Devanagari
उपगीयमान उद्गायन् वनिताशतयूथप: ।
मालां बिभ्रद्वैजयन्तीं व्यचरन्मण्डयन् वनम् ॥ ४४ ॥
Verse text
upagīyamāna udgāyan
vanitā-śata-yūthapaḥ
mālāṁ bibhrad vaijayantīṁ
vyacaran maṇḍayan vanam
Synonyms
upagīyamānaḥ
—
being sung about
;
udgāyan
—
singing loudly Himself
;
vanitā
—
of women
;
śata
—
hundreds
;
yūthapaḥ
—
the commander
;
māIām
—
the garland
;
bibhrat
—
wearing
;
vaijayantīm
—
known as Vaijayantī (which consists of flowers of five different colors)
;
vyacaran
—
moving about
;
maṇḍayan
—
beautifying
;
vanam
—
the forest .
Translation
As the gopīs sang His praises, that leader of hundreds of women sang loudly in reply. He moved among them, wearing His Vaijayantī garland, beautifying the Vṛndāvana forest.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
As the gopīs sang His praises, that leader of hundreds of women sang loudly in reply. He moved among them, wearing His Vaijayantī garland, beautifying the Vṛndāvana forest.
KB 10.29.44
Thus the Supreme Personality of Godhead, surrounded by hundreds of gopīs and decorated with a flower garland of many colors, began to wander within the Vṛndāvana forest, sometimes singing to Himself and sometimes singing with the gopīs.
Purport
According to Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī, Lord Kṛṣṇa sang many wonderful melodies and meters, and the
gopīs
accompanied Him, following His lead. Kṛṣṇa’s singing on this occasion is described in the
Śrī Viṣṇu Purāṇa:
kṛṣṇaḥ śarac-candramasaṁ
kaumudīṁ kumudākaram
jagau gopī-janas tv ekaṁ
kṛṣṇa-nāma punaḥ punaḥ
“Kṛṣṇa sang the glories of the autumn moon, the moonshine and the lotus-filled river, while the
gopīs
simply sang His name repeatedly.”
Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Radha, Candravali and other gopis began to sing (upagiyamana), in an especially pleasing way (upa) with raga, svara (melody) and tala (beat). They sang in "tin tala" this song: "May your lotus face, residence of sweetness, your movements which defeat the gait of the best elephants, and your sweet smiles which are desired by all women, protect me always." Radha and Candravali and others were the protectors of thousands of groups of women. When these chief women sang, Krsna also began to sing loudly. Sometimes instead of singing alone, they would sing responsively. "O beautiful women, your faces are the residence of sweetness, the abode of glances, expressions of conjugal desire, which heighten your beauty." The gopis would sing, "O beloved! You hold some imperfection in your moonlike face, like the image of the deer in the moon." "Though you are dvija, like a fool it seems you have drunk poison."
The vaijantai mala refers to a garland made from five different colored flowers.
Purport (Jiva Goswami)
With the appearance of the great beauty, he made Vṛndāvana beautiful. He wandered about in order to go to the Yamunā suitable for rati, in order to stimulate the gopīs’ love by showing the flowers and by singing. He sang loudly, in joy, about the moon, which stimulated love. He was glorified by the gopīs using imitative songs which, though praising the moon, praised him. For instance it is said:
akhila-rasāmṛta-mūrtiḥ prasṛmara-ruci-ruddha-tārakā-pāliḥ |
kalita-śyāmā-lalito rādhā-preyān vidhur jayati ||
Kṛṣṇa, the destroyer of all sin and the bestower of all bliss, the very form of the highest bliss, filled with all rasas, excels all others in glory. He brings Tārakā and Pālikā under his control by the diffusion of His beauty; He accepts Śyāmalā and Lalitā as his equals; and gives pleasure to Rādhā by his excellent qualities.
Second meaning of the verse:
The full moon, which destroys suffering and creates happiness by its cooling rays, shines everywhere with its excellent qualities and beauty. It is the very form of nectar, filled with all tastes. It eclipses the host of stars by its light, accepts the playful gestures of the night, and fondly enters the Viśākhā constellation in the spring season. BRS 1.1
Sometimes the gopīs would reverse some of the syllables of the song.
yāminī kṛta-ruciḥ śucikāntiś candrikāvalibhā vikaca-śrīḥ
ṣaṭ-padāli-kalitaiḥ kala-gītaiḥ paśya bhāti kumudākara eṣaḥ
See! The lake is peaceful and pure with the light of the moon. It is most beautiful with the sound of bees humming.
