| Canto 10: The Summum Bonum | Chapter 47: The Song of the Bee |
Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 10.47.21
api bata madhu-puryām ārya-putro 'dhunāste
smarati sa pitri-gehān saumya bandhūmś ca gopān
kvacid api sa kathā nah kińkarīnām grinīte
bhujam aguru-sugandham mūrdhny adhāsyat kadā nu
SYNONYMS
api — certainly; bata — regrettable; madhu-puryām — in the city of Mathurā; ārya-putrah — the son of Nanda Mahārāja; adhunā — now; āste — resides; smarati — remembers; sah — He; pitri-gehān — the household affairs of His father; saumya — O great soul (Uddhava); bandhūn — His friends; ca — and; gopān — the cowherd boys; kvacit — sometimes; api — or; sah — He; kathāh — talks; nah — of us; kińkarīnām — of the maidservants; grinīte — relates; bhujam — hand; aguru-su-gandham — having the fragrance of aguru; mūrdhni — on the head; adhāsyat — will keep; kadā — when; nu — maybe.
TRANSLATION
O Uddhava! It is indeed regrettable that Krishna resides in Mathurā. Does He remember His father's household affairs and His friends, the cowherd boys? O great soul! Does He ever talk about us, His maidservants? When will He lay on our heads His aguru-scented hand?
PURPORT
The translation and word meanings for this verse are taken from Śrīla Prabhupāda's Caitanya-caritāmrita (Ādi 6.68).
Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī writes very poetically, with deep spiritual insight, about the emotions expressed in this and the previous nine verses. He interprets Rādhārānī's feelings as follows:
Śrīmatī Rādhārānī thought, "Since Krishna was once satisfied in Vraja but left for Mathurā City, won't He also develop a desire to leave that place and go somewhere else? Mathurā is so close to Vrindāvana that it's possible He may even come back here.
"Krishna is the son of a respectable gentleman, Nanda Mahārāja, so He must be staying in Mathurā because of His sense of obligation to His father, who authorized His going there. On the other hand, while Nanda's whole life is dedicated exclusively to Krishna, Nanda is so innocent that he allowed himself to be tricked by the Yadus, who brought Krishna to Mathurā. Krishna must be thinking, 'Alas, alas! Since even My father could not bring Me back to Vraja, what can I do to return there?' Thus Krishna must be impatient to come back here, and so He has sent you, a messenger.
"It is only because Nanda is so innocent that he allowed his son to leave. If Nanda had allowed Krishna's mother, the queen of Vraja, to do so, she would have climbed onto Akrūra's chariot and, holding her son by the neck, gone off to Mathurā with Him, followed by all the gopīs. But this was not possible.
"Ever since Krishna left, Nanda has been stunned by separation from Him, and Nanda's treasury rooms, storehouses, kitchens, sleeping quarters, opulent houses and so on are now vacant. Unswept and uncleansed, they are littered with grass, dust, leaves and cobwebs. Does Krishna ever remember His father's houses? And does He sometimes remember Subala and His other friends, who are now lying stunned in other neglected houses?
"The women in Mathurā who now associate with Krishna cannot know how to serve Him in the way that pleases Him most. When they see He is not satisfied and ask how they can make Him happy, does He tell them about us gopīs?
"Krishna must tell them, 'You city ladies cannot please Me as much as the gopīs of Vraja. They are most expert in stringing flower garlands, perfuming their bodies with ointments, playing various rhythms and melodies on stringed instruments, dancing and singing in the rāsa performance, displaying their beauty, charm and cleverness, and skillfully playing at questions and answers. They are especially expert in the pastimes of meeting one's lover and showing jealous anger and other signs of pure love and affection.' Surely Krishna must know this. Therefore He'll probably tell the women of Mathurā, 'My dear women of the Yadu clan, please go back to your families. I no longer desire to associate with you. In fact, I'm going back to Vraja early tomorrow morning.'
"When will Krishna speak like this and come back here to place His hand, fragrant with aguru, on our heads? Then He will console us, saying, 'O beloveds of My heart, I swear to you that I will never abandon you again and go elsewhere. Indeed, I have not been able to find anyone in all the three worlds with even a trace of your good qualities' "
Thus Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī interprets the feelings of Śrīmatī Rādhārānī. The ācārya further explains that the present text displays the speech called sujalpa, as described by Rūpa Gosvāmī:
yatrārjavāt sa-gāmbhīryam
"When, out of honest sincerity, a lover questions Śrī Hari with gravity, humility, unsteadiness and eagerness, such speech is known as sujalpa." (Ujjvala-nīlamani 14.200)
Concluding this section of Chapter Forty-seven, Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī explains that there are ten divisions of divine madness (divyonmāda), which are expressed by the ten divisions of citra-jalpa, or variegated speech. Such divine madness is shown in the special pastime of bewilderment, which is itself part of the supreme bliss, mahā-bhāva, of Śrīmatī Rādhārānī. The ācārya quotes the following verses from Rūpa Gosvāmī's Ujjvala-nīlamani (14.174, 178-80) to explain these ecstasies:
prāyo vrindāvaneśvaryām
etasya mohanākhyasya
divyonmāda itīryate
preshthasya suhrid-āloke
gūdha-roshābhijrimbhitah
yas tīvrotkanthitāntimah
prajalpah parijalpitah
vijalpo 'jjalpa-sañjalpah
avajalpo 'bhijalpitam
ājalpah pratijalpaś ca
sujalpaś ceti kīrtitah
"It is virtually only within the princess of Vrindāvana [Śrīmatī Rādhārānī] that the ecstasy of bewilderment arises. She has attained to a special stage of this bewilderment, a wonderful state that resembles delusion. Known as divyonmāda, it has many aspects, which come and go unsteadily, and one of these manifestations is citra-jalpa. This talk, induced by Her seeing Her beloved's friend, is filled with covered anger and comprises many different ecstasies. It culminates in Her intense, anxious eagerness.
"This citra-jalpa has ten divisions, known as prajalpa, parijalpa, vijalpa, ujjalpa, sañjalpa, avajalpa, abhijalpa, ājalpa, pratijalpa and sujalpa."
Finally, some authorities say that Krishna Himself, eager to drink the sweetness of His beloved's speech, assumed the form of the messenger bee.
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His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, Founder Ācārya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness
His Holiness Hrdayananda dasa Goswami
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Dravida dasa Brahmacari