kecit — some of them; veṇūn — flutes; vādayantaḥ — blowing; dhmāntaḥ — bugling; śṛṅgāṇi — the horn bugles; kecana — someone else; kecit — someone; bhṛṅgaiḥ — with the bumblebees; pragāyantaḥ — singing along with; kūjantaḥ — imitating the sound of; kokilaiḥ — with the cuckoos; pare — others; vicchāyābhiḥ — with running shadows; pradhāvantaḥ — someone running on the ground after the birds; gacchantaḥ — going along; sādhu — beautiful; haṁsakaiḥ — with the swans; bakaiḥ — with the ducks sitting in one place; upaviśantaḥ ca — sitting silently like them; nṛtyantaḥ ca — and dancing with; kalāpibhiḥ — with the peacocks; vikarṣantaḥ — attracting; kīśa-bālān — the young monkeys; ārohantaḥ ca — gliding over; taiḥ — with the monkeys; drumān — the trees; vikurvantaḥ ca — exactly imitating them; taiḥ — with the monkeys; sākam — along with; plavantaḥ ca — gliding over; palāśiṣu — on the trees; sākam — along with; bhekaiḥ — with the frogs; vilaṅghantaḥ — jumping like them; saritaḥ — the water; srava-samplutāḥ — became wet in the water of the river; vihasantaḥ — laughing; praticchāyāḥ — at the shadows; śapantaḥ ca — condemned; pratisvanān — the sound of their echoes; ittham — in this way; satām — of the transcendentalists; brahma-sukha-anubhūtyā — with Kṛṣṇa, the source of brahma-sukha (Kṛṣṇa is Parabrahman, and from Him originates His personal effulgence); dāsyam — servitorship; gatānām — of the devotees who have accepted; para-daivatena — with the Supreme Personality of Godhead; māyā-āśritānām — for those in the clutches of material energy; nara-dārakeṇa — with Him who is like an ordinary child; sākam — along with; vijahruḥ — enjoyed; kṛta-puṇya-puñjāḥ — all these boys, who had accumulated the results of life after life of pious activities.
Translation
All the boys would be differently engaged. Some boys blew their flutes, and others blew bugles made of horn. Some imitated the buzzing of the bumblebees, and others imitated the voice of the cuckoo. Some boys imitated flying birds by running after the birds’ shadows on the ground, some imitated the beautiful movements and attractive postures of the swans, some sat down with the ducks, sitting silently, and others imitated the dancing of the peacocks. Some boys attracted young monkeys in the trees, some jumped into the trees, imitating the monkeys, some made faces as the monkeys were accustomed to do, and others jumped from one branch to another. Some boys went to the waterfalls and crossed over the river, jumping with the frogs, and when they saw their own reflections on the water they would laugh. They would also condemn the sounds of their own echoes. In this way, all the cowherd boys used to play with Kṛṣṇa, who is the source of the Brahman effulgence for jñānīs desiring to merge into that effulgence, who is the Supreme Personality of Godhead for devotees who have accepted eternal servitorship, and who for ordinary persons is but another ordinary child. The cowherd boys, having accumulated the results of pious activities for many lives, were able to associate in this way with the Supreme Personality of Godhead. How can one explain their great fortune?
Bhāgavatam Detail Source-Anchor Spine
This reading page exposes the requested verse-reference route, canonical received passage, parent chapter/skandha context, and the wider Bhāgavata source spine without inventing artificial verse boundaries.