SB 10.90.15 · Srimad-Bhagavatam

Devanagari

महिष्य ऊचु: कुररि विलपसि त्वं वीतनिद्रा न शेषे स्वपिति जगति रात्र्यामीश्वरो गुप्तबोध: । वयमिव सखि कच्चिद् गाढनिर्विद्धचेता नलिननयनहासोदारलीलेक्षितेन ॥ १५ ॥

Verse text

mahiṣya ūcuḥ kurari vilapasi tvaṁ vīta-nidrā na śeṣe svapiti jagati rātryām īśvaro gupta-bodhaḥ vayam iva sakhi kaccid gāḍha-nirviddha-cetā nalina-nayana-hāsodāra-līlekṣitena

Synonyms

mahiṣyaḥ ūcuḥ — the queens said ; kurari — O kurarī bird (female osprey) ; vilapasi — are lamenting ; tvam — you ; vīta — deprived ; nidrā — of sleep ; na śeṣe — you cannot rest ; svapiti — is sleeping ; jagati — (somewhere) in the world ; rātryām — during the night ; īśvaraḥ — the Supreme Lord ; gupta — hidden ; bodhaḥ — whose whereabouts ; vayam — we ; iva — just as ; sakhi — O friend ; kaccit — whether ; gāḍha — deeply ; nirviddha — pierced ; cetāḥ — whose heart ; nalina — (like) a lotus ; nayana — whose eyes ; hāsa — smiling ; udāra — liberal ; līlā — playful ; īkṣitena — by the glance .

Translation

The queens said: O kurarī bird, you are lamenting. Now it is night, and somewhere in this world the Supreme Lord is asleep in a hidden place. But you are wide awake, O friend, unable to fall asleep. Is it that, like us, you have had your heart pierced to the core by the lotus-eyed Lord’s munificent, playful smiling glances?

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

The queens said: O kurarī bird, you are lamenting. Now it is night, and somewhere in this world the Supreme Lord is asleep in a hidden place. But you are wide awake, O friend, unable to fall asleep. Is it that, like us, you have had your heart pierced to the core by the lotus-eyed Lord's munificent, playful smiling glances? KB 10.90.15 The queens said, “Dear kurarī bird, now it is very late at night. Everyone is sleeping. The whole world is now calm and peaceful. At this time, the Supreme Personality of Godhead is sleeping, although His knowledge is undisturbed by any circumstances. Then why are you not sleeping? Why are you lamenting like this throughout the whole night? Dear friend, is it that you are also attracted by the lotus eyes of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and by His sweet smiling and attractive words, exactly as we are? Do those dealings of the Supreme Personality of Godhead pinch your heart as they do ours?

Purport

Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī explains that the transcendental madness ( unmāda ) of the queens filled them with such ecstasy that they saw their own mood reflected in everyone and everything else. Here they point out to the kurarī bird, whom they take to be sorrowing over separation from Lord Kṛṣṇa, that if the Lord actually had any concern for her or themselves, He would not be sleeping comfortably at that moment. They warn the kurarī not to expect Kṛṣṇa to hear her lamentation and show some mercy. In case the kurarī might think that Kṛṣṇa is sleeping with His queens, they deny this by saying that He is gupta-bodha: His whereabouts are unknown to them. He is out in the world somewhere this night, but they have no idea where to go looking for Him. “Ah, dear bird,” they cry, “even though you are a simple creature, your heart has been deeply pierced, just like ours. You must have had some contact, then, with our Kṛṣṇa. What keeps you from giving up your hopeless attachment to Him?”

Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

Out of this madness, they see their own emotional state everywhere, such as in the female osprey. This is expressed in ten verses. O osprey, you are lamenting, without being able to sleep, feeling separation from Krsna. But he, our husband and lord, without love for you, is sleeping. He does not hear your lament. Because he is sleeping it is not possible for him to be merciful to you from hearing your lament, from which you could gain his company. He sleeps, but does he sleep with you? No. By nature, he is unknown to us (gupta bodhah). Somewhere in this universe, he is sleeping in the night, during which it is impossible to search for him. Therefore what will you do? What will we do? You, though only a bird, like us, have become deeply attached in the heart, an attachment due to his playful glance, his broad smile and lotus eyes. Why can you not give up that expectation of "Certainly I will meet him." ?

Purport (Jiva Goswami)

They all speak as one on hearing the voice of kurarī and other birds since they have the same sentiments. All the queens spoke. By its nature, the osprey cries out. They address the bird. O osprey! In this world you alone stay awake sleepless, and do not desire to sleep (ne śeṣe), since you loudly lament. Our husband (īśvaraḥ), remaining hidden somewhere in the night which prevents anyone from finding him, sleeps. Or, he remains hidden in the night somewhere in the world. Therefore we infer as follows. O friend! Because you are similar to us in lamenting, you are our friend. Your loud lamentation will be helpful to us also.

Purport (Sanatana Goswami)

I offer respects to the queens, whose hearts were bewildered by prema. By their mercy one can understand the meaning of their words. Though they had direct association with the Lord, because of intense bhāva, they appeared like others in separation, because of special symptoms or because of the strength of their love. They considered all others to have similar bhāva for the Lord. They considered the kurāri which naturally cries at night to have pain on not attaining Kṛṣṇa. O kurarī! Or it is not at night, and there are no kurarī or other birds. While playing in the water they become subject to transformations like unmāda because of intense prema. In each verse a different queen speaks. Since they speak as if insane, at the same time, with different statements, there is no relationship between verses, and because of the lack of relationship, the verses possess great qualities individually. However, for the pleasure of the devotees according to my mind, I will make some connections. O wife of the kurari bird! Though the night has come you are awake and lamenting, with loud cries of pain. You do not cease crying for a moment. You are awake while others are sleeping and dreaming. The Lord has his waking state covered (gupta-bodhaḥ). “Why does he give up attraction to you and dream?” His waking state is covered by being in the world (jagati). He cannot know anything at all. Or though he is the form of all knowledge (agupta-bodhaḥ) he sleeps like others in this world. O friend! They think of the bird as having similar feelings or friendship. This is natural to prema. Has your heart also been pierced completely by his playful glance? The glance is generous (udāra). This means that the glance has the power to attract all hcarts or has the ability to happiness to all people. The glance also indicates the great beauty of his eyes. Or because his eyes are like lotuses (nalina-nayana) his glance is of this nature. Or you lament without cessation (na ṣeśe). Though all others in this world sleep you alone lament. They imagine the cause according to their bhāva. Like us, has your heart been pierced by the playful, excellent (udara) glance, the smile of his lotus eyes?