Verse Text
yathā –
tārāvalī veṇu-bhujaṅgamena
tārāvalīlā-garalena daṣṭā |
viṣāṇikā-nāda-payo nipīya
viṣāṇi kāmaṁ dvi-guṇī-cakāra ||374||
Translation
Bitten by the flute, like a scorpion with natural poisonous venom in the form of its shrill sound, the gopī Tārāvalī, leader of a group, drank some milk in the form of the sound of a small buffalo horn in order to counteract the poison. But rather than mitigate the burning poison of the flute’s sound, it increased the pain twofold.
Purport (Nectar of Devotion)
Regarding these instruments, there is a metaphorical statement about a gopī named Tārāvalī. It is said that Tārāvalī was bitten by the most venomous snake of Kṛṣṇa’s flute. Then, in order to neutralize the poisonous effect, she drank the milk produced by the buffalo horn in the hand of Kṛṣṇa. But instead of decreasing the poisonous effect, it increased it a thousand times. The gopī was thus put into the most miserable poisoned condition.