तत्तद्विनोदामृतसागरान्तरं
बिभेत्यलं मे रसनावगाहितुम् ।
सदैव तत्तन्मधुरप्रियापि यत्
कर्मण्यशक्ये न जनः प्रवर्तते ॥
पीतं सकृत्कर्णपुटेन तत्त-
ल्लीलामृतं कस्य हरेन्न चेतः ।
प्रवर्तितुं वाञ्छति तत्र तस्माल्
लज्जां न रक्षेत्किल लोलता हि ॥
tat-tad-vinodāmṛta-sāgarāntaraṁ
bibhety alaṁ me rasanāvagāhitum |
sadaiva tat-tan-madhura-priyāpi yat
karmaṇy aśakye na janaḥ pravartate ||
pītaṁ sakṛt karṇa-puṭena tat-tal-
līlāmṛtaṁ kasya haren na cetaḥ |
pravartituṁ vāñchati tatra tasmāl
lajjāṁ na rakṣet kila lolatā hi ||
(Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 2.5.114–115)
“My tongue is extremely afraid of plunging into the ocean of the nectar of those pastimes [i.e., Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s pastimes in Vraja] even though those sweets [i.e., those pastimes] are indeed always dear [alt., pleasing] to it because a person does not engage in an impossible task. [But] Whose heart shall the nectar of those līlās, drunk once through hollows of the ears, not steal? Therefore, [my tongue] desires to engage in that since intense desire (lolatā, syn., laulya) certainly cannot hold to shyness.”
Commentary
Śrī Sanātana Gosvāmīpāda introduces these verses spoken by Śrī Nārada as follows in his commentary:
atas tad ahaṁ varṇayitum ayogyāpi kevalaṁ tad-rasa-lobhenaiva varṇayituṁ pravarta ity āha—tat-tad- iti |
“‘Therefore, although I am unqualified to describe that [i.e., Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s līlā in Vraja], I engage in describing [it] only because of intense desire (lobha) for the rasa of that [lilā].’ Thus, he [i.e., Śrī Nārada] says tat-tad … [i.e., he speaks BB 2.5.114–115].”
Śrī Gosvāmīpāda then explains that Śrī Nārada’s tongue feels extremely afraid of describing these līlās because of shyness, or because of society, on account of [a notion of] his own unqualifiedness to describe these līlās (alam atyarthaṁ bibheti, ayogyatvena lajjāto lokato vā). Śrī Gosvāmīpāda then explains that the actual meaning of the statement as it is heard (eṣa vāstavārthaḥ śrautaś ca) is as follows, “Plunging into an ocean of nectar is certainly fitting for that to which extremely sweet rasa is dear [i.e., for the tongue]; still, by means of the figurative expression, ‘My tongue is extremely afraid of plunging into the ocean of the nectar of those pastimes,’ the reason for [the tongue’s figurative] shyness is explained” (parama-madhura-rasa-priyāyā amṛta-sāgarāvagāhanaṁ yuktam eva, tathāpi bibhetīti rūpakeṇa lajjā-karaṇam uddiṣṭa), meaning, Śrī Nārada feels shy to speak so as to relish the līlās of Śrī Kṛṣṇa in Vraja because he feels incapable of adequately doing so and thus shy and concerned about the reaction that would arise from his doing this in society. Despite this reservedness, his tongue still desires to engage in that (tatra … pravartituṁ vāñchati me rasanaiva), meaning, to plunge into the ocean of the nectar of those pastimes, or, to describe them (tatra līlāmṛte tat-tad-vinodāmṛta-sāgarāntar-avagāhane vā tad-varṇana ity arthaḥ) because after the heart is stolen by hearing of the nectar of those līlās even once and intense desire (lolatā) is thus evoked in the heart, one can no longer sustain any shyness about plunging into the ocean of the nectar of those līlās.