Radha heard that Krishna had gone to the cowshed to milk the cows. On the pretext of taking her evening bath, she left home. With her companions she came to the garden beside Pavana-sarovara. There they climbed a lookout tower. From that height she could see Krishna. The sight filled her with joy.
Radha spoke of the beauty of His face. Golden strings of pearls moved upon His turban above His curls. In a poetic question, she compared their brightness to sunlight above the moon. His moving earrings became boats unable to remain still before His moonlike face. His glances were arrows above the makara-shaped ornaments. The humming bees around His flowers entered her description too.
She described the restless glances that reached the gopis. The poet compared those glances to flowing rivers. In the poet's image, joy, eagerness, patience, and bewilderment were raiders boarding boats upon those rivers. Radha spoke of the sweetness coming from Krishna's lips. As she described Him, bashfulness and delight overcame her. Vishakha then drew her attention to His milking.
Vishakha urged Radha to watch. Krishna called the cows Dhanavali and Sabali by name. They answered with lowing and eagerly came near Him. Pleased with them, He gently scratched their backs. Tears of affection shone in His eyes. Vishakha pointed out His movements to Radha.
Krishna knelt upon the ground with a jeweled bucket between His knees. His face appeared reflected in the milk. The poet likened it to the moon rising from the ocean of milk. His turban loosened slightly when it touched the cows' bellies. Curly locks slipped out from beneath it. His eyes became still as He milked.
First He honored Mother Earth with two or three streams of milk. He moistened His fingers and the cow's teats. Then His hands moved in the rhythm of milking. The falling milk made its characteristic sounds. Drops of milk marked His hips and thighs. The other cows waited impatiently for their turn.
The cows and calves watched Krishna with lowered heads. Their eyes were filled with tears of affection. The cowherd boys also completed their milking. Different calls sounded as they directed the many-colored cows. The narrator says that even great poets could not count the dark cows. Radha and her companions continued to behold this pastime.
When Krishna had finished, His dear friends told Him where Radha was. He went toward the lookout tower in the garden by Pavana-sarovara. He was drawn by the wish to meet her. The chapter leaves Him approaching that place.