Devanagari
तारहेममहारत्नविमानशतसङ्कुलाम् ।
जुष्टां पुण्यजनस्त्रीभिर्यथा खं सतडिद्घनम् ॥ २७ ॥
Verse text
tāra-hema-mahāratna-
vimāna-śata-saṅkulām
juṣṭāṁ puṇyajana-strībhir
yathā khaṁ sataḍid-ghanam
Synonyms
tāra
—
hema — of pearls and gold
;
mahā
—
ratna — valuable jewels
;
vimāna
—
of airplanes
;
śata
—
with hundreds
;
saṅkulām
—
crowded
;
juṣṭām
—
occupied, enjoyed
;
puṇyajana
—
strībhiḥ — by the wives of the Yakṣas
;
yathā
—
as
;
kham
—
the sky
;
sa
—
taḍit — ghanam — with the lightning and the clouds .
Translation
The airplanes of the heavenly denizens are bedecked with pearls, gold and many valuable jewels. The heavenly denizens are compared to clouds in the sky decorated with occasional flashes of electric lightning.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Alakā was filled with hundreds of airplanes made of gold, pearls and precious jewels and with women. It was like the sky filled with clouds and lightning.
Tāra means pearls. The city is compared to the sky, the lightning to the women, and the clouds to the airplanes.
Purport
The airplanes described in this verse are different from the airplanes of which we have experience. In the
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam
and all the Vedic literatures, there are many descriptions of
vimāna,
which means “airplanes.” On different planets there are different kinds of airplanes. On this gross planet earth, there are airplanes run by machine, but on other planets the airplanes are run not by machine but by mantric hymns. They are also used especially for enjoyment by the denizens of the heavenly planets so that they can go from one planet to another. On other planets which are called Siddhalokas, the denizens can travel from one planet to another without airplanes. The beautiful airplanes from the heavenly planets are compared here to the sky because they fly in the sky; the passengers are compared to the clouds. The beautiful damsels, the wives of the denizens of the heavenly planets, are compared to lightning. In summation, the airplanes with their passengers which came from higher planets to Kailāsa were very pleasant to look at.