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
只让我们饮过一次他那迷人的唇蜜，他（克里希纳）便立刻抛下我们，正如你迅速离开花朵一般。那么，莲华女神帕德玛（拉克希米）又怎会甘心侍奉他的莲足？唉！必是“至上颂主”那诱人的言辞之网夺走了她的心。
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).