barhiṇa-stabaka-dhÄtu-palÄÅ›air
baddha-malla-paribarha-viá¸ambaḥ
karhicit sa-bala Äli sa gopair
gÄḥ samÄhvayati yatra mukundaḥ
tarhi bhagna-gatayaḥ sarito vai
tat-padÄmbuja-rajo 'nila-nÄ«tam
spá¹›hayatÄ«r vayam ivÄbahu-puṇyÄḥ
prema-vepita-bhujÄḥ stimitÄpaḥ
barhiṇa - of peacocks; stabaka - with the tail feathers; dhÄtu - with colored minerals; palÄÅ›aiḥ - and with leaves; baddha - arranged; malla - of a wrestler; paribarha - the apparel; viá¸ambaḥ - imitating; karhicit - sometimes; sa-balaḥ - with BalarÄma; Äli - my dear gopÄ«; saḥ - He; gopaiḥ - with the cowherd boys; gÄḥ - the cows; samÄhvayati - calls; yatra - when; mukundaḥ - Lord Mukunda; tarhi - then; bhagna - broken; gatayaḥ - their movement; saritaḥ - the rivers; vai - indeed; tat - His; pada-ambuja - of the lotus feet; rajaḥ - the dust; anila - by the wind; nÄ«tam - brought; spá¹›hayatīḥ - hankering for; vayam - ourselves; iva - just like; abahu - slight; puṇyÄḥ - the piety to whose credit; prema - due to love of God; vepita - trembling; bhujÄḥ - whose arms (waves); stimita - stopped; Äpaḥ - whose water.
My dear gopÄ«, sometimes Mukunda imitates the appearance of a wrestler by decorating Himself with leaves, peacock feathers and colored minerals. Then, in the company of BalarÄma and the cowherd boys, He plays His flute to call the cows. At that time the rivers stop flowing, their water stunned by the ecstasy they feel as they eagerly wait for the wind to bring them the dust of His lotus feet. But like us, the rivers are not very pious, and thus they merely wait with their arms trembling out of love.
The gopīs state here that the sound of Kṛṣṇa’s flute causes even inanimate objects like rivers to become conscious and then stunned in ecstasy. Just as the gopīs could not always be in Kṛṣṇa’s physical association, the rivers could not come to the Lord’s lotus feet. Although they desired the Lord, their movement was checked by ecstasy, and their “arms,†their waves, trembled with love of Godhead.
