Text 12
bāhuṁ priyāṁsa upadhāya gṛhīta-padmo
rāmānujas tulasikāli-kulair madāndhaiḥ
anvīyamāna iha vas taravaḥ praṇāmaṁ
kiṁ vābhinandati caran praṇayāvalokaiḥ
bāhum — His arm; priyā — of His beloved; aṁse — on the shoulder; upadhāya — placing; gṛhīta — holding; padmaḥ — a lotus; rāma-anujaḥ — Kṛṣṇa, the younger brother of Balarāma; tulasikā — swarming around the tulasī mañjarīs (which are ornamenting His garland); ali-kulaiḥ — by the many bees; mada — with intoxication; andhaiḥ — who are blind; anvīyamānaḥ — being followed; iha — here; vaḥ — your; taravaḥ — O trees; praṇāmam — the bowing down; kim vā — whether; abhinandati — has acknowledged; caran — while walking by; praṇaya — imbued with love; avalokaiḥ — with His glances.
O trees, we see that you are bowing down. When the younger brother of Rāma walked by here, followed by intoxicated bees swarming around the tulasī mañjarīs 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 gopīs saw that the trees, bent over with abundant fruits and flowers, were offering obeisances to Lord Kṛṣṇa. The gopīs supposed Kṛṣṇa must have recently passed that way, since the trees were still bowing down. Because Śrī Kṛṣṇa had left the gopīs 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 gopīs further imagined that Kṛṣṇa 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 gopīs imagined, that the maddened bees had left the tulasī garden to follow the two lovers.