gopyaḥ kim ācarad ayaḿ kuśalaḿ sma veṇur
dāmodarādhara-sudhām api gopikānām
bhuńkte svayaḿ yad avaśiṣṭa-rasaḿ hradinyo
hṛṣyat-tvaco 'śru mumucus taravo yathāryaḥ
gopyah -- O gopis; kim -- what; acarat -- performed; ayam -- this; kusalam -- auspicious activities; sma -- certainly; venuh -- the flute; damodara -- of Krishna; adhara-sudham -- the nectar of the lips; api -- even; gopikanam -- which is owed to the gopis; bhunkte -- enjoys; svayam -- independently; yat -- from which; avasishta -- remaining; rasam -- the taste only; hradinyah -- the rivers; hrishyat -- feeling jubilant; tvacah -- whose bodies; asru -- tears; mumucuh -- shed; taravah -- the trees; yatha -- exactly like; aryah -- old forefathers.
My dear gopis, what auspicious activities must the flute have performed to enjoy the nectar of Krishna's lips independently and leave only a taste for us gopis, for whom that nectar is actually meant! The forefathers of the flute, the bamboo trees, shed tears of pleasure. His mother, the river on whose bank the bamboo was born, feels jubilation, and therefore her blooming lotus flowers are standing like hair on her body.
This translation is quoted from Srila Prabhupada's Caitanya-caritamrita (Antya 16.140).
In the guise of releasing flowing sap, the bamboo trees are actually crying tears of ecstasy upon seeing their child become an exalted devotee-flute of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Sri Krishna.
Sanatana Gosvami gives an alternate explanation: The trees are crying because they are unhappy at not being able to play with Krishna themselves. One may object that the trees in Vrindavana should not lament for that which is impossible for them to obtain, just as a beggar certainly doesn't lament because he is forbidden to meet the king. But the trees are actually just like intelligent persons who suffer when they cannot obtain the goal of life. Thus the trees are crying because they cannot get the nectar of Krishna's lips.
