Shloka 5
Varṣā-Śarad Vṛndāvana-Śobha: The Beauty of the Rainy and Autumn Seasons in Vraja
अष्टौ मासान् निपीतं यद् भूम्याश्चोदमयं वसु । स्वगोभिर्मोक्तुमारेभे पर्जन्य: काल आगते ॥ ५ ॥
aṣṭau māsān nipītaṁ yad bhūmyāś coda-mayaṁ vasu sva-gobhir moktum ārebhe parjanyaḥ kāla āgate
For eight months the sun had drunk up the earth’s wealth in the form of water with its rays. Now, when the proper time arrived, it began to release that stored treasure.
The ācāryas compare the sun’s evaporating the earth’s wealth of water to a king’s collecting taxes. In Chapter Twenty, of Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Śrīla Prabhupāda explains this analogy as follows: “Clouds are accumulated water drawn from the land by the sunshine. Continually for eight months the sun evaporates all kinds of water from the surface of the globe, and this water is accumulated in the shape of clouds, which are distributed as water when there is need. Similarly, a government exacts various taxes from the citizens, such as income tax and sales tax, which the citizens are able to pay by their different material activities: agriculture, trade, industry and so on. This taxation is compared to the sun’s drawing water from the earth. When there is again need of water on the surface of the globe, the same sunshine converts the water into clouds and distributes it all over the globe. Similarly, the taxes collected by the government must be distributed to the people again, as educational work, public work, sanitation work and so on. This is very essential for a good government. The government should not simply exact taxes for useless squandering; the tax collection should be utilized for the public welfare of the state.”
FAQs
It describes how, when the right season arrives, the rain-clouds release abundant water—wealth drawn from the earth—showing nature’s timely, divinely arranged generosity.
Śukadeva Gosvāmī is narrating to King Parīkṣit, describing the monsoon in Vraja during Kṛṣṇa’s pastimes.
Like clouds that hold and then release at the proper time, one should learn responsible stewardship—gather resources honestly and give them back through timely charity and service.