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Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 1.10.20
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A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
TEXT 20
- anyonyam āsīt sañjalpa
- uttama-śloka-cetasām
- kauravendra-pura-strīṇāṁ
- sarva-śruti-mano-haraḥ
anyonyamamong each other — among each other; āsītthere was — there was; sañjalpaḥtalking — talking; uttamathe Supreme, who is praised by selected poetry-ślokathe Supreme, who is praised by selected poetry — the Supreme, who is praised by selected poetry; cetasāmof those whose hearts are absorbed in that way — of those whose hearts are absorbed in that way; kauravathe king of the Kurus-indrathe king of the Kurus — the king of the Kurus; puracapital — capital; strīṇāmall the ladies — all the ladies; sarvaall — all; śrutithe Vedas — the Vedas; manaḥattractive to the mind-haraḥattractive to the mind — attractive to the mind.
Absorbed in the thought of the transcendental qualities of the Lord, who is glorified in select poetry, the ladies on the roofs of all the houses of Hastināpura began to talk of Him. This talk was more attractive than the hymns of the Vedas.
In the Bhagavad-gītā it is said that in all the Vedic literatures the goal is the Personality of Godhead Śrī Kṛṣṇa. Factually the glories of the Lord are depicted in such literature as the Vedas, Rāmāyaṇa and Mahābhārata. And in the Bhāgavatam they are specifically mentioned in respect to the Supreme Lord. Therefore, while the ladies on the tops of the houses in the capital of the kings of the Kuru dynasty were talking about the Lord, their talk was more pleasing than the Vedic hymns. Anything sung in the praise of the Lord is Śruti-mantra. There are songs of Ṭhākura Narottama dāsa, one of the ācāryas in the Gauḍīya-sampradāya, composed in simple Bengali language. But Ṭhākura Viśvanātha Cakravartī, another very learned ācārya of the same sampradāya, has approved the songs by Ṭhākura Narottama dāsa to be as good as Vedic mantras. And this is so because of the subject matter. The language is immaterial, but the subject matter is important. The ladies, who were all absorbed in the thought and actions of the Lord, developed the consciousness of Vedic wisdom by the grace of the Lord. And therefore although such ladies might not have been very learned scholars in Sanskrit or otherwise, still whatever they spoke was more attractive than the Vedic hymns. The Vedic hymns in the Upaniṣads are sometimes indirectly directed to the Supreme Lord. But the talks of the ladies were directly spoken of the Lord, and thus they were more pleasing to the heart. The ladies' talks appeared to be more valuable than the learned brāhmaṇas ' benedictions.