Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 10.47.18

yad-anucarita-līlā-karna-pīyūsha-viprut-

sakrid-adana-vidhūta-dvandva-dharmā vinashtāh

sapadi griha-kutumbam dīnam utsrijya dīnā

bahava iha vihańgā bhikshu-caryām caranti

SYNONYMS

yat — whose; anucarita — constantly performed activities; līlā — of such pastimes; karna — for the ears; pīyūsha — of the nectar; viprut — of a drop; sakrit — just once; adana — by the partaking; vidhūta — removed entirely; dvandva — of duality; dharmāh — their propensities; vinashtāh — ruined; sapadi — immediately; griha — their homes; kutumbam — and families; dīnam — wretched; utsrijya — rejecting; dīnāh — becoming themselves wretched; bahavah — many persons; iha — here (in Vrindāvana); vihańgāh — (like) birds; bhikshu — of begging; caryām — the livelihood; caranti — they pursue.

TRANSLATION

To hear about the pastimes that Krishna regularly performs is nectar for the ears. For those who relish just a single drop of that nectar, even once, their dedication to material duality is ruined. Many such persons have suddenly given up their wretched homes and families and, themselves becoming wretched, traveled here to Vrindāvana to wander about like birds, begging for their living.

PURPORT

Material duality is based on falsely thinking, "This is mine, and that is yours," or "This is our country, and that is yours," or "This is my family, and that is yours," and so on. In fact, there is one Absolute Truth, in which we all exist and to whom everything belongs. His beauty and pleasure are also absolute and infinite, and if one actually hears about this Absolute Truth, called Krishna, one's dedication to the illusion of mundane duality is spoiled.

According to the ācāryas, and certainly in accord with Sanskrit grammar, the last two words of the second line of this text may also be divided dharma-avinashtāh. Then the entire line becomes part of a single compound, the meaning of which is that hearing about Krishna cleanses one of irreligious duality and thus one is not vanquished (avinashta) by material illusion. The word dīnāh is then given the alternate reading of dhīrāh, meaning that one becomes spiritually sober and thus gives up attachment to fleeting material relationships. The word vihańgāh, "birds," would in this case refer to swans, the symbol of essential discrimination.

Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī quotes Rūpa Gosvāmī as follows in connection with this verse:

bhańgyā tyāgaucitī tasya

khagānām api khedanāt

yatra sānuśayam proktā

tad bhaved abhijalpitam

"When a lover indirectly states with remorse that her beloved is fit to be given up, such speech, uttered like the plaintive crying of a bird, is called abhijalpa." (Ujjvala-nīlamani 14.194)

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