. Anaghātma-daivam may be taken as one compound word. Thus they worship you, and you fulfill all their desires because of your merciful nature. The word prāya indicates conjecture. The bees are similar to persons like Nārada who search for and follow Kṛṣṇa, who has most secret glories.

Purport (Sanatana Goswami)

Kṛṣṇa points with his finger. The bees chant your glories which are a holy spot, purifying completely the contamination of saṁsāra for all people or which acts as a guru teaching the greatness of devotion directed to you. They follow you along the path. Or they sing your glories on every path, serving you. That is proper. O best person (ādipuruṣa)! Everyone should serve you at all times with spontaneity and you are worthy of accepting service. Or singing, the bees worship you, following the path of Brahmā, the first person (ādi-purusa). They follow their nature. Because they constantly chant your glories they are your devoted followers (bhavadīya). They are the chief (mukhyāḥ) among the sages, those who engage in your worship, because they have surpassed ātmārāmas who are silent. Using the pretext of praising the bees, Kṛṣṇa praises Balarāma. They are almost the best (prāyaḥ), since the very best are persons who, from the beginning, spontaneously have bhakti. Or generally (prāyaḥ) you hide yourself (gūḍham), sometimes revealing your powers. O lord whose devotees have no offenses (anaghātmā)! Or they glorify you (daivam), who have no sin (anagātma). For this reason they cannot give you up. Prāyaḥ can also expression a question. Thus the following is expressed. The great devotees do not give you up though you are hidden in the words of the Vedas, since you are easy to attain. You are hidden because your pastimes are difficult to understand. Though they are on the paths of jñāna and karma, they continually sing your glories, which are the essence, thinking that they give the highest benefit and serve you, giving up everything else. The bees are the greatest devotees (amī bhavadīya-mukhāḥ). Or “Did not Brahmā and others praying for a birth here, because of glorification of the inhabitants of the place, become these sages?” The chief (mukhyāḥ) of your devotees (bhavadīya), such as Nārada, who are the best of the sages (munigaṇāḥ), whom the sages follow, have taken birth here.