Verse Text
tatra tāpo, yathā –
asmān dunoti kamalaṁ tapanasya mitraṁ
ratnākaraś ca vaḍabānala-gūḍha-mūrtiḥ |
indīvaraṁ vidhu-suhṛt katham īśvaraṁ vā
taṁ smārayan munipate dahatīha sabhyān ||118||
Translation
An example of heat in viyoga: O best of sages! The lotus, (though it reminds us of Your eyes), will give us pain because it is the friend of the sun, and the ocean (though it reminds us of Your complexion), gives us pain because it is dominated by the vāḍaba fire. But why does the blue lotus, friend of the moon, making us remember the Lord, also cause us burning pain?
Purport (Jiva Goswami)
These are the words of Uddhava to Nārada. Ratnākaraś ca vaḍabānala-gūḍha-mūrtiḥ means the ocean, whose form is covered by the vāḍaba fire. This means that the ocean has the vāḍaba fire within it (and extends its influence). The lotus and the ocean are suggested as causes for giving pain because the lotus is the friend of the hot sun (blossoming in the sunlight), and the ocean has within it the vāḍaba fire. It is suggested that the blue lotus, which blooms in the moonlight, and is therefore called the friend of the moon, should be the opposite, and destroy the pain of separation from the Lord, which the lotus and ocean are causing.
Another version of the last line is tam smārayad dahati pāriṣadān munīndra. Smārayat is neuter form and thus suhṛt will have to be taken as neuter (agreeing with indīvaram in the neuter) for agreement to take place. The first version (smārayan) with lack of sandhi, agreeing with suhṛt in the masculine (its normal gender), is more easily understandable.
Purport (Nectar of Devotion)
As far as the feverish condition of the body is concerned, Uddhava once told Nārada, “My dear great sage, the lotus flower that is a friend of the sun may be a cause of distress for us, the fire in the ocean may cause us some burning sensation, and Indīvara, the friend of the moon, may distress us in various ways—we do not mind. But the most regrettable factor is that all of them remind us of Kṛṣṇa, and this is giving us too much distress!” This is an instance of the feverish condition which is due to being separated from Kṛṣṇa.