Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 5.16.24

evam kumuda-nirūdho yah śatavalśo nāma vatas tasya skandhebhyo nīcīnāh payo-dadhi-madhu-ghrita-gudānnādy-ambara-śayyāsanābharanādayah sarva eva kāma-dughā nadāh kumudāgrāt patantas tam uttarenelāvritam upayojayanti

SYNONYMS

evam — thus; kumuda-nirūdhah — having grown on Kumuda Mountain; yah — that; śata-valśah nāma — the tree named Śatavalśa (because of having hundreds of trunks); vatah — a banyan tree; tasya — of it; skandhebhyah — from the thick branches; nīcīnāh — flowing down; payah — milk; dadhi — yogurt; madhu — honey; ghrita — clarified butter; guda — molasses; anna — food grains; ādi — and so on; ambara — clothing; śayyā — bedding; āsana — sitting places; ābharana-ādayah — carrying ornaments and so on; sarve — everything; eva — certainly; kāma-dughāh — fulfilling all desires; nadāh — big rivers; kumuda-agrāt — from the top of Kumuda Mountain; patantah — flowing; tam — to that; uttarena — on the northern side; ilāvritam — the land known as Ilāvrita-varsha; upayojayanti — give happiness.

TRANSLATION

Similarly, on Kumuda Mountain there is a great banyan tree, which is called Śatavalśa because it has a hundred main branches. From those branches come many roots, from which many rivers are flowing. These rivers flow down from the top of the mountain to the northern side of Ilāvrita-varsha for the benefit of those who live there. Because of these flowing rivers, all the people have ample supplies of milk, yogurt, honey, clarified butter [ghee], molasses, food grains, clothes, bedding, sitting places and ornaments. All the objects they desire are sufficiently supplied for their prosperity, and therefore they are very happy.

PURPORT

The prosperity of humanity does not depend on a demoniac civilization that has no culture and no knowledge but has only gigantic skyscrapers and huge automobiles always rushing down the highways. The products of nature are sufficient. When there is a profuse supply of milk, yogurt, honey, food grains, ghee, molasses, dhotis, saris, bedding, sitting places and ornaments, the residents are actually opulent. When a profuse supply of water from the river inundates the land, all these things can be produced, and there will not be scarcity. This all depends, however, on the performance of sacrifice as described in the Vedic literature.

annād bhavanti bhūtāni

parjanyād anna-sambhavah

yajñād bhavati parjanyo

yajñah karma-samudbhavah

"All living bodies subsist on food grains, which are produced from rains. Rains are produced by performance of yajña [sacrifice], and yajña is born of prescribed duties." These are the prescriptions given in Bhagavad-gītā (3.14). If people follow these principles in full Krishna consciousness, human society will be prosperous, and they will be happy both in this life and in the next.

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