Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 4.24.21

nīla-raktotpalāmbhoja-

kahlārendīvarākaram

haḿsa-sārasa-cakrāhva-

kāraṇḍava-nikūjitam

SYNONYMS

nīla — blue; rakta — red; utpala — lotus; ambhaḥ-ja — born from the water; kahlāra — another kind of lotus; indīvara — another kind of lotus; ākaram — the mine; haḿsa — swans; sārasa — cranes; cakrāhva — the ducks of the name; kāraṇḍava — birds of the name; nikūjitam — vibrated by their sounds.

TRANSLATION

In that great lake there were different types of lotus flowers. Some of them were bluish, and some of them were red. Some of them grew at night, some in the day and some, like the indīvara lotus flower, in the evening. Combined together, the lotus flowers filled the lake so full that the lake appeared to be a great mine of such flowers. Consequently, on the shores there were swans and cranes, cakravāka, kāraṇḍava and other beautiful water birds standing about.

PURPORT

The word ākaram ("mine") is significant in this verse, for the reservoir of water appeared like a mine from which different types of lotus flowers were produced. Some of the lotus flowers grew during the day, some at night and some in the evening, and accordingly they had different names and different colors. All these flowers were present on that lake, and because the lake was so calm and quiet and filled with lotus flowers, superior birds, like swans, cakravākas and kāraṇḍavas, stood on the shores and vibrated their different songs, making the entire scene attractive and beautiful. As there are different types of human beings, according to the association of the three qualities of material nature, there are similarly different types of birds, bees, trees, etc. Everything is divided according to the three qualities of material nature. Birds like swans and cranes, who enjoy clear waters and lotus flowers, are different from crows, who enjoy filthy places. Similarly, there are persons who are controlled by the modes of ignorance and passion and those who are controlled by the mode of goodness. The creation is so varied that there are always varieties found in every society. Thus on the bank of this lake all the superior birds lived to enjoy that atmosphere created by that great reservoir filled with lotus flowers.

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