244 Sri-Caitanya-caritamrta

SYNONYMS

aho—oh, just see; esam—of these trees; varam—superior; janma—birth; sarva—all;
prani—living entities; upajivindm—one who provides maintenance; sujanasya iva—
like the great personalities; yesam—from whose; vai—certainly; vimukhah—disap-
pointed; yanti—goes away; na—never; arthinah—one who is asking for something.

TRANSLATION

Just see how these trees are maintaining every living entity! Their birth is
successful. Their behavior is just like that of great personalities, for anyone who
asks anything from a tree never goes away disappointed.’”’

PURPORT

According to Vedic civilization, ksatriyas are considered to be great personalities
because if anyone goes to a ksatriya king to ask for charity, the king will never
refuse. The trees are compared to those noble ksatriyas because everyone derives
all kinds of benefits from them—some people take fruit, others take flowers, others
take leaves, others take twigs, and others even cut the tree, and yet the tree gives to
everyone without hesitation.

Unnecessarily cutting trees without consideration is another example of human
debauchery. The paper industry cuts many hundreds and thousands of trees for its
mills, and with the paper so much rubbish literature is published for the whimsical
satisfaction of human society. Unfortunately, although these industrialists are now
happy in this life by dint of their industrial development, they do not know that
they will incur the responsibility for killing these living entities who are in the forms
of trees.

This verse, quoted from Srimad-Bhagavatam, was spoken by Lord Krsna to His
friends when He was taking rest underneath a tree after His pastime of stealing the
clothes of the gopis (vastra-harana-lila). By quoting this verse, Caitanya Mahaprabhu
teaches us that we should be tolerant like trees and also beneficial like trees, which
give everything to the needy persons who come underneath them. A needy person
may derive many advantages from trees and also from many animals, but in modern
civilization people have become so ungrateful that they exploit the trees and
animals and kill them. These are some of the sinful activities of modern civilization.

TEXT 47

Ge Bteal CHM AY CoSAT-AMT FF |
AIT HY HSH TEA 84 UI

parama ananda paila vrksa-parivara
