298 Krsna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead

embarrassed before unknown persons. They began to welcome him with
polite words, in great submissiveness. “We know that you are a most confi-
dential associate of Krsna and that He has therefore sent you to Vrndavana
to give solace to His father and mother. We can understand that family
affection is very strong. Even great sages who have taken to the renounced
order of life cannot give up family members. Krsna has therefore sent
you to His father and mother; otherwise He has no further business in
Vrndavana. He is now in town. What does He have to know about Vrnda-
vana Village or the cows’ pasturing grounds? These things are not at all
useful for Krsna because He is now a man in the city.

“Surely He has nothing to do with persons who do not happen to be His
family members. Why should one bother about those who are outside the
family, especially and specifically those who are attached as the wives of
others. Krsna is interested in them as long as there is a need of gratification,
like the bumblebees who have interest in the flowers as long as they want
to take the honey out of them. It is very natural and psychological that a
prostitute does not care for her paramour as soon as he loses his money.
Similarly, when the citizens find that a government is incapable of giving
them full protection, they leave the country. A student, after finishing his
education, gives up his relationship with the teacher and the school. A rich
man, after taking his reward from his worshiper, gives him up. When the
fruit season is over, the birds are no longer interested in the tree. Just after
eating in the house of a lord, the guest gives up his relationship with the
host. After a forest fire, when there is a scarcity of green grass, the deer
and other animals give up the forest. And so a man, after enjoying his girl
friend, gives up his connection with her.” In this way, all the gopis began
to indirectly accuse Krsna by citing so many similes.

Uddhava understood that the gopis of Vrndavana were all simply ab-
sorbed in the thought of Krsna and His childhood activities. While talking
about Krsna with Uddhava, they forgot all about their household business.
They even forgot about themselves as their interest in Krsna increased more
and more.

One of the gopis, namely Srimati Radharani, was so much absorbed in
thoughts of Krsna by dint of Her personal touch with Him that She
actually began to talk with a bumblebee which was flying there and trying
to touch Her lotus feet. While another gopi was talking with Krsna’s
messenger Uddhava, Srimati Radharani took that bumblebee to be a
messenger from Krsna and began to talk with it as follows. “Bumblebee,
you are accustomed to drinking honey from the flowers, and therefore you
have preferred to be a messenger of Krsna, who is of the same nature as
