SB 4.6.23 · Srimad Bhagavatam

Devanagari

दद‍ृशुस्तत्र ते रम्यामलकां नाम वै पुरीम् । वनं सौगन्धिकं चापि यत्र तन्नाम पङ्कजम् ॥ २३ ॥

Verse text

dadṛśus tatra te ramyām alakāṁ nāma vai purīm vanaṁ saugandhikaṁ cāpi yatra tan-nāma paṅkajam

Synonyms

dadṛśuḥ — saw ; tatra — there (in Kailāsa) ; te — they (the demigods) ; ramyām — very attractive ; alakām — Alakā ; nāma — known as ; vai — indeed ; purīm — abode ; vanam — forest ; saugandhikam — Saugandhika ; ca — and ; api — even ; yatra — in which place ; tat — nāma — known by that name ; paṅkajam — species of lotus flowers .

Translation

Thus the demigods saw the wonderfully beautiful region known as Alakā in the forest known as Saugandhika, which means “full of fragrance.” The forest is known as Saugandhika because of its abundance of lotus flowers.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

They saw at that mountain a pleasant city called Alakā and the forest called Saugandhika where there were lotuses called saugandhika. There were lotuses there called saugandhika. It is in the singular since it represents a species.

Purport

Sometimes Alakā is known as Alakā-purī, which is also the name of the abode of Kuvera. Kuvera’s abode, however, cannot be seen from Kailāsa. Therefore the region of Alakā referred to here is different from the Alakā-purī of Kuvera. According to Vīrarāghava Ācārya, alakā means “uncommonly beautiful.” In the region of Alakā that the demigods saw, there is a type of lotus flower known as Saugandhika that distributes an especially fragrant scent.