varṇÄs trayaḥ kilÄsyÄsan
gṛhṇato 'nu-yugaṠtanūḥ
Å›uklo raktas tathÄ pÄ«ta
idÄnÄ«á¹ kṛṣṇatÄá¹ gataḥ
varṇÄḥ trayaḥ - three colors; kila - indeed; asya - by your son Kṛṣṇa; Äsan - were assumed; gá¹›hṇataḥ - accepting; anu-yugam tanūḥ - transcendental bodies according to the different yugas; Å›uklaḥ - sometimes white; raktaḥ - sometimes red; tathÄ - as well as; pÄ«taḥ - sometimes yellow; idÄnÄ«m kṛṣṇatÄm gataḥ - at the present moment He has assumed a blackish color.
[Garga Muni had said:] Your son Kṛṣṇa appears as an incarnation in every millennium. In the past He assumed three different colors — white, red and yellow — and now He has appeared in a blackish color.
This and the next six verses (17 through 22) are taken from the eighth chapter of this canto, in which Garga Muni instructs Nanda MahÄrÄja about Nanda’s son Kṛṣṇa. The translations found herein for these verses are based on those of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami PrabhupÄda. In Chapter Eight, where the verses originally appear, the reader will find extensive purports by ÅšrÄ«la PrabhupÄda.
