dṛṣṭvātape vraja-paśūn saha rāma-gopaiḥ
sañcārayantam anu veṇum udīrayantam
prema-pravṛddha uditaḥ kusumāvalībhiḥ
sakhyur vyadhāt sva-vapuṣāmbuda ātapatram
drishtva -- seeing; atape -- in the full heat of the sun; vraja-pasun -- the domestic animals of Vraja; saha -- together with; rama-gopaih -- Lord Balarama and the cowherd boys; sancarayantam -- herding together; anu -- repeatedly; venum -- His flute; udirayantam -- loudly playing; prema -- out of love; pravriddhah -- expanded; uditah -- rising high; kusuma-avalibhih -- (with droplets of water vapor, which are like) groups of flowers; sakhyuh -- for his friend; vyadhat -- he constructed; sva-vapusha -- out of his own body; ambudah -- the cloud; atapatram -- an umbrella.
In the company of Balarama and the cowherd boys, Lord Krishna is continually vibrating His flute as He herds all the animals of Vraja, even under the full heat of the summer sun. Seeing this, the cloud in the sky has expanded himself out of love. He is rising high and constructing out of his own body, with its multitude of flower-like droplets of water, an umbrella for the sake of his friend.
Srila Prabhupada states in his Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead: "The scorching heat of the autumn sunshine was sometimes intolerable, and therefore the clouds in the sky appeared in sympathy above Krishna and Balarama and Their boyfriends while They engaged in blowing Their flutes. The clouds served as a soothing umbrella over Their heads just to make friendship with Krishna."
