SB 4.18.23 · Srimad-Bhagavatam

Devanagari

पशवो यवसं क्षीरं वत्सं कृत्वा च गोवृषम् । अरण्यपात्रे चाधुक्षन्मृगेन्द्रेण च दंष्ट्रिण: ॥ २३ ॥ क्रव्यादा: प्राणिन: क्रव्यं दुदुहु: स्वे कलेवरे । सुपर्णवत्सा विहगाश्चरं चाचरमेव च ॥ २४ ॥

Verse text

paśavo yavasaṁ kṣīraṁ vatsaṁ kṛtvā ca go-vṛṣam araṇya-pātre cādhukṣan mṛgendreṇa ca daṁṣṭriṇaḥ kravyādāḥ prāṇinaḥ kravyaṁ duduhuḥ sve kalevare suparṇa-vatsā vihagāś caraṁ cācaram eva ca

Synonyms

paśavaḥ — cattle ; yavasam — green grasses ; kṣīram — milk ; vatsam — the calf ; kṛtvā — making ; ca — also ; go — vṛṣam — the bull carrier of Lord Śiva ; araṇya — pātre — in the pot of the forest ; ca — also ; adhukṣan — milked out ; mṛga — indreṇa — by the lion ; ca — and ; daṁṣṭriṇaḥ — animals with sharp teeth ; kravya — adāḥ — animals who eat raw flesh ; prāṇinaḥ — living entities ; kravyam — flesh ; duduhuḥ — took out ; sve — own ; kalevare — in the pot of their body ; suparṇa — Garuḍa ; vatsāḥ — whose calf ; vihagāḥ — the birds ; caram — moving living entities ; ca — also ; acaram — nonmoving living entities ; eva — certainly ; ca — also .

Translation

The four-legged animals like the cows made a calf out of the bull who carries Lord Śiva and made a milking pot out of the forest. Thus they got fresh green grasses to eat. Ferocious animals like tigers transformed a lion into a calf, and thus they were able to get flesh for milk. The birds made a calf out of Garuḍa and took milk from the planet earth in the form of moving insects and nonmoving plants and grasses.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

The cattle, making Nandī the calf, produced grass as the milk. Carnivorous animals, making the lion their calf, produced the flesh of other living beings as the milk with the forest as the pot. The birds, making Garuḍa the calf, produced insects and fruit as the milk, with their stomachs as the pot. Yavasam means grass. Govṛṣam means Śiva’s bull. The animals made the lion the calf. Kravyam is meat. Suparṇaḥ is Garuḍa. Caram means insects. Acaram means fruits.

Purport

There are many carnivorous birds descended from Garuḍa, the winged carrier of Lord Viṣṇu. Indeed, there is a particular type of bird that is very fond of eating monkeys, and eagles are fond of eating goats. Of course, many birds eat only fruits and berries. Therefore the words caram, referring to moving animals, and acaram, referring to grasses, fruits and vegetables, are mentioned in this verse.