Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Srimad Bhagavatam 10.21.9

gopyah kim acarad ayam kusalam sma venur

damodaradhara-sudham api gopikanam

bhunkte svayam yad avasista-rasam hradinyo

hrsyat-tvaco 'sru mumucus taravo yatharyah

SYNONYMS

gopyah -- O gopis; kim -- what; acarat -- performed; ayam -- this; kusalam -- auspicious activities; sma -- certainly; venuh -- the flute; damodara -- of Krsna; adhara-sudham -- the nectar of the lips; api -- even; gopikanam -- which is owed to the gopis; bhunkte -- enjoys; svayam -- independently; yat -- from which; avasista -- remaining; rasam -- the taste only; hradinyah -- the rivers; hrsyat -- feeling jubilant; tvacah -- whose bodies; asru -- tears; mumucuh -- shed; taravah -- the trees; yatha -- exactly like; aryah -- old forefathers.

TRANSLATION

My dear gopis, what auspicious activities must the flute have performed to enjoy the nectar of Krsna's lips independently and leave only a taste for us gopis, for whom that nectar is actually meant! The forefathers of the flute, the bamboo trees, shed tears of pleasure. His mother, the river on whose bank the bamboo was born, feels jubilation, and therefore her blooming lotus flowers are standing like hair on her body.

PURPORT

This translation is quoted from Srila Prabhupada's Caitanya-caritamrta (Antya 16.140).

In the guise of releasing flowing sap, the bamboo trees are actually crying tears of ecstasy upon seeing their child become an exalted devotee-flute of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Sri Krsna.

Sanatana Gosvami gives an alternate explanation: The trees are crying because they are unhappy at not being able to play with Krsna themselves. One may object that the trees in Vrndavana should not lament for that which is impossible for them to obtain, just as a beggar certainly doesn't lament because he is forbidden to meet the king. But the trees are actually just like intelligent persons who suffer when they cannot obtain the goal of life. Thus the trees are crying because they cannot get the nectar of Krsna's lips.

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His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Founder Acarya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness
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