maṇi-dharaḥ kvacid āgaṇayan gā
mālayā dayita-gandha-tulasyāḥ
praṇayino 'nucarasya kadāḿse
prakṣipan bhujam agāyata yatra
kvaṇita-veṇu-rava-vañcita-cittāḥ
kṛṣṇam anvasata kṛṣṇa-gṛhiṇyaḥ
guṇa-gaṇārṇam anugatya hariṇyo
gopikā iva vimukta-gṛhāśāḥ
mani -- (a string of) gems; dharah -- holding; kvacit -- somewhere; aganayan -- counting; gah -- the cows; malaya -- with a flower garland; dayita -- of His beloved; gandha -- having the fragrance; tulasyah -- the tulasi flowers upon which; pranayinah -- loving; anucarasya -- of a companion; kada -- at some time; amse -- on the shoulder; prakshipan -- throwing; bhujam -- His arm; agayata -- He sang; yatra -- when; kvanita -- vibrated; venu -- of His flute; rava -- by the sound; vancita -- stolen; cittah -- their hearts; krishnam -- Krishna; anvasata -- they sat down beside; krishna -- of the black deer; grihinyah -- the wives; guna-gana -- of all transcendental qualities; arnam -- the ocean; anugatya -- approaching; harinyah -- the does; gopikah -- the gopis; iva -- just like; vimukta -- having given up; griha -- for home and family; asah -- their hopes.
Now Krishna is standing somewhere counting His cows on a string of gems. He wears a garland of tulasi flowers that bear the fragrance of His beloved, and He has thrown His arm over the shoulder of an affectionate cowherd boyfriend. As Krishna plays His flute and sings, the music attracts the black deer's wives, who approach that ocean of transcendental qualities and sit down beside Him. Just like us cowherd girls, they have given up all hope for happiness in family life.
Srila Jiva Gosvami explains that in the afternoon Sri Krishna dressed Himself in new clothing and then went out to call the cows home. Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti gives the following information about the transcendental cows of Vrindavana: "For each of the four colors of cows -- white, red, black and yellow -- there are twenty-five subdivisions, making a total of one hundred colors. And such qualities as being colored like sandalwood-pulp tilaka [speckled] or having a head shaped like a mridanga drum create eight further groups. To count these 108 groups of cows, distinguished by color and form, Krishna is using a string of 108 jewel-beads....
"Thus when Krishna calls out 'Hey Dhavali [the name of a white cow],' a whole group of white cows come forward, and when He calls 'Hamsi, Candani, Ganga, Mukta 'and so on, the twenty-four other groups of white cows come. The reddish cows are called Aruni, Kunkuma, Sarasvati, etc., the blackish ones Syamala, Dhumala, Yamuna, etc., and the yellowish ones Pita, Pingala, Haritalika, etc. Those in the group with tilaka marks on their foreheads are called Citrita, Citra-tilaka, Dirgha-tilaka and Tiryak-tilaka, and there are groups known as Mridanga-mukhi [mridanga-head], Simha-mukhi [lion-head] and so on.
"Thus being called by name, the cows are coming forward, and Krishna, thinking that when it is time to bring them back from the forest none should be forgotten, is counting them on His jewel-beads."
