Devanagari
पारावतान्यभृतसारसचक्रवाक-
दात्यूहहंसशुकतित्तिरिबर्हिणां य: ।
कोलाहलो विरमतेऽचिरमात्रमुच्चै
र्भृङ्गाधिपे हरिकथामिव गायमाने ॥ १८ ॥
Verse text
pārāvatānyabhṛta-sārasa-cakravāka-
dātyūha-haṁsa-śuka-tittiri-barhiṇāṁ yaḥ
kolāhalo viramate ’cira-mātram uccair
bhṛṅgādhipe hari-kathām iva gāyamāne
Synonyms
pārāvata
—
pigeons
;
anyabhṛta
—
cuckoo
;
sārasa
—
crane
;
cakravāka
—
cakravāka
;
dātyūha
—
gallinule
;
haṁsa
—
swan
;
śuka
—
parrot
;
tittiri
—
partridge
;
barhiṇām
—
of the peacock
;
yaḥ
—
which
;
kolāhalaḥ
—
tumult
;
viramate
—
stops
;
acira
—
mātram — temporarily
;
uccaiḥ
—
loudly
;
bhṛṅga
—
adhipe — king of the bumblebees
;
hari
—
kathām — the glories of the Lord
;
iva
—
as
;
gāyamāne
—
while singing .
Translation
When the king of bees hums in a high pitch, singing the glories of the Lord, there is a temporary lull in the noise of the pigeon, the cuckoo, the crane, the cakravāka, the swan, the parrot, the partridge and the peacock. Such transcendental birds stop their own singing simply to hear the glories of the Lord.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
The clamor of the doves, cuckoos, cranes, cakravākas, gallinules, swans, parrots, partridges and peacocks immediately ceases when the king of bees loudly hums, with resemblance to glorification of the Lord.
Like the devotees riding on airplanes, the birds also are great devotees with pure bhakti. The doves (pārāvata), cuckoos (anyabhṛta), and gallinules (dātyūha) immediately stop chirping. “Oh! There is glorification of the Lord! Let us be silent and listen!” What is it? The king of bees, qualified to sit on the garland of the Lord, is humming “Hari, hari!” caused by the sound of his vibrating wings. This is equal to glorification of the Lord. I do not know how much more respect the birds show for the bee if he directly glorifies the Lord!
Purport
This verse reveals the absolute nature of Vaikuṇṭha. There is no difference between the birds there and the human residents. The situation in the spiritual sky is that everything is spiritual and variegated. Spiritual variegatedness means that everything is animate. There is nothing inanimate. Even the trees, the ground, the plants, the flowers, the birds and the beasts are all on the level of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. The special feature of Vaikuṇṭhaloka is that there is no question of sense gratification, In the material world even an ass enjoys his sound vibration, but in the Vaikuṇṭhas such nice birds as the peacock, the
cakravāka
and the cuckoo prefer to hear the vibration of the glories of the Lord from the bees. The principles of devotional service, beginning with hearing and chanting, are very prominent in the Vaikuṇṭha world.