Srimad Bhagavatam — Dashama Skandha, Shloka 13
Uddhava Meets the Gopīs: Bhramara-gītā and Kṛṣṇa’s Message of Separation
सकृदधरसुधां स्वां मोहिनीं पाययित्वा सुमनस इव सद्यस्तत्यजेऽस्मान् भवादृक् । परिचरति कथं तत्पादपद्मं नु पद्मा ह्यपि बत हृतचेता ह्युत्तम:श्लोकजल्पै: ॥ १३ ॥
sakṛd adhara-sudhāṁ svāṁ mohinīṁ pāyayitvā sumanasa iva sadyas tatyaje ’smān bhavādṛk paricarati kathaṁ tat-pāda-padmaṁ nu padmā hy api bata hṛta-cetā hy uttamaḥ-śloka-jalpaiḥ
Chỉ một lần cho chúng tôi uống mật ngọt mê say từ đôi môi của Ngài, Ngài (Kṛṣṇa) đã lập tức bỏ rơi chúng tôi, như ngươi vội rời những đóa hoa. Vậy mà Padmā (Lakṣmī) sao vẫn phụng sự đôi chân sen của Ngài? Ôi! Hẳn tâm nàng đã bị cướp mất bởi lời lẽ quyến rũ của Uttamaśloka.
In this verse Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī continues to compare Śrī Kṛṣṇa to the bumblebee, and in Her distress She states that the reason the goddess of fortune is constantly devoted to His lotus feet must be that she has been fooled by Kṛṣṇa’s promises. According to Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī, this statement of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī’s illustrates parijalpa, as described in Śrī Ujjvala-nīlamaṇi (14.184):
FAQs
In Bhramara-gītā, the gopīs—through Rādhā’s intense speech to a bee—reveal the highest devotion in separation (viraha), where love for Kṛṣṇa becomes so powerful that even complaint and sarcasm are expressions of pure bhakti.
They speak from the pain of separation, remembering Kṛṣṇa’s intimate affection in Vraja and feeling that He left them for Mathurā; their words are not ordinary criticism but the emotional language of exalted love (prema) mixed with jealous devotion.
It teaches steadiness in devotion even when God feels distant—transforming longing, disappointment, and intense emotion into remembrance, prayer, and hearing/chanting about the Lord (Uttamaḥśloka-jalpa).