Text 18
yad-anucarita-līlā-karṇa-pīyūṣa-vipruṭ-
sakṛd-adana-vidhūta-dvandva-dharmā vinaṣṭāḥ
sapadi gṛha-kuṭumbaṁ dīnam utsṛjya dīnā
bahava iha vihaṅgā bhikṣu-caryāṁ caranti
yat — whose; anucarita — constantly performed activities; līlā — of such pastimes; karṇa — for the ears; pīyūṣa — of the nectar; vipruṭ — of a drop; sakṛt — just once; adana — by the partaking; vidhūta — removed entirely; dvandva — of duality; dharmāḥ — their propensities; vinaṣṭāḥ — ruined; sapadi — immediately; gṛha — their homes; kuṭumbam — and families; dīnam — wretched; utsṛjya — rejecting; dīnāḥ — becoming themselves wretched; bahavaḥ — many persons; iha — here (in Vṛndāvana); vihaṅgāḥ — (like) birds; bhikṣu — of begging; caryām — the livelihood; caranti — they pursue.
To hear about the pastimes that Kṛṣṇa regularly performs is nectar for the ears. For those who relish just a single drop of that nectar, even once, their dedication to material duality is ruined. Many such persons have suddenly given up their wretched homes and families and, themselves becoming wretched, traveled here to Vṛndāvana to wander about like birds, begging for their living.
Material duality is based on falsely thinking, “This is mine, and that is yours,” or “This is our country, and that is yours,” or “This is my family, and that is yours,” and so on. In fact, there is one Absolute Truth, in which we all exist and to whom everything belongs. His beauty and pleasure are also absolute and infinite, and if one actually hears about this Absolute Truth, called Kṛṣṇa, one’s dedication to the illusion of mundane duality is spoiled.
According to the ācāryas, and certainly in accord with Sanskrit grammar, the last two words of the second line of this text may also be divided dharma-avinaṣṭāḥ. Then the entire line becomes part of a single compound, the meaning of which is that hearing about Kṛṣṇa cleanses one of irreligious duality and thus one is not vanquished (avinaṣṭa) by material illusion. The word dīnāḥ is then given the alternate reading of dhīrāḥ, meaning that one becomes spiritually sober and thus gives up attachment to fleeting material relationships. The word vihaṅgāḥ, “birds,” would in this case refer to swans, the symbol of essential discrimination.
Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī quotes Rūpa Gosvāmī as follows in connection with this verse:
bhaṅgyā tyāgaucitī tasya
khagānām api khedanāt
yatra sānuśayaṁ proktā
tad bhaved abhijalpitam
“When a lover indirectly states with remorse that her beloved is fit to be given up, such speech, uttered like the plaintive crying of a bird, is called abhijalpa.” (Ujjvala-nīlamaṇi 14.194)