Text 22
tābhir yutaḥ śramam apohitum aṅga-saṅga-
ghṛṣṭa-srajaḥ sa kuca-kuṅkuma-rañjitāyāḥ
gandharva-pālibhir anudruta āviśad vāḥ
śrānto gajībhir ibha-rāḍ iva bhinna-setuḥ
tābhiḥ — by them; yutaḥ — accompanied; śramam — fatigue; apohitum — to dispel; aṅga-saṅga — by their conjugal association; ghṛṣṭa — crushed; srajaḥ — whose garland; saḥ — He; kuca — from their breasts; kuṅkuma — of the vermilion powder; rañjitāyāḥ — which was smeared by the color; gandharva-pa — (who appeared like) leaders of the heavenly singers; alibhiḥ — by bees; anudrutaḥ — swiftly followed; āviśat — He entered; vāḥ — the water; śrāntaḥ — tired; gajībhiḥ — together with His female elephant consorts; ibha-rāṭ — a lordly elephant; iva — as; bhinna — having broken; setuḥ — the walls of a paddy field.
Lord Kṛṣṇa’s garland had been crushed during His conjugal dalliance with the gopīs and colored vermilion by the kuṅkuma powder on their breasts. To dispel the fatigue of the gopīs, Kṛṣṇa entered the water of the Yamunā, followed swiftly by bees who were singing like the best of the Gandharvas. He appeared like a lordly elephant entering the water to relax in the company of his consorts. Indeed, the Lord had transgressed all worldly and Vedic morality just as a powerful elephant might break the dikes in a paddy field.