Text 48
pura-grāmeṣv āgrayaṇair
indriyaiś ca mahotsavaiḥ
babhau bhūḥ pakva-śaṣyāḍhyā
kalābhyāṁ nitarāṁ hareḥ
pura — in the towns; grāmeṣu — and villages; āgrayaṇaiḥ — with performances of the Vedic sacrifice for tasting the first grains of the new harvest; indriyaiḥ — with other (worldly) celebrations; ca — and; mahā-utsavaiḥ — great celebrations; babhau — shone; bhūḥ — the earth; pakva — ripe; śaṣya — with her grains; āḍhyā — rich; kalā — she who is the expansion of the Lord; ābhyām — with those two (Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma); nitarām — very much; hareḥ — of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
In all the towns and villages people held great festivals, performing the Vedic fire sacrifice for honoring and tasting the first grains of the new harvest, along with similar celebrations that followed local custom and tradition. Thus the earth, rich with newly grown grain and especially beautified by the presence of Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma, shone beautifully as an expansion of the Supreme Lord.
The word āgrayaṇaiḥ refers to a particular authorized Vedic sacrifice, and the word indriyaiḥ refers to folk ceremonies that have somewhat worldly objectives.
Śrīla Prabhupāda comments as follows: “During autumn, the fields become filled with ripened grains. At that time, the people become happy over the harvest and observe various ceremonies, such as Navanna, the offering of new grains to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The new grains are first offered to the Deities in various temples, and all are invited to take sweet rice made of these new grains. There are other religious ceremonies and methods of worship, particularly in Bengal, where the greatest of all such ceremonies is held, called Durgā-pūjā.”