Shloka 17
Uddhava Meets the Gopīs: Bhramara-gītā and Kṛṣṇa’s Message of Separation
मृगयुरिव कपीन्द्रं विव्यधे लुब्धधर्मा स्त्रियमकृत विरूपां स्त्रीजित: कामयानाम् । बलिमपि बलिमत्त्वावेष्टयद् ध्वाङ्क्षवद्- यस्तदलमसितसख्यैर्दुस्त्यजस्तत्कथार्थ: ॥ १७ ॥
mṛgayur iva kapīndraṁ vivyadhe lubdha-dharmā striyam akṛta virūpāṁ strī-jitaḥ kāma-yānām balim api balim attvāveṣṭayad dhvāṅkṣa-vad yas tad alam asita-sakhyair dustyajas tat-kathārthaḥ
లోభధర్మంతో ఆయన వేటగాడిలా వానరరాజును బాణాలతో గాయపరిచాడు. స్త్రీవశుడై, కామంతో వచ్చిన ఒక స్త్రీని వికృతరూపం చేశాడు. బలి మహారాజు దానాన్ని స్వీకరించి కూడా అతనిని కాకిలా తాళ్లతో కట్టేశాడు. కాబట్టి ఆ శ్యామసఖుడితో స్నేహం వదిలేద్దాం—కానీ ఆయన కథలను వదలడం కష్టం।
In Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Śrīla Prabhupāda explains the meaning of this verse as follows: “[Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī said to the bee,] ‘You poor messenger, you are only a less intelligent servant. You do not know much about Kṛṣṇa — how ungrateful and hardhearted He has been, not only in this life but in His previous lives also. We have all heard this from our grandmother Paurṇamāsī. She has informed us that Kṛṣṇa was born in a kṣatriya family previous to this birth and was known as Rāmacandra. In that birth, instead of killing Vāli, an enemy of His friend, in the manner of a kṣatriya, He killed him just like a hunter. A hunter takes a secure hiding place and then kills an animal without facing it. So Lord Rāmacandra, as a kṣatriya, should have fought with Vāli face to face, but instigated by His friend, He killed him from behind a tree. Thus He deviated from the religious principles of a kṣatriya. Also, He was so attracted by the beauty of Sītā that He converted Śūrpaṇakhā, the sister of Rāvaṇa, into an ugly woman by cutting off her nose and ears. Śūrpaṇakhā proposed an intimate relationship with Him, and as a kṣatriya He should have satisfied her. But He was so henpecked that He could not forget Sītādevī and converted Śūrpaṇakhā into an ugly woman. Before that birth as a kṣatriya, He took birth as a brāhmaṇa boy known as Vāmanadeva and asked charity from Bali Mahārāja. Bali Mahārāja was so magnanimous that he gave Him whatever he had, yet Kṛṣṇa as Vāmanadeva ungratefully arrested him just like a crow and pushed him down to the Pātāla kingdom. We know all about Kṛṣṇa and how ungrateful He is. But here is the difficulty: in spite of His being so cruel and hardhearted, it is very difficult for us to give up talking about Him.’”
FAQs
Their words are the intensity of viraha-bhakti—love in separation—where pain surfaces as complaint, yet they still confess He is impossible to abandon.
She alludes to Rāma piercing Vālī like a hunter, Lakṣmaṇa disfiguring Śūrpaṇakhā, and Vāmana binding Bali—examples used to question the Lord’s fairness.
Even when life feels “unfair,” a devotee can remain anchored in remembrance of the Lord, transforming emotional turbulence into deeper dependence and sincerity in bhakti.