Shloka 19
The Gopīs Glorify the Song of Kṛṣṇa’s Flute
Veṇu-gīta
गा गोपकैरनुवनं नयतोरुदार- वेणुस्वनै: कलपदैस्तनुभृत्सु सख्य: । अस्पन्दनं गतिमतां पुलकस्तरुणां निर्योगपाशकृतलक्षणयोर्विचित्रम् ॥ १९ ॥
gā gopakair anu-vanaṁ nayator udāra veṇu-svanaiḥ kala-padais tanu-bhṛtsu sakhyaḥ aspandanaṁ gati-matāṁ pulakas taruṇāṁ niryoga-pāśa-kṛta-lakṣaṇayor vicitram
O friends, as Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma move through the forest with Their cowherd companions, leading the cows, the noble, sweet notes of Kṛṣṇa’s flute make the moving creatures stand stunned, and even the unmoving trees tremble with ecstatic rapture. And the ropes They carry to bind the cows’ hind legs at milking—how wondrous it all is.
Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma would sometimes wear Their cowherding ropes on Their heads and sometimes carry them on Their shoulders, and thus They were beautifully decorated with all the equipment of cowherd boys.
FAQs
This verse says Kṛṣṇa’s flute music is so spiritually potent that it stills moving beings and makes even trees show ecstatic symptoms like goosebumps, as if bound by loving connection to Him.
They are expressing how all of Vraja responds to Kṛṣṇa’s presence: creation itself participates in devotion, revealing bhakti’s ecstatic signs when touched by His flute song.
Cultivate attentive hearing (śravaṇam) of Kṛṣṇa-kathā and devotional music; the verse teaches that sincere, absorbed listening can still the restless mind and awaken loving connection to the Divine.