Unfortunately, after being worshiped and seated at His place, Lord Balarama saw Romaharsana, the disciple of Vyasadeva (the literary incarnation of Godhead), still sitting on the vyasasana. He had neither gotten up from his seat nor offered Him respects. Because he was seated on the vyasasana, he foolishly thought himself greater than the Lord; therefore he did not get down from the seat or bow down before the Lord. Lord Balarama then considered the history of Romaharsana: he was born in a suta family, or a mixed family, born of a brahmana woman and a ksatriya man. Therefore although Romaharsana considered Balarama a ksatriya, he should not have remained sitting on a higher seat. Lord Balarama considered that Romaharsana, according to his position by birth, should not have accepted the higher sitting position, because there were many learned brahmanas and sages present. He also observed that Romaharsana not only did not come down from his exalted seat, but he did not even stand up and offer his respects when Balaramaji entered the assembly. Lord Balarama did not like the audacity of Romaharsana, and He became very angry with him. When a person is seated on the vyasasana, he does not generally have to stand to receive a particular person entering the assembly, but in this case the situation was different because Lord Baladeva is not an ordinary human being. Therefore, although Romaharsana Suta was voted to the vyasasana by all the brahmanas, he should have followed the behavior of other learned sages and brahmanas who were present and should have known that Lord Balarama is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Respects are always due Him, even though such respects can be avoided in the case of an ordinary man. The appearance of Krsna and Balarama is especially meant for reestablishment of the religious principles. As stated in the Bhagavad-gita, the highest religious principle is to surrender unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead. It is also confirmed in the Srimad-Bhagavatam that the topmost perfection of religiousness is to be engaged in the devotional service of the Lord.

When Lord Balarama saw that Romaharsana Suta did not understand the highest principle of religion in spite of his having studied all the Vedas, He certainly could not support his position. Romaharsana Suta had been given the chance to become a perfect brahmana, but because of his ill behavior in his relationship with the Supreme Personality of Godhead, his low birth was immediately remembered. Romaharsana Suta had been given the position of a brahmana, but he had not been born in the family of a brahmana; he had been born in a pratiloma family. According to the Vedic concept, there are two kinds of mixed family heritage. They are called anuloma and pratiloma. When a male is united with a female of a lower caste, the offspring is called anuloma; but when a male unites with a woman of a higher caste, the offspring is called pratiloma. Romaharsana Suta belonged to a pratiloma family because his father was a ksatriya and his mother a brahmana. Because Romaharsana’s transcendental realization was not perfect, Lord Balarama remembered his pratiloma heritage. The idea is that any man can be given the chance to become a brahmana, but if he improperly uses the position of a brahmana without actual realization, then his elevation to the brahminical position is not valid.

After seeing the deficiency of realization in Romaharsana Suta, Lord Balarama decided to chastise him for being puffed up. Lord Balarama therefore said, “This man is liable to be awarded the death punishment because, although he has the good qualification of being a disciple of Lord Vyasadeva, and although he has studied all the Vedic literature from this exalted personality, he was not submissive in the presence of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.” As stated in the Bhagavad-gita, a person who is actually a brahmana and is very learned must automatically become very gentle also. In the case of Romaharsana Suta, although he was very learned and had been given the chance to become a brahmana, he had not become gentle. From this we can understand that when one is puffed up by material acquisition, he cannot acquire the gentle behavior befitting a brahmana. The learning of such a person is as good as a valuable jewel decorating the hood of a serpent. Despite the valuable jewel on the hood, a serpent is still a serpent and is as fearful as an ordinary serpent. If a person does not become meek and humble, all his studies of the Vedas and Puranas and his vast knowledge in the sastras become simply outward dress, like the costume of a theatrical artist dancing on the stage. Lord Balarama began to consider thus, “I have appeared in order to chastise false persons who are internally impure but externally pose themselves to be very learned and religious. My killing of such persons is proper, to check them from further sinful activity.”

Lord Balarama had avoided taking part in the Battle of Kuruksetra, and yet because of His position, the reestablishment of religious principles was His prime duty. Considering these points, He killed Romaharsana Suta simply by striking him with a kusa straw, which was nothing but a blade of grass. If someone questions how Lord Balarama could kill Romaharsana Suta simply by striking him with a blade of kusa grass, the answer is given in Srimad-Bhagavatam by the use of the word prabhu (master). The Lord’s position is always transcendental, and because He is omnipotent He can act as He likes without being obliged to the material laws and principles. Thus it was possible for Him to kill Romaharsana Suta simply by striking him with a blade of kusa grass.

