Devotee Prayers

Bhramara Gītā: the song of the bee

We present Śrī Babaji’s commentary and translations of the famous Bhramara Gītā from the Bhāgavatam 10.47.12–21 below.

After killing Kaṁsa, Kṛṣṇa did not return to Vṛndāvana. He sent Nanda Maharāja, who had accompanied Him to Mathura, back home with a promise that He would follow soon after. But having stayed for some time in Mathura,
Kṛṣṇa then decided to settle down far away in Dvarakā. This left the residents of Vṛndāvana paralyzed with grief.
Later, Kṛṣṇa sent Uddhava from Dvarakā to Vṛndāvana, to console the people of Vraja with a message.

The gopīs were happy to hear that Uddhava had a message for them from their beloved Kṛṣṇa, and were very eager to hear it. They met Uddhava in a private place, where they could speak freely. As Uddhava spoke Kṛṣṇa’s message to the gopīs, Śrīmatī Rādhārānī sat alone, at a distance. She was deeply absorbed in thoughts of her long-lost Kṛṣṇa, in a state of divine emotional madness (divya unmāda). In that state, She addressed a bumblebee as though it were Kṛṣṇa’s
messenger, and indirectly dictated a reply to Kṛṣṇa by loudly addressing the bee, in the following verses.

Her speech is described as citra jalpa—complex words spoken while bewildered, amazed, and enchanted.

(12)

मधुप कितवबन्धो मा स्पृशाङ्‍‍घ्रिं सपत्न्‍या:
कुचविलुलितमालाकुङ्कुमश्मश्रुभिर्न:
वहतु मधुपतिस्तन्मानिनीनां प्रसादं
यदुसदसि विडम्ब्यं यस्य दूतस्त्वमीद‍ृक्

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

O honeybee, you are the friend of a cheater, Kṛṣṇa. What kind of messenger are
you? Don’t touch My feet with your antennae! They are stained with kuṁkuma
that rubbed off on Kṛṣṇa’s garland while it was pressed to the breasts of My
rival! Let Kṛṣṇa satisfy the city-women in Mathurā. And let the Yadus surely
ridicule Him for it.

(13)

सकृदधरसुधां स्वां मोहिनीं पाययित्वा
सुमनस इव सद्यस्तत्यजेऽस्मान् भवाद‍ृक्
परिचरति कथं तत्पादपद्मं नु पद्मा
ह्यपि बत हृतचेता ह्युत्तम:श्लोकजल्पै: 

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 uttama-śloka-jalpaiḥ

He made us drink the enchanting nectar of His lips just once. Then He
suddenly abandoned us. He is just like you, black bee, always abandoning one
flower for another. Fie! How can Lakṣmī bear to continue serving His lotusfeet?
Surely, He has bewitched Her mind with His lies.

(14)

किमिह बहु षडङ्‍‍घ्रे गायसि त्वं यदूना-
मधिपतिमगृहाणामग्रतो न: पुराणम्
विजयसखसखीनां गीयतां तत्प्रसङ्ग:
क्षपितकुचरुजस्ते कल्पयन्तीष्टमिष्टा: 

kim iha bahu ṣaḍ-aṅghre gāyasi tvaṁ yadūnām
adhipatim agṛhāṇām agrato naḥ purāṇam
vijaya-sakha-sakhīnāṁ gīyatāṁ tat-prasaṅgaḥ
kṣapita-kuca-rujas te kalpayantīṣṭam iṣṭāḥ

O bee, why do you sing to us wretched people the glories of the Lord of the
Yadus with such enthusiasm? It is all old news to us. Sing about Arjuna’s friend
to His new girlfriends, whose burning desire He now relieves. Those ladies will
give you the attention you clearly crave.

(15)

दिवि भुवि च रसायां का: स्‍त्रियस्तद्दुरापा:
कपटरुचिरहासभ्रूविजृम्भस्य या: स्यु:
चरणरज उपास्ते यस्य भूतिर्वयं का
अपि च कृपणपक्षे ह्युत्तम:श्लोकशब्द:

divi bhuvi ca rasāyāṁ kāḥ striyas tad-durāpāḥ
kapaṭa-rucira-hāsa-bhrū-vijṛmbhasya yāḥ syuḥ
caraṇa-raja upāste yasya bhūtir vayaṁ kā
api ca kṛpaṇa-pakṣe hy uttama-śloka-śabdaḥ

In heaven, on earth, or below—what woman will not be defeated by His
beguiling smiles and enchanting eyebrows? What is our value to Him, the dust
of whose feet is cherished even by Goddess Śrī? But yet, His name Uttamaśloka
will prove meaningful only if He cares for wretched people like us.

