Shloka 18
मणिधर: क्वचिदागणयन् गा मालया दयितगन्धतुलस्या: । प्रणयिनोऽनुचरस्य कदांसे प्रक्षिपन् भुजमगायत यत्र ॥ १८ ॥ क्वणितवेणुरववञ्चितचित्ता: कृष्णमन्वसत कृष्णगृहिण्य: । गुणगणार्णमनुगत्य हरिण्यो गोपिका इव विमुक्तगृहाशा: ॥ १९ ॥
maṇi-dharaḥ kvacid āgaṇayan gā mālayā dayita-gandha-tulasyāḥ praṇayino ’nucarasya kadāṁse prakṣipan bhujam agāyata yatra
Now Kṛṣṇa stands somewhere, counting His cows on a string of gems. Wearing a tulasī garland fragrant with His beloved’s scent, He rests His arm on the shoulder of an affectionate cowherd friend and, playing the flute, sings. Bewildered by that resonant melody, the wives of the black deer come to Kṛṣṇa—the ocean of transcendental qualities—and sit beside Him; like us gopīs, they abandon all hope of happiness in household life.
Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī explains that in the afternoon Śrī Kṛṣṇa dressed Himself in new clothing and then went out to call the cows home. Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī gives the following information about the transcendental cows of Vṛndāvana: “For each of the four colors of cows — white, red, black and yellow — there are twenty-five subdivisions, making a total of one hundred colors. And such qualities as being colored like sandalwood-pulp tilaka [speckled] or having a head shaped like a mṛdaṅga drum create eight further groups. To count these 108 groups of cows, distinguished by color and form, Kṛṣṇa is using a string of 108 jewel-beads.…
FAQs
It highlights Kṛṣṇa’s devotional beauty and intimacy in Vraja—He is adorned with tulasī, sacred to devotion, and even that garland carries the fragrance of His beloveds, showing reciprocal love between Bhagavān and His devotees.
Śukadeva Gosvāmī narrates Kṛṣṇa’s Vraja-līlā to Parīkṣit; the scene conveys how Kṛṣṇa’s simple cowherd actions—counting cows, embracing a friend, and singing—intoxicate the gopīs with devotion.
By seeing daily duties as service (like Kṛṣṇa’s herding), keeping devotion central (tulasī/remembrance), and cultivating loving association with devotees while glorifying the Lord through song and kīrtana.