maṇi-dharaḥ kvacid Ägaṇayan gÄ
mÄlayÄ dayita-gandha-tulasyÄḥ
praṇayino 'nucarasya kadÄá¹se
praká¹£ipan bhujam agÄyata yatra
kvaṇita-veṇu-rava-vañcita-cittÄḥ
kṛṣṇam anvasata kṛṣṇa-gṛhiṇyaḥ
guṇa-gaṇÄrṇam anugatya hariṇyo
gopikÄ iva vimukta-gá¹›hÄÅ›Äḥ
maṇi - (a string of) gems; dharaḥ - holding; kvacit - somewhere; Ägaṇayan - counting; gÄḥ - the cows; mÄlayÄ - with a flower garland; dayita - of His beloved; gandha - having the fragrance; tulasyÄḥ - the tulasÄ« flowers upon which; praṇayinaḥ - loving; anucarasya - of a companion; kadÄ - at some time; aá¹se - on the shoulder; praká¹£ipan - throwing; bhujam - His arm; agÄyata - He sang; yatra - when; kvaṇita - vibrated; veṇu - of His flute; rava - by the sound; vañcita - stolen; cittÄḥ - their hearts; kṛṣṇam - Kṛṣṇa; anvasata - they sat down beside; kṛṣṇa - of the black deer; gá¹›hiṇyaḥ - the wives; guṇa-gaṇa - of all transcendental qualities; arṇam - the ocean; anugatya - approaching; hariṇyaḥ - the does; gopikÄḥ - the gopÄ«s; iva - just like; vimukta - having given up; gá¹›ha - for home and family; ÄÅ›Äḥ - their hopes.
Now Kṛṣṇa is standing somewhere counting His cows on a string of gems. He wears a garland of tulasī flowers that bear the fragrance of His beloved, and He has thrown His arm over the shoulder of an affectionate cowherd boyfriend. As Kṛṣṇa plays His flute and sings, the music attracts the black deer’s wives, who approach that ocean of transcendental qualities and sit down beside Him. Just like us cowherd girls, they have given up all hope for happiness in family life.
ÅšrÄ«la JÄ«va GosvÄmÄ« explains that in the afternoon ÅšrÄ« Kṛṣṇa dressed Himself in new clothing and then went out to call the cows home. ÅšrÄ«la ViÅ›vanÄtha CakravartÄ« gives the following information about the transcendental cows of Vá¹›ndÄvana: “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 má¹›daá¹…ga 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.…
“Thus when Kṛṣṇa calls out ‘Hey DhavalÄ« [the name of a white cow],’ a whole group of white cows come forward, and when He calls ‘Haá¹sÄ«, CandanÄ«, Gaá¹…gÄ, MuktÄ‘ and so on, the twenty-four other groups of white cows come. The reddish cows are called Aruṇī, Kuá¹…kuma, SarasvatÄ«, etc., the blackish ones ÅšyÄmalÄ, DhÅ«malÄ, YamunÄ, etc., and the yellowish ones PÄ«tÄ, Piá¹…galÄ, HaritÄlikÄ, etc. Those in the group with tilaka marks on their foreheads are called CitritÄ, Citra-tilakÄ, DÄ«rgha-tilakÄ and Tiryak-tilakÄ, and there are groups known as Má¹›daá¹…ga-mukhÄ« [má¹›daá¹…ga-head], Siá¹ha-mukhÄ« [lion-head] and so on.
“Thus being called by name, the cows are coming forward, and Kṛṣṇa, thinking that when it is time to bring them back from the forest none should be forgotten, is counting them on His jewel-beads.â€