(16)

विसृज शिरसि पादं वेद्‍म्यहं चाटुकारै-
रनुनयविदुषस्तेऽभ्येत्य दौत्यैर्मुकुन्दात्
स्वकृत इह विसृष्टापत्यपत्यन्यलोका
व्यसृजदकृतचेता: किं नु सन्धेयमस्मिन्

visṛja śirasi pādaṁ vedmy ahaṁ cāṭu-kārair
anunaya-viduṣas te ’bhyetya dautyair mukundāt
sva-kṛta iha viṣṛṣṭāpatya-paty-anya-lokā
vyasṛjad akṛta-cetāḥ kiṁ nu sandheyam asmin

Please, keep your head away from My feet! I understand what you are doing.
Kṛṣṇa taught you diplomacy, and now, as His messenger, you use it to flatter us.
But He abandoned us! We gave up our children, husbands, and families for His
sake alone and He is completely ungrateful. Why should I make up with Him
now?

(17)

मृगयुरिव कपीन्द्रं विव्यधे लुब्धधर्मा
स्‍त्रियमकृत विरूपां स्‍त्रीजित: कामयानाम्
बलिमपि बलिमत्त्वावेष्टयद् ध्वाङ्‍क्षवद्-
यस्तदलमसितसख्यैर्दुस्त्यजस्तत्कथार्थ: 

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

As Śrī Rāma, He killed Bāli, the king of the monkeys, like a hunter and
disfigured Śurpaṇakhā, who came to Him with amorous feelings because of
partiality to His wife. As Vāmana, He defeated Bali Mahārāja by cheating. Even
after accepting the land given by Bali, He arrested him. He is like a crow who
pecks the hand that feeds him. Therefore, let me have no more friendship with
black persons like Kṛṣṇa! Yet it is hard to give up the wealth of His stories.

(18)

यदनुचरितलीलाकर्णपीयूषविप्रुट्-
सकृददनविधूतद्वन्द्वधर्मा विनष्टा:
सपदि गृहकुटुम्बं दीनमुत्सृज्य दीना
बहव इह विहङ्गा भिक्षुचर्यां चरन्ति 

yad-anucarita-līlā-karṇa-pīyūṣa-vipruṭ-
sakṛd-adana-vidhūta-dvandva-dharmā vinaṣṭāḥ
sapadi gṛha-kuṭumbaṁ dīnam utsṛjya dīnā
bahava iha vihaṅgā bhikṣu-caryāṁ caranti

Kṛṣṇa’s stories are nectar for the ears! Those, who even once relish just a
single drop of that nectar, ruin their dedication to material duality. Many such
persons suddenly give up their homes and families, making both their families
and themselves wretched, and then come here to Vṛndāvana and wander
around like birds begging for their living.

(19)

वयमृतमिव जिह्मव्याहृतं श्रद्दधाना:
कुलिकरुतमिवाज्ञा: कृष्णवध्वो हरिण्य:
दद‍ृशुरसकृदेतत्तन्नखस्पर्शतीव्र-
स्मररुज उपमन्त्रिन् भण्यतामन्यवार्ता 

vayam ṛtam iva jihma-vyāhṛtaṁ śraddadhānāḥ
kulika-rutam ivājñāḥ kṛṣṇa-vadhvo hariṇyaḥ
dadṛśur asakṛd etat tan-nakha-sparśa-tīvra
smara-ruja upamantrin bhaṇyatām anya-vārtā

We trusted His deceptive words, taking them to be true. Thus we are like the
foolish wives of the black deer [who got trapped]. We repeatedly feel the pain
of desire caused by the sharp touch of His nails. O messenger, please speak
about another topic.

(20)

प्रियसख पुनरागा: प्रेयसा प्रेषित: किं
वरय किमनुरुन्धे माननीयोऽसि मेऽङ्ग
नयसि कथमिहास्मान् दुस्त्यजद्वन्द्वपार्श्वं
सततमुरसि सौम्य श्रीर्वधू: साकमास्ते 

priya-sakha punar āgāḥ preyasā preṣitaḥ kiṁ
varaya kim anurundhe mānanīyo ’si me ’ṅga
nayasi katham ihāsmān dustyaja-dvandva-pārśvaṁ
satatam urasi saumya śrīr vadhūḥ sākam āste

O friend of My Beloved, has My lover sent you back here to us? Friend, I
should honor you. Please ask for whatever boon you wish. But why propose
that we return with you to Him? It will pain Him greatly even to attempt to give
up His marriages. After all, gentle bee, His consort Śrī is ever with Him, always
upon His chest.

(21)

अपि बत मधुपुर्यामार्यपुत्रोऽधुनास्ते
स्मरति स पितृगेहान् सौम्य बन्धूंश्च गोपान्
क्व‍‍चिदपि स कथा न: किङ्करीणां गृणीते
भुजमगुरुसुगन्धं मूर्ध्‍न्यधास्यत् कदा नु

api bata madhu-puryām ārya-putro ’dhunāste
smarati sa pitṛ-gehān saumya bandhūṁś ca gopān
kvacid api sa kathā naḥ kiṅkarīṇāṁ gṛṇīte
bhujam aguru-sugandhaṁ mūrdhny adhāsyat kadā nu

Is the Noble One in Mathurā now? Does He still remember His father’s house
here? Does He remember His dear cowherd friends? Does He ever talk about
us, His eternal maidservants? Alas! When shall we again have the privilege of
His hand, smelling sweet as sandalwood, being placed on our heads?

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