tān - these signs; ālakṣya - seeing; bhaya-udvignāḥ - agitated by fear; gopāḥ - the cowherds; nanda-puraḥ-gamāḥ - headed by Nanda Mahārāja; vinā - without; rāmeṇa - Balarāma; gāḥ - the cows; kṛṣṇam - Kṛṣṇa; jñātvā - understanding; cārayitum - to herd; gatam - gone; taiḥ - from those; durnimittaiḥ - bad omens; nidhanam - destruction; matvā - considering; prāptam - attained; atat-vidaḥ - not knowing His opulences; tat-prāṇāḥ - having Him as their very source of life; tat-manaskāḥ - their minds being absorbed in Him; te - they; duḥkha - by pain; śoka - unhappiness; bhaya - and fear; āturāḥ - overwhelmed; ā-bāla - including the children; vṛddha - old persons; vanitāḥ - and ladies; sarve - all; aṅga - my dear King Parīkṣit; paśu-vṛttayaḥ - behaving as an affectionate cow does toward her calf; nirjagmuḥ - they went out; gokulāt - from Gokula; dīnāḥ - feeling wretched; kṛṣṇa-darśana - for the sight of Lord Kṛṣṇa; lālasāḥ - anxious.

Seeing the inauspicious omens, Nanda Mahārāja and the other cowherd men were fearful, for they knew that Kṛṣṇa had gone to herd the cows that day without His elder brother, Balarāma. Because they had dedicated their minds to Kṛṣṇa, accepting Him as their very life, they were unaware of His great power and opulence. Thus they concluded that the inauspicious omens indicated He had met with death, and they were overwhelmed with grief, lamentation and fear. All the inhabitants of Vṛndāvana, including the children, women and elderly persons, thought of Kṛṣṇa just as a cow thinks of her helpless young calf, and thus these poor, suffering people rushed out of the village, intent upon finding Him.