At the death of Romaharsana Suta, everyone present became much aggrieved, and there was roaring crying. Although all the brahmanas and sages present there knew Lord Balarama to be the Supreme Personality of Godhead, they did not hesitate to protest the Lord’s action, and they humbly submitted, “Our dear Lord, we think that Your action is not in line with the religious principles. Dear Lord Yadunandana, we may inform You that we brahmanas posted Romaharsana Suta on that exalted position for the duration of this great sacrifice. He was seated on the vyasasana by our election, and when one is seated on the vyasasana, it is improper for him to stand up to receive a person. Moreover, we awarded Romaharsana Suta an undisturbed duration of life. Under the circumstances, since Your Lordship has killed him without knowing all these facts, we think that Your action has been equal to that of killing a brahmana. Dear Lord, deliverer of all fallen souls, we know certainly that You are the knower of all Vedic principles. You are the master of all mystic powers; therefore ordinarily the Vedic injunctions cannot be applied to Your personality. But we request that You show Your causeless mercy upon others by kindly atoning for this killing of Romaharsana Suta. We do not, however, suggest what kind of act You should perform to atone for killing him; we simply suggest that some method of atonement be adopted by You so that others may follow Your action. What is done by a great personality is followed by the ordinary man.”

The Lord replied, “Yes, I must atone for this action, which may have been proper for Me, but is improper for others; therefore, I think it is My duty to execute a suitable act of atonement enjoined in the authorized scriptures. Simultaneously I can also give this Romaharsana Suta life again, with a span of long duration, sufficient strength, and full power of the senses. Not only this, if you desire I shall be glad to award him anything else which you may ask. I shall be very glad to grant all these boons in order to fulfill your desires.”

This statement of Lord Balarama definitely confirms that the Supreme Personality of Godhead is free to act in any way. Although it may be considered that His killing of Romaharsana Suta was improper, He could immediately counteract the action with greater profit to all. Therefore, one should not imitate the actions of the Supreme Personality of Godhead; one should simply follow the instructions of the Lord. All the great learned sages present realized that although they considered the action of Lord Balarama to be improper, the Lord was immediately able to compensate with greater profits. Not wanting to detract from the mission of the Lord in killing Romaharsana Suta, all of them prayed, “Our dear Lord, the uncommon use of Your kusa weapon to kill Romaharsana Suta may remain as it is; because of Your desire to kill him, he should not be brought to life again. At the same time Your Lordship may remember that we sages and brahmanas voluntarily gave him long life; therefore, such a benediction should not be nullified.” Thus the request of all the learned brahmanas in the assembly was ambiguous because they wanted to keep intact the benediction given by them that Romaharsana Suta would continue to live until the end of the great sacrifice, but at the same time they did not want to nullify Balarama’s killing him.

The Supreme Personality of Godhead therefore solved the problem in a manner befitting His exalted position, and said, “Because the son is produced from the body of the father, it is the injunction of the Vedas that the son is the father’s representative. Therefore I say that Ugrasrava Suta, the son of Romaharsana Suta, should henceforth take his father’s position and continue the discourses on the Puranas, and because you wanted Romaharsana to have a long duration of life, this benediction will be transferred to his son. The son, Ugrasrava, will therefore have all the facilities you offered–long duration of life in a good and healthy body, without any disturbances and full strength of all the senses.”

Lord Balarama then implored all the sages and brahmanas that aside from the benediction offered to the son of Romaharsana, they should ask from Him any other benediction, and He would be prepared to fulfill it immediately. The Lord thus placed Himself in the position of an ordinary ksatriya and informed the sages that He did not know in what way He could atone for His killing of Romaharsana, but whatever they would suggest He would be glad to accept.

The brahmanas could understand the purpose of the Lord, and thus, they suggested that He atone for His actions in a manner which would be beneficial to them. They said, “Our dear Lord, there is a demon of the name Balvala. He is the son of Ilvala, but he is a very powerful demon, and he visits this sacred place of sacrifice every fortnight on the full moon and moonless days and creates a great disturbance to the discharge of our duties in the sacrifice. O descendant of the Dasarha family, we all request You to kill this demon. We think that if You kindly kill him, that will be Your atonement on our behalf. The demon occasionally comes here and profusely throws upon us contaminated, impure things like pus, blood, stool, urine and wine, and he pollutes this sacred place by showering such filth upon us. After killing Balvala, You may continue touring all the sacred places of pilgrimage for twelve months, and in that way You will be completely freed from all contamination. That is our prescription.”

…When the gopis understood that Uddhava had a message from Krsna, they became very happy and called him to a secluded place to sit down. They wanted to talk with him very freely and did not want to be embarrassed before unknown persons.