They replaced ṣaṭ-padāli-kālitaiḥ with sat-padāli-kalitaiḥ:
Kṛṣṇa, graceful with his lovers, with pure effulgence, decorated with a peacock feather, giving bliss to the earth, singing sweet songs with beautiful words, appears most beautiful.
Or he would sing about the moon and other objects with tunes and rhythms and a gopī would sing about him, being absorbed completely in only him, revealing only him in the words.
Viṣṇu Purāṇa says:
kṛṣṇaḥ śarac-candramasaṁ kaumudīṁ kumudākaram
jagau gopī-janas tv ekaṁ kṛṣṇa-nāma punaḥ punaḥ
Kṛṣṇa sang the glories of the autumn moon, the moonshine and the lotus-filled river, while the gopīs simply sang his name repeatedly.
There are two meanings to kṛṣṇa-nāma: they sang about Kṛṣṇa and sang his name or they sang his name.
Vanitā means woman with great anurāga. He was the leader (paḥ) of hundreds of groups of women with anurāga. Another meaning is “he drank (paḥ) the groups of women with his eyes, or with great attraction, drank the nectar of their lips.” They were in groups according to their type of love. He wore a garland with five types of flowers of different colors. It is understood that there were many ornaments:
valayānāṁ nūpurāṇāṁ kiṅkiṇīnāṁ ca yoṣitām
sa-priyāṇām abhūc chabdas tumulo rāsa-maṇḍale
A tumultuous sound arose from the armlets, ankle bells and waist bells of the gopīs as they sported with their beloved Kṛṣṇa in the circle of the rāsa dance. SB 10.33.5
However the vaijayantī garland alone is mentioned since it was suitable for forest pastimes. That garland was made by the gopīs or Vṛndā, and offered to him. Garlands were placed in various groves for him to wear. In this manner he wandered around.
Purport (Sanatana Goswami)
With the appearance of the great beauty, he made Vṛndāvana beautiful. He wandered about in order to go to the Yamunā suitable for rati, in order to stimulate the gopīs’ love by showing the flowers and by singing. They praised him by describing his form, qualities and pastimes. Or he was praised with songs on all four sides. He sang loudly out of joy. Vanitāḥ means women who have developed great attraction to a man. This is the definition given by Viśva. He was the protector (paḥ) of hundred of groups of such women. Or he was the relisher of hundreds of gouprs of women. Or he was the drinker of the lip nectar of hundreds of groups of women. They were in groups according to similarity of qualities.
Some of the nitya-siddha gopīs from Goloka appeared with him on earth. Some of the gopis were devatā women.
vasudeva-gṛhe sākṣād bhagavān puruṣaḥ paraḥ
janiṣyate tat-priyārthaṁ sambhavantu sura-striyaḥ
The Supreme Lord Kṛṣṇa, who has full potency, will personally appear as the son of Vasudeva. Therefore all the wives of the devatās should also appear in order to satisfy him. SB 10.1.23
Others by great effort developing special bhāva by sādhana became gopīs. These are of two types: sages and śrutis. The sages are the ones at Daṇḍakāraṇa and performers of austerities at Mānasa lake. Śrutis refers the the great Upaniṣads. This is explained in Padma Purāṇa and Bṛhad Vāmana Purāṇa. There are differences between the gopīs because of special bhāvas. Though they are divided into groups, since they have similar bhāvas, they all enjoyed equally.
The vaijayantī garland is made from flowers of five colors: pañca-varṇā vaijayantī. Some say it is made of nine gems. They wore other ornaments as well:
valayānāṁ nūpurāṇāṁ kiṅkiṇīnāṁ ca yoṣitām
sa-priyāṇām abhūc chabdas tumulo rāsa-maṇḍale
A tumultuous sound arose from the armlets, ankle bells and waist bells of the gopīs as they sported with their beloved Kṛṣṇa in the circle of the rāsa dance. SB 10.33.5
However the garland is mentioned because it was particularly beautiful in the night. Or at that time the gopīs quickly made the galrnd and gave it to him. Kṛṣṇa then wandered in the forest.