प्रेमस्वरूपः - 1

Lord Krishna is very popular as an icon of love or prema. There are several instances where people have shown their love for Krishna in different ways and the way in which Krishna reciprocates is also different. This is the first sloka in a set of eight titled प्रेमस्वरूपः (the form of prema or love) which describes in brief some those instances.

श्रीगोपीश प्रणयसुलभ त्वच्चरित्रे हि दृष्टं
गाढं प्रेम स्वकृतवचनैः वर्णनां कर्तुमीहे।
पुण्यां वीक्षामधिजिगमिषुश्चातकोऽहं च कृष्णं
प्रेमापूर्णं नवजलधरश्यामलं देवमीडे॥१॥

śrīgopīśa praṇayasulabha tvaccaritre hi dṛṣṭaṁ
gāḍhaṁ prema svakṛtavacanaiḥ varṇanāṁ kartumīhe |
puṇyāṁ vīkṣām adhijigamiṣuḥ cātako'haṁ ca kṛṣṇaṁ
premāpūrṇaṁ navajaladharaśyāmalaṁ devamīḍe ||1||

श्रीगोपीश = lord of lakshmi and gopi
प्रणयसुलभ = easily accessible by love
त्वच्चरित्रे = in your life
हि दृष्टं = is indeed seen
गाढं प्रेम = deep love
स्वकृतवचनैः = words written by me
वर्णनां कर्तुम् = to describe
ईहे = I wish
पुण्यां वीक्षाम् = divine grace
अधिजिगमिषुः = wishing to get
चातकोऽहं = I am like a cataka bird
कृष्णं = krishna
प्रेमापूर्णं = filled with love
नवजलधरश्यामलं = dark like a new rain cloud
देवम् = lord
ईडे = I worship

O Krishna, who is the consort of Shri (Lakshmi) is also the lord of the gopis (wives of cowherds) because you are easily accessible by love, I wish to describe with my words the deep love that is seen in your story. For this I seek your divine grace, like the cataka bird and hence worship you Krishna who is filled with love and dark like a new rain-cloud.

Chataka is a mythical bird which always quenches its thirst only from raindrops that fall. So it is always looking at the sky in search of a rain cloud. My plight is not so bad because I am looking at you, Krishna who is dark like the rain cloud and hence always filled with love.

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