tan mÄdhavo veṇum udÄ«rayan vá¹›to
gopair gṛṇadbhiḥ sva-yaÅ›o balÄnvitaḥ
paśūn puraská¹›tya paÅ›avyam ÄviÅ›ad
vihartu-kÄmaḥ kusumÄkaraá¹ vanam
tat - thus; mÄdhavaḥ - Lord ÅšrÄ« MÄdhava; veṇum - His flute; udÄ«rayan - sounding; vá¹›taḥ - surrounded; gopaiḥ - by the cowherd boys; gṛṇadbhiḥ - who were chanting; sva-yaÅ›aḥ - His glories; bala-anvitaḥ - accompanied by Lord BalarÄma; paśūn - the animals; puraská¹›tya - keeping in front; paÅ›avyam - full of nourishment for the cows; ÄviÅ›at - He entered; vihartu-kÄmaḥ - desiring to enjoy pastimes; kusuma-Äkaram - rich with flowers; vanam - the forest.
Thus desiring to enjoy pastimes, Lord MÄdhava, sounding His flute, surrounded by cowherd boys who were chanting His glories, and accompanied by Lord Baladeva, kept the cows before Him and entered the Vá¹›ndÄvana forest, which was full of flowers and rich with nourishment for the animals.
ÅšrÄ«la SanÄtana GosvÄmÄ« has explained the various meanings of the word mÄdhava as follows: MÄdhava normally indicates Kṛṣṇa to be “the Lord, who is the consort of the goddess of fortune, Laká¹£mÄ«.†This name also implies that Lord Kṛṣṇa descended in the dynasty of Madhu. Since the spring season is also known as MÄdhava, it is understood that as soon as Lord Kṛṣṇa entered the Vá¹›ndÄvana forest, it automatically exhibited all the opulences of spring, becoming filled with flowers, breezes and a celestial atmosphere. Another reason Lord Kṛṣṇa is known as MÄdhava is that He enjoys His pastimes in madhu, the taste of conjugal love.
Lord Kṛṣṇa would loudly sound His flute as He entered the forest of ÅšrÄ« Vá¹›ndÄvana, thus giving inconceivable bliss to all the residents of His hometown, Vraja-dhÄma. These simple pastimes of playfully entering the forest, playing on the flute and so forth were performed daily in the spiritual land of Vá¹›ndÄvana.
