बालकोद्गीतनिरतो बाहुक्षेपोदितप्रियः ।आत्मज्ञो मित्रवशगो गोपीगीतगुणोदयः॥
bālakodgītanirato bāhukṣepoditapriyaḥ ·ātmajño mitravaśago gopīgītaguṇodayaḥ
fond of the boys' singing
'Absorbed in the boys' singing' — Kṛṣṇa loves the singing of the cowherd boys; in S.B.G 10.11.39 he is described listening to their forest songs with rapt attention as they go out daily.
who showed his delight by waving his arms
'Dear to his friends through arm-throwing games' — Kṛṣṇa plays wrestling-style games where the boys throw each other's arms about; his playful equality with his friends is beloved.
the knower of the Self
'Knower of the Self' — Brahmā in his hundred-verse hymn acknowledges that Kṛṣṇa knows the ātman directly because he IS the ātman; he is the antaryāmī behind every consciousness.
who lets himself be won over by his friends
Kṛṣṇa goes wherever his friends wish to go; he plays the games they suggest; he is 'controlled by his friends (mitra)' in the Vṛndāvana woods, voluntarily subject to their desires out of pure love.
the rising of whose virtues the gopīs sang
In the Gopī-gīta (one of the Bhāgavata's most celebrated hymns), the disconsolate gopīs sing of Kṛṣṇa's qualities; the text presents this as the highest devotional poetry, revealing his guṇas through their longing.
