bāhuḿ priyāḿsa upadhāya gṛhīta-padmo
rāmānujas tulasikāli-kulair madāndhaiḥ
anvīyamāna iha vas taravaḥ praṇāmaḿ
kiḿ vābhinandati caran praṇayāvalokaiḥ
bahum -- His arm; priya -- of His beloved; amse -- on the shoulder; upadhaya -- placing; grihita -- holding; padmah -- a lotus; rama-anujah -- Krishna, the younger brother of Balarama; tulasika -- swarming around the tulasi manjaris (which are ornamenting His garland); ali-kulaih -- by the many bees; mada -- with intoxication; andhaih -- who are blind; anviyamanah -- being followed; iha -- here; vah -- your; taravah -- O trees; pranamam -- the bowing down; kim va -- whether; abhinandati -- has acknowledged; caran -- while walking by; pranaya -- imbued with love; avalokaih -- with His glances.
O trees, we see that you are bowing down. When the younger brother of Rama walked by here, followed by intoxicated bees swarming around the tulasi manjaris decorating His garland, did He acknowledge your obeisances with His affectionate glances? He must have been resting His arm on the shoulder of His beloved and carrying a lotus flower in His free hand.
The gopis saw that the trees, bent over with abundant fruits and flowers, were offering obeisances to Lord Krishna. The gopis supposed Krishna must have recently passed that way, since the trees were still bowing down. Because Sri Krishna had left the gopis to go with His favorite consort, they were jealous and thus imagined that He had become fatigued from His loving affairs and was resting His left arm on the soft shoulder of His beloved. The gopis further imagined that Krishna must have been carrying a blue lotus in His right hand to drive away the bees eagerly trying to attack His beloved's face after smelling its aroma. The scene was so beautiful, the gopis imagined, that the maddened bees had left the tulasi garden to follow the two lovers.
