Though born as a ksatriya (devaki putra), though full with six opulences (bhagavan), he appeared most beautiful situated among the women of cowherd descent. Though Krsna is the color of a blue sapphire, in mixing with the golden color of the gopis, he turned emerald color (marakata mani). The word maha is used to indicate that the beauty was extraordinary. Some say that the world marakata also means sapphire. Thus the word maha mArakata, meaning being like an emerald though actually being sapphire, is also seen in some versions of the text.

Kṛṣṇa who is known to you, Parīkṣit as the son of Devakī, even though he is endowed with all powers and all beauty (bhagavān), appeared most beautiful with these gopīs. Or, he appears very beautiful as the son of Yaśodā (devakī-sutaḥ ) but now appeared even more beautiful in this place and appeared most beautiful with the gopīs. This is shown by an example. The singular madhya is used to indicate a general case, though actually he had many forms and was thus in the middle of many pairs of gopīs. He was also in one form in the center of the circle. He was with Rādhā wandering about while playing his flute, making the rāsa circle even more beautiful. This is known from the description of the rāsa in Krama-dīpikā. itaretara-baddha-kara-pramadā- gaṇa-kalpita-rāsa-vihāra-vidhau | maṇi-śaṅku-gam apy amunāvapuṣā bahudhā vihita-svaka-divya-tanum || sudṛśām ubhayoḥ pṛthag-antaragaṁ dayitā-gaṇa-baddha-bhuja-dvitayam | maṇi-nirmita-madhyaga-śaṅku-lasad- vipulāruṇa-paṅkaja-madhya-gatam || taruṇī-kuca-yuk-parirambha-milad- ghusṛṇāruṇa-vakṣasam ukṣa-gatim | Holding hands with alternate gopīs in the rāsa dance, with gopīs on either side, he expanded his shining body, like jewel pillar, into many forms. He was like a blossoming pink lotus within a jewel pillar in their midst. Walking like a bull, he appeared pink from the kumkuma from the gopī’s breasts which stuck to his chest. Bilvamaṅgala also said madhya-gaḥ saṣjagau veṇunā: he was in the middle playing his flute. He was like a jewel in the center of golden jewels. In Goloka, gold transforms so that it looks like gems. As a general statement, marakata is in the singular, though there were many Kṛṣṇas there. Since he is described as a group of clouds (megha-cakra) among lightning in the next verse, in this verse, just as a huge dark jewel (mahā-marakata) becomes more beautiful among gold gems, so he became more beautiful by embrace of the gopīs. According to Śrīdhara Svāmī, mahā-marakataḥ means a sapphire (whereas marakata means an emerald, which is green). Or, in close contact with the golden hue of the gopīs, his bluish complexion became greenish like a great emerald. This was caused by the dancing, and was not his intrinsic feature.