Text 23] Chanting the Song Sung by Lord Siva 1049
the situation by throwing pollen or saffron contained in the lotus flowers.
All this combines with the sweet vibration created by the swans and the
calm of the water. The Pracetaés consider such a place to be like a con-
tinuous festival. From this description it appears that the Pracetas reached
Sivaloka, which is supposed to be situated near the Himalayan Mountains.
TEXT 23
wr TRaATE | araTTAATETT |
faery wage FeRIMATaG 112311
tatra gandharvam dkarnya
divya-marga-manoharam
visismyit raja-putras te
mrdanga-panavady anu

tatra—there; gandharvam—musical sounds; akarnya—hearing; divya—
heavenly; madrga—symmetrical; manoharam—beautiful; visismyuh— they
became amazed; raja-putrah—all the sons of King Barhisat; te—all of them;
mrdanga— drums; panava—kettledrums; @di—all together; anu—always.

TRANSLATION

The sons of the king became very much amazed when they heard vibra-
tions from various drums and kettledrums along with other orderly musical
sounds pleasing to the ear.

PURPORT

In addition to the various flowers and living entities about the lake, there
were also many musical vibrations. The void of the impersonalists, which
has no variegatedness, is not at all pleasing compared to such a scene.
Actually one has to attain the perfection of sac-cid-ananda, eternity, bliss
and knowledge. Because the impersonalists deny these varieties of creation,
they cannot actually enjoy transcendental bliss. The place where the
Pracetas arrived was the abode of Lord Siva. Impersonalists are generally
worshipers of Lord Siva, but Lord Siva is never without variety in his
abode. Thus wherever one goes, whether to the planet of Lord Siva, Lord
Visnu or Lord Brahma, there is variety to be enjoyed by persons full in
knowledge and bliss.
