Verses 6.17.15-16

Sanskrit text, transliteration and word-by-word meaning:

पद्म-प्रभावं मधुपो यथा हि
रत्न-प्रभावं किल तत्-परीक्षित्
विद्या-प्रभावं च यथा हि विद्वान्
कव्य-प्रभावं च यथा कवीन्द्रः
यथा सहस्रेषु जनेषु सत्सु
रस-प्रभावं रसिकस् तथा हि
जानाति तत्त्वेन नरेन्द्र-पुत्र्यः
कृष्ण-प्रभावं भुवि कृष्ण-भक्तः

padma-prabhāvaṃ madhupo yathā hi
ratna-prabhāvaṃ kila tat-parīkṣit
vidyā-prabhāvaṃ ca yathā hi vidvān
kavya-prabhāvaṃ ca yathā kavīndraḥ
yathā sahasreṣu janeṣu satsu
rasa-prabhāvaṃ rasikas tathā hi
jānāti tattvena narendra-putryaḥ
kṛṣṇa-prabhāvaṃ bhuvi kṛṣṇa-bhaktaḥ

padma-prabhāvam—the glory of the lotus; madhupaḥ—a bee; yathā—as; hi—indeed; ratna-prabhāvam—the glory of jewels; kila—indeed; tat-parīkṣit—someone searching for jewels; vidyā-prabhāvam—the glory of knowledge; ca—and; yathā—as; hi—indeed; vidvān—a scholar; kavya-prabhāvam—the glory of poetry; ca—and; yathā—as; kavīndraḥ—the king of poets; yathā—as; sahasreṣu—among tousands; janeṣu—of people; satsu—saintly; rasa-prabhāvam—the glory of nectar mellows; rasikaḥ—they who are expert at relishing nectar; tathā—so; hi—indeed; jānāti—knows; tattvena—in truth; narendra-putryaḥ—O queens; kṛṣṇa—of Lord Kṛṣṇa; prabhāvam—the glory; bhuvi—in this world; kṛṣṇa—of Lord Kṛṣṇa; bhaktaḥ—a devotee.

English translation of verses 6.17.15-16:

O queens, as a bumblebee understands the glory of lotus flowers, as a jeweler understands the glory of jewels, as a scholar understands the glory of knowledge, as a poet understands the glory of poetry, and as a person expert at tasting nectar understands the glory of the nectar held by thousands of saintly devotees, so only a devotee of Kṛṣṇa can understand the glory of Kṛṣṇa in truth.