Fraternal Loving Affairs 337

Krsna’s pauganda age can be further divided into three periods—
namely, the beginning, middle and end. In the beginning of the
pauganda age there is a very nice reddish luster on His lips, His ab-
domen is very thin, and on His neck are circles like those on a conch-
shell. Sometimes, some outside visitors would return to Vrndavana to
see Krsna and, upon seeing Him again, would exclaim, “My dear
Mukunda, Your beauty is gradually increasing, just like the leaf ona
banyan tree! My dear lotus-eyed one, Your neck is gradually mani-
festing circles like the conchshell. And in the shining moonlight Your
teeth and cheeks are competing with the padmaraga jewels in their
beautiful arrangement. I am sure that Your beautiful bodily develop-
ment is now giving much pleasure to Your friends.”

At this age Krsna was garlanded with various kinds of flowers. He
used to put on a silk dress, colored with various kinds of dye. Such
beautiful decorations are considered cosmetics for Krsna. Krsna
would wear this dress when He used to go into the forest to tend the
cows. Sometimes He would wrestle there with His different friends,
and sometimes they would dance all together in the forest. These are
some of the specific activities of the pauganda age.

The cowherd friends of Krsna were so happy in His company that
they expressed their transcendental feelings within themselves thus:
“My dear Krsna, You are always busy tending the cows which are
scattered all over beautiful Vrndavana. You have a beautiful garland,
a small conchshell, a peacock feather on Your turban, yellow-colored
silk cloth, decorations of karnikara flowers on Your ears and a mallika
flower garland on Your chest. Appearing so beautiful, when You
pretend, just like an actor, to be fighting with us, You give us un-
limited transcendental bliss.”

When Krsna is more grown-up, in the middle age of pauganda, His
nails become finely sharp, and His chubby cheeks become lustrous
and round. On the two sides of His waist above His belt there are
three distinct lines of folded skin, called tribali.

The cowherd boy friends of Krsna felt very proud of their associa-
tion with Him. At that time the tip of His nose defeated the beauty
of the sesame flowers, the luster of His cheeks defeated the glow of
pearls, and the two sides of His body were exquisitely beautiful. In
this age Krsna wore a silk dress that glittered like lightning, His head
