1-10 The Glories of Kṛṣṇa Kathā and Kṛṣṇa’s Qualities

1 Thereafter, Rādhikā encourages Vṛnda to carress the Śuka and restore his vitality. Then Vṛnda coaxes him to begin describing Kṛṣṇa's qualities. Thus the Śuka and I the Śārikā begin.

2-4 Even great poets fail to taste one drop from Kṛṣṇa's guna samudra!" says Mañjuvāk. "Yet even though I'm only a small bird, I am still thirsting to taste it! Perhaps I am like a hungry parrot who tries to break the coconut's husk.
"Am I shameless? Still, I am bent on describing Kṛṣṇa's qualities. So, is this like an effort to touch the sun, or to smash the Sumeru Mountain with my beak, or to swim across an ocean?
"On the other hand, when the tongue is purified by Kṛṣṇa-guna Kathā, one's taste for other topics ceases. After all, would a Kokila return to the neem leaves after sampling the buds of the mango tree?"

Ṭīkā: "Who is qualified to speak Kṛṣṇa kathmṛta?" exclaims the Śuka. "The subject is the most exalted and inexhaustible, so who can reach its limits? And I am a mere bird. However, having heard from Vṛnda that Kṛṣṇa kathmṛta can purify evcn the fallen, I perform Kṛṣṇa's guna kirtan. And it is remarkable: once I begin, I am unable to stop!"
The Śuka's meekness and firm resolution is highly instructive. Yes, who can properly glorify Kṛṣṇa? Kṛṣṇa's qualities are endless, and one lacking purity will surely fail to properly describe them. But still, no matter how fallen one may be, Kṛṣṇa Kathā acts to purify its reciter. Thus, even the fallen become great Mahātmas by this activity. Hence this is one of Kṛṣṇa's most glorious qualities.

5-7 Mañjuvāk: "When Kṛṣṇa was a baby, Garga Muni told Nanda: 'Your son is the 'Moon of Gokula.' There is no end to his auspiciousness, qualities, gravity and fame indeed, he is just like Narayan.
"Kṛṣṇa is affectionate to his devotees (bhakta-vatsala) and submissive to their love (bhakta-vaśa). Thus when they attempt to glorify him he is pleased. And similarly, his bhaktas have unlimited qualities too, so who can fully describe just one of them?"

"What can I say about Kṛṣṇaa's glories, for his ornaments become ornamented when placed against his sundar nava kiśora body! He lifted Giri Govardhan as if it were a play ball. His nature is gentle, his Līlā is jagan-mohana, and he even gives himself to his bhaktas. Thus, his magnificence, his Karuṇā and his fame flood the universe with auspiciousness!

8 "Everything related with Kṛṣṇa is crowned with success owing to his purity. This includes his Kiśora-age, qualities, dress, Mādhurya, Kandarpa keli, Rāsa vaidagdhi (witty rasika behavior), śṛngāra Rāsa, restlessness and, of course, his beloved Gopīs."Ṭīkā: Because Kṛṣṇa is rasika Śekhara, the supreme connoisseur, why wouldn't he have the best of everything? But such objects become limitlessly enhanced by his affiliation.
This verse mentions the upakarana (related articles) for Kṛṣṇa's best Rasa: śṛngāra Rasa. Amongst unlimited Bhagavata-forms of the Lord, here we find Kṛṣṇa at his best.

9-10 "Although Kṛṣṇa's body smells like a blue lotus dipped in musk, his armpits, eyebrows, hips and hair defeat the aroma of Parijāta and lotuses smeared with aguru. But his nose, navel, mouth, hands, feet and eyes smell just like a lotus smeared with camphor. Thus, the amṛta taraṅga (nectar wave, wave of bliss) of Kṛṣṇa's Aṅga gandha (bodily fragrance) inundates he universe!"

Kṛṣṇa's qualities are mind-stealing to the Vraja Sundarīs, who are submerged within the flood of Kṛṣṇa prema. But Kṛṣṇa's mind and senses are stolen by the Gopīs' mahā prema. In fact, He's under their control!

Ṭīkā: After Mañjuvāk said that Kṛṣṇa's Aṅga-saurabha or bodily aroma floods the universe, he thought for a moment and became perplexed. "Na, that won't do!" he exclaims. "Kṛṣṇa's greatest quality doesn't lie with his flood of sweetness. Stealing the minds of the samartha-ratimati (the competent affection of the Gopīs, which has the power to control Kṛṣṇa, to make him incapable of paying back the debt he feels to them) Vraja Sundarīs is his topmost attribute. But they steal his mind too!" Samartha-ratimati means that the Gopīs are able to conquer even Kṛṣṇa by their love. And no other consorts, whether it be Lakṣmī, the Mathura damsels or the Dvaraka queens, can enslave him as they do.