Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.29.11

nalinī nālinī nāse

gandhah saurabha ucyate

ghrāno 'vadhūto mukhyāsyam

vipano vāg rasavid rasah

SYNONYMS

nalinī — named Nalinī; nālinī — named Nālinī; nāse — the two nostrils; gandhah — aroma; saurabhah — Saurabha (fragrance); ucyate — is called; ghrānah — the sense of smell; avadhūtah — called Avadhūta; mukhyā — called Mukhyā (principal); āsyam — the mouth; vipanah — named Vipana; vāk — the faculty of speech; rasa-vit — named Rasajña (expert in tasting); rasah — the sense of taste.

TRANSLATION

The two doors named Nalinī and Nālinī should be known as the two nostrils, and the city named Saurabha represents aroma. The companion spoken of as Avadhūta is the sense of smell. The door called Mukhyā is the mouth, and Vipana is the faculty of speech. Rasajña is the sense of taste.

PURPORT

The word avadhūta means "most free." A person is not under the rules and regulations of any injunction when he has attained the stage of avadhūta. In other words, he can act as he likes. This avadhūta stage is exactly like air, which does not care for any obstruction. In Bhagavad-gītā (6.34) it is said:

cañcalam hi manah krishna

pramāthi balavad dridham

tasyāham nigraham manye

vāyor iva sudushkaram

"The mind is restless, turbulent, obstinate and very strong, O Krishna, and to subdue it is, it seems to me, more difficult than controlling the wind."

Just as the air or wind cannot be checked by anyone, the two nostrils, situated in one place, enjoy the sense of smell without impediment. When the tongue is present, the mouth continually tastes all kinds of relishable foodstuffs.

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