a connoisseur of the freshest butter
Kṛṣṇa is particularly fond of fresh-churned butter (haiyaṅgavīna — butter made from morning curds); this freshness-loving connoisseur is the supreme aesthete.
हैयङ्गवीनरसिको मृषाश्रुश् चौर्यशङ्कितः ।जननीश्रमविज्ञाता दामबन्धनियन्त्रितः॥
haiyaṅgavīnarasiko mṛṣāśruś cauryaśaṅkitaḥ ·jananīśramavijñātā dāmabandhaniyantritaḥ
a connoisseur of the freshest butter
Kṛṣṇa is particularly fond of fresh-churned butter (haiyaṅgavīna — butter made from morning curds); this freshness-loving connoisseur is the supreme aesthete.
shedding false tears
'Of false tears' — when caught and threatened with binding, Kṛṣṇa lets fake tears roll down his cheeks; the gopīs laugh at this performance even as their hearts soften.
fearful of being caught for his theft
'Suspecting that he is suspected of theft' — Kṛṣṇa darts his eyes to check if the gopīs are watching, knowing his guilt; the consciousness of his own theft is itself an aesthetic feature.
who perceived his mother's weariness
as she struggled to bind him
Kṛṣṇa observes his mother's exhausted struggle (śrama) to bind him — her rope always two fingers too short, the strain on her face, the sweat — and out of love allows himself to be bound.
restrained by being bound with a cord
the Dāmodara episode
Bound by the rope (dāma) at his waist (udara), Kṛṣṇa receives the name Dāmodara; this binding is the supreme line of separation between his cosmic and human play.