SB 10.30.4 · Srimad-Bhagavatam

Devanagari

गायन्त्य उच्चैरमुमेव संहता विचिक्युरुन्मत्तकवद् वनाद् वनम् । पप्रच्छुराकाशवदन्तरं बहि- र्भूतेषु सन्तं पुरुषं वनस्पतीन् ॥ ४ ॥

Verse text

gāyantya uccair amum eva saṁhatā vicikyur unmattaka-vad vanād vanam papracchur ākāśa-vad antaraṁ bahir bhūteṣu santaṁ puruṣaṁ vanaspatīn

Synonyms

gāyantyaḥ — singing ; uccaiḥ — loudly ; amum — about Him ; eva — indeed ; saṁhatāḥ — together in a group ; vicikyuḥ — they searched ; unmattaka — vat — like madwomen ; vanāt vanam — from one area of the forest to another ; papracchuḥ — they inquired ; ākāśa — vat — like the sky ; antaram — internally ; bahiḥ — and externally ; bhūteṣu — in all created beings ; santam — present ; puruṣam — the Supreme Person ; vanaspatīn — from the trees .

Translation

Singing loudly of Kṛṣṇa, they searched for Him throughout the Vṛndāvana forest like a band of madwomen. They even asked the trees about Him, who as the Supersoul is present inside and outside of all created things, just like the sky.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

Singing loudly of Kṛṣṇa, they searched for Him throughout the Vṛndāvana forest like a band of madwomen. They even asked the trees about Him, who as the Supersoul is present inside and outside of all created things, just like the sky. KB 10.30.4 Soon they all assembled together and chanted Kṛṣṇa’s name very loudly as they moved from one part of the forest to another, searching for Him. Actually, Kṛṣṇa is all-pervasive: He is in the sky, and He is in the forest; He is within the heart, and He is always everywhere.

Purport

Lost in the madness of love for Kṛṣṇa, the gopīs inquired about Him from even the trees in Vṛndāvana. Of course, there is no actual separation from Lord Kṛṣṇa, since He is the all-pervading Supersoul.

Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

When unmada gave up its deep state and became somewhat stable, the gopis began to search for Krsna is a half conscious state. That is described in this verse. Grief stricken because of separation from their beloved, they thought, "we must search for him." Coming together in a group, they wandered from forest to forest as if half mad, searching. Asking the trees about Krsna’s whereabouts was one sign of their unmada state. "We know that Krsna was enjoying with Radha, the chief gopi at that time. But did he know of the questions that the gopis were asking in their state of unmada?" This is made clear in this verse by describing Krsna as pervading inside and outside of all entities like the akasa. Because Krsna is everywhere, certainly Krsna could hear the gopis’ questions in those places, though they could not see him.

Purport (Jiva Goswami)

Returning to normal state after a longtime, they then entered the state called unmāda. They sang loudly, so that he could hear from a great distance, about his killing Pūtanā in Gokula with the idea that he could give them protection as in the following example. viṣa-jalāpyayād vyāla-rākṣasād varṣa-mārutād vaidyutānalāt vṛṣa-mayātmajād viśvato bhayād ṛṣabha te vayaṁ rakṣitā muhuḥ O greatest of personalities, You have repeatedly saved us from all kinds of danger—from poisoned water, from the terrible man-eater Agha, from the great rains, from the wind demon, from the fiery thunderbolt of Indra, from the bull demon and from the son of Maya Dānava. SB 10.31.3 They also sang to attract him, since singing was dear to him and also because it was natural to do so when in great pain. He gave great suffering by giving them up but still they sang about him (amum). gaṇayati guṇa-grāmaṁ bhrāmaṁ bhrāmād api nehate: my mind only considers Kṛṣṇa's virtues, and completely discounts even one of his faults. (Gīta-govinda 2.10) They gathered together to search for him and to get relief from the pain by being with friends, since this is the natural action when in distress. They sang and searched at the same time and then began questioning the trees because they were almost insane (unmattaka-vat). The suffix ka indicates that the “madness applied to the self”. This indicates that their hair was unbound. They asked about him though he was antaryāmī spreading like the sky everywhere, inside and outside of all beings. They asked about him, considering him a human in these pastimes, out of their prema. Or it answers the question “Did they not uselessly cry in the forest?” No, Kṛṣṇa is pervasive like the sky. Later he will say: mayāparokṣaṁ bhajatā tirohitaṁ māsūyituṁ mārhatha tat priyaṁ priyāḥ Even when I removed myself from your sight by suddenly disappearing, I never stopped loving you. Therefore, my beloved gopīs, please do not harbor any bad feelings toward me, your beloved. SB 10.32.21 Or, they asked about their hero (puruṣam) who made his direct appearance inside and outside of all beings like the sky. Such an appearance (sphūṛti) arose from their prema. vana-latās tarava ātmani viṣṇuṁ vyañjayantya iva puṣpa-phalāḍhyāḥ praṇata-bhāra-viṭapā madhu-dhārāḥ prema-hṛṣṭa-tanavo vavṛṣuḥ sma Hearing the song of Mukunda’s flute, the rivers then stopped their currents, although the minds of the rivers could still be ascertained from the presence of whirlpools. With the arms of their waves the rivers seized the two lotus feet of Murāri, taking help from the lotus plants, and thus he became trapped in their embrace. SB 10.35.2 The external sphūrti is at a distance and the internal one is close up. In that state of madness it was quite suitable they inquired from the trees, even though the trees had no senses, since they saw Kṛṣṇa interacting with the trees.

Purport (Sanatana Goswami)

Not only did they imitate his actions but disturbed by separation they searched for him there and there. They asked all beings whom they saw in front about him. They sang loudly so that he could hear of their pain or to attract him by singing songs he liked. Or they simple sang as a natural symptom of great pain. Though it is not proper to sing about him since he gave them up and gave them pain, they sang about him only, since he was their sole object of love or their quality was to sing about him. They gathered together (saṁhatāḥ) in order to search for him, or out of friendship they gathered to comfort each other or as a natural response to great pain. They asked the trees about him because they were almost insane (unmattaka-vat). The suffix ka indicates that the “madness applied to the self”. This indicates that their hair was unbound. They began searching and asking questions without discrimination. Thus they were not completely absorbed in these acts. Otherwise they would not ask trees. They wandered from forest to forest, for a long time. Just as ether is spread inside and outside so Kṛṣṇa is spread inside and outside all jivas as the puruṣa. They alsked the trees about him. Or they asked the trees out of madness about Kṛṣṇa who was in front of them, internally and externally in all the bowers (bhūteṣu). Or they asked about their master (puruṣa). That was their reason for searching and asking. Or they asked the trees out of pain in separation about Kṛṣṇa whom they knew was situated everywhere. They spoke out of great pain. This is the greatness of of lack of control because of pain in prema.