evaḿ śaśāńkāḿśu-virājitā niśāḥ
sa satya-kāmo 'nuratābalā-gaṇaḥ
siṣeva ātmany avaruddha-saurataḥ
sarvāḥ śarat-kāvya-kathā-rasāśrayāḥ
evam -- in this manner; sasanka -- of the moon; amsu -- by the rays; virajitah -- made brilliant; nisah -- the nights; sah -- He; satya-kamah -- whose desires are always fulfilled; anurata -- constantly attached to Him abala-ganah -- His many girlfriends; sisheve -- He utilized; atmani -- within Himself; avaruddha -- reserved; sauratah -- conjugal feelings; sarvah -- all (the nights); sarat -- of the autumn; kavya -- poetic; katha -- of narrations; rasa -- of the transcendental moods; asrayah -- the repositories.
Although the gopis were firmly attached to Lord Krishna, whose desires are always fulfilled, the Lord was not internally affected by any mundane sex desire. Still, to perform His pastimes the Lord took advantage of all those moonlit autumn nights, which inspire poetic descriptions of transcendental affairs.
It is difficult to translate into English the word rasa, which indicates the spiritual bliss derived from one's loving relationship with Lord Krishna. That bliss is experienced in the midst of spiritual pastimes with the Lord and His devotees. Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti explains that great Vaishnava poets like Vyasa, Parasara, Jayadeva, Lilasuka (Bilvamangala Thakura), Govardhanacarya and Srila Rupa Gosvami have tried in their poetry to describe the conjugal affairs of the Lord. These descriptions are never complete, however, since the Lord's pastimes are unlimited; thus the attempt to glorify such pastimes is still going on and will go on forever. Lord Krishna arranged an extraordinary season of beautiful autumn nights to enhance His loving affairs, and those autumn nights have inspired transcendental poets since time immemorial.
