Srimad Bhagavatam — Dashama Skandha, Shloka 12
Uddhava Meets the Gopīs: Bhramara-gītā and Kṛṣṇa’s Message of Separation
गोप्युवाच मधुप कितवबन्धो मा स्पृशाङ्घ्रिं सपत्न्या: कुचविलुलितमालाकुङ्कुमश्मश्रुभिर्न: । वहतु मधुपतिस्तन्मानिनीनां प्रसादं यदुसदसि विडम्ब्यं यस्य दूतस्त्वमीदृक् ॥ १२ ॥
gopy uvāca madhupa kitava-bandho mā spṛśaṅghriṁ sapatnyāḥ kuca-vilulita-mālā-kuṅkuma-śmaśrubhir naḥ vahatu madhu-patis tan-māninīnāṁ prasādaṁ yadu-sadasi viḍambyaṁ yasya dūtas tvam īdṛk
牧女说道：“哦蜜蜂啊，欺诳者的同党！莫用你那沾满胡须般触须来触我的足；那上面染着的，是从克里希纳花环上蹭来的库ṅ库玛——那花环曾被情敌的胸脯压碎！让‘蜜之主’克里希纳去取悦马图拉那些自负的女子吧；派出你这般使者的人，必在亚杜族的议会中受人讥笑。”
Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī indirectly chastised Kṛṣṇa by chastising the bumblebee, which She took for His messenger. She addressed the bumblebee as madhupa, “one who drinks the nectar (of flowers),” and She addressed Kṛṣṇa as madhu-pati, “the Lord of Madhu.”
FAQs
This verse shows that the gopīs’ sharp words are not ordinary resentment but intense love in separation—so deep that even Kṛṣṇa’s messenger (symbolized by the bee) becomes unbearable when it reminds them of His other associations.
She imagines the bee’s whiskers are stained with kuṅkuma from Kṛṣṇa’s other beloveds, so she rejects even the gesture of reverence, expressing the pain of feeling “replaced” while still being wholly absorbed in Him.
Transform feelings of distance, disappointment, or longing into remembrance of the Divine—using the mind’s intensity to deepen prayer, chanting, and steadiness rather than letting it turn into cynicism.