SB 3.15.17
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
TEXT 17
- vaimānikāḥ sa-lalanāś caritāni śaśvad
- gāyanti yatra śamala-kṣapaṇāni bhartuḥ
- antar-jale 'nuvikasan-madhu-mādhavīnāṁ
- gandhena khaṇḍita-dhiyo 'py anilaṁ kṣipantaḥ
SYNONYMS
vaimānikāḥ — flying in their airplanes; sa-lalanāḥ — along with their wives; caritāni — activities; śaśvat — eternally; gāyanti — sing; yatra — in those Vaikuṇṭha planets; śamala — all inauspicious qualities; kṣapaṇāni — devoid of; bhartuḥ — of the Supreme Lord; antaḥ-jale — in the midst of the water; anuvikasat — blossoming; madhu — fragrant, laden with honey; mādhavīnām — of the mādhavī flowers; gandhena — by the fragrance; khaṇḍita — disturbed; dhiyaḥ — minds; api — even though; anilam — breeze; kṣipantaḥ — deriding.
TRANSLATION
In the Vaikuṇṭha planets the inhabitants fly in their airplanes, accompanied by their wives and consorts, and eternally sing of the character and activities of the Lord, which are always devoid of all inauspicious qualities. While singing the glories of the Lord, they deride even the presence of the blossoming mādhavī flowers, which are fragrant and laden with honey.
PURPORT
It appears from this verse that the Vaikuṇṭha planets are full of all opulences. There are airplanes in which the inhabitants travel in the spiritual sky with their sweethearts. There is a breeze carrying the fragrance of blossoming flowers, and this breeze is so nice that it also carries the honey of the flowers. The inhabitants of Vaikuṇṭha, however, are so interested in glorifying the Lord that they do not like the disturbance of such a nice breeze while they are chanting the Lord's glories. In other words, they are pure devotees. They consider glorification of the Lord more important than their own sense gratification. In the Vaikuṇṭha planets there is no question of sense gratification. To smell the fragrance of a blossoming flower is certainly very nice, but it is simply for sense gratification. The inhabitants of Vaikuṇṭha give first preference to the service of the Lord, not their own sense gratification. Serving the Lord in transcendental love yields such transcendental pleasure that, in comparison, sense gratification is counted as insignificant.