Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 10.60.36

tvat-pāda-padma-makaranda-juṣāḿ munīnāḿ

vartmāsphuṭaḿ nr-paśubhir nanu durvibhāvyam

yasmād alaukikam ivehitam īśvarasya

bhūmaḿs tavehitam atho anu ye bhavantam

SYNONYMS

tvat — Your; pāda — of the feet; padma — lotuslike; makaranda — the honey; juṣām — who relish; munīnām — for sages; vartma — (Your) path; asphuṭam — not apparent; nṛ — in human form; paśubhiḥ — by animals; nanu — certainly, then; durvibhāvyam — impossible to comprehend; yasmāt — because; alaukikam — supramundane; iva — as if; īhitam — the activities; īśvarasya — of the Supreme Lord; bhūman — O all-powerful one; tava — Your; īhitam — activities; atha u — therefore; anu — following; ye — who; bhavantam — You.

TRANSLATION

Your movements, inscrutable even for sages who relish the honey of Your lotus feet, are certainly incomprehensible for human beings who behave like animals. And just as Your activities are transcendental, O all-powerful Lord, so too are those of Your followers.

PURPORT

Here Queen Rukmiṇī replies to Lord Kṛṣṇa's statement in Text 13:

aspaṣṭa-vartmanāḿ puḿsām

aloka-patham īyuṣām

āsthitāḥ padavīḿ su-bhru

prāyaḥ sīdanti yoṣitaḥ

"O fine-browed lady, women are usually destined to suffer when they stay with men whose behavior is uncertain and who pursue a path not approved by society."

In the present verse Rukmiṇī is taking the term aloka-patham to mean "unworldly path." Those who are entangled in worldly behavior are trying to enjoy this world more or less like animals. Even if such people are "culturally advanced," they should simply be considered sophisticated or polished animals. Śrīmatī Rukmiṇī-devī points out that because the Lord's activities are always transcendental, they are aspaṣṭa, or "unclear," to ordinary people, and even the sages trying to know the Lord cannot perfectly understand these activities.

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