Verse Text
viraheṇa, yathā –
mukunda viraheṇa te vidhuritāḥ sakhāyaś cirād
alaṅkṛtibhir ujjhitā bhuvi niviśya tatra sthitāḥ |
skhalan-malina-vāsasaḥ śavala-rukṣa-gātra-śriyaḥ
sphuranti khala-devala-dvija-gṛhe surārcā iva ||112||
Translation
From separation: Your friends, pained by long separation from You, remain on this earth like the deities of neglectful brāhmaṇas which are without ornaments, wearing soiled cloth which is falling off, with limbs dirty and thin.
Purport (Jiva Goswami)
Śavala means “soiled with dirt.” Devala is a brāhmaṇa who makes a profession from doing deity worship.
Purport (Nectar of Devotion)
Kṛṣṇa was once addressed by His friend thus: “My dear Mukunda [Kṛṣṇa], due to their being separated from You, the cowherd boys are standing just like neglected Deities in the house of a professional brāhmaṇa.” There is a class of professional brāhmaṇas who take to Deity worship as a means of earning their livelihood. Brāhmaṇas in this class are not very interested in the Deity; they are interested mainly in the money they can earn as holy men. So the Deities worshiped by such professional brāhmaṇas are not properly decorated, Their dress is not changed, and Their bodies are not cleaned. They look dirty and are not very attractive. Actually, Deity worship should be done very carefully: the dress should be changed daily, and as far as possible there should be ornaments. Everything should be so clean that the Deity is attractive to all visitors. Here the example is given of the Deities in the house of a professional brāhmaṇa because such Deities are not at all attractive. The friends of Kṛṣṇa, in the absence of Kṛṣṇa, were appearing like such neglected Deities.