Srimad Bhagavatam — Dashama Skandha, Shloka 18
Gopī-gīta in Separation: The Flute’s Call and Vraja’s Ecstatic Response
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
此刻，黑天克里希纳在某处以宝珠串计数自己的牛群；他佩戴带着爱侣芬芳的圣罗勒（图拉西）花环，并将手臂搭在亲密牧童友人的肩上，吹笛而歌。笛音使黑鹿的妻子们心神迷醉，她们趋近这“德性之海”的克里希纳，坐在他身旁；如同我们牧女一般，舍弃了对家室之乐的希冀。
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.