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 you. I have seen on your mustaches the red powder of kunkuma, which was smeared on the flower garland of Krsna while He was pressing the breast of some other girl who is My competitor. You are feeling very proud by touching that flower, and your mustaches have become reddish. You have come here carrying a message for Me. You are anxious to touch My feet. But My dear bumblebee, let Me warn you–don’t touch Me! I don’t want any messages from your unreliable master. You are the unreliable servant of an unreliable master.”

It may be that Srimati Radharani purposely addressed that bumblebee sarcastically in order to criticize the messenger Uddhava. Indirectly, Srimati Radharani saw Uddhava as not only resembling Krsna’s bodily features but as being equal to Krsna. In this way She indicated that Uddhava was as unreliable as Krsna Himself. Srimati Radharani wanted to give specific reasons why She was dissatisfied with Krsna and His messengers.

She addressed the bumblebee: “Your master Krsna is exactly of your quality. You sit down on a flower, and after taking a little honey you immediately fly away and sit in another flower and taste. You’re just like your master Krsna. He gave us the chance of tasting the touch of His lips and then left altogether. I know also that the goddess of fortune, Laksmi, who is always in the midst of the lotus flower, is constantly engaged in Krsna’s service. But I do not know why she has become so captivated by Krsna. She is attached to Him, although she knows His actual character. As far as we are concerned, we are more intelligent than that goddess of fortune. We are not going to be cheated anymore by Krsna or His messengers.”

According to expert opinion, Laksmi, the goddess of fortune is a subordinate expansion of Srimati Radharani. As Krsna has numerous expansions of Visnu-murtis, so His pleasure potency, Radharani, also has innumerable expansions of goddesses of fortune. Therefore the goddess of fortune, Laksmiji, is always anxious to be elevated to the position of the gopis.

Srimati Radharani continued: “You foolish bumblebee, you are trying to satisfy Me and get a reward by singing the glories of Krsna, but it is a useless attempt. We are bereft of all our possessions. We are away from our homes and families. We know very well about Krsna. We know even more than you. So whatever you make up about Him will be old stories to us. Krsna is now in the city and is better known as the friend of Arjuna. He now has many new girl friends, and they are no doubt very happy in association with Him. Because the lusty burning sensation of their breasts has been satisfied by Krsna, they are now happy. If you go there and glorify Krsna, they may be pleased to reward you. You are just trying to pacify Me by your behavior as a flatterer, and therefore you have put your head under My feet. But I know the trick which you are trying to play. I know that you are a messenger coming from a great trickster, Krsna. Therefore please leave Me.

“I can understand that you are very expert in reuniting two opposing parties, but at the same time you must know that I cannot place My reliance upon you, nor upon your master Krsna. We left our families, husbands, children and relatives only for Krsna, and yet He did not feel any obligation in exchange. He has left us for lost. Do you think we can place our faith in Him again? We know that Krsna cannot be long without the association of young women. That is His nature. He is finding difficulty in Mathura because He is no longer in the village among innocent cowherd girls. He is in the aristocratic society and must be feeling difficulty in making friendships with the young girls. Perhaps you have come here to canvass again or to take us there. But why should Krsna expect us to go there? He is greatly qualified to entice all other girls, not only in Vrndavana or Mathura, but all over the universe. His wonderfully enchanting smile is so attractive and the movement of His eyebrows so beautiful that He can call for any woman from the heavenly, middle or plutonic planets. Maha-Laksmi, the greatest of all goddesses of fortune, also hankers to render Him some service. In comparison to all these women of the universe, what are we? We are very insignificant.

“Krsna advertises Himself as very magnanimous, and He is praised by great saints. His qualifications could be perfectly utilized if He would only show us mercy because we are downtrodden and neglected by Him. You poor messenger, you are only a less intelligent servant. You do not know much about Krsna, how ungrateful and hardhearted He has been, not only in this life, but in His previous lives also. We have all heard this from our grandmother, Paurnamasi. She has informed us that Krsna was born in a ksatriya family previous to this birth and was known as Ramacandra. In that birth, instead of killing Vali, an enemy of His friend, in the manner of a ksatriya, He killed him just like a hunter. A hunter takes a secure hiding place and then kills an animal without facing it. So Lord Ramacandra, as a ksatriya, should have fought with Vali face to face, but instigated by His friend, He killed him from behind a tree. Thus He deviated from the religious principles of a ksatriya. Also, He was so attracted by the beauty of Sita that He converted Surpanakha, the sister of Ravana, into an ugly woman by cutting off her nose and ears. Surpanakha proposed an intimate relationship with Him, and as a ksatriya He should have satisfied her. But He was so selfish that He could not forget Sitadevi and converted Surpanakha into an ugly woman. Before that birth as a ksatriya, He took His birth as a brahmana boy known as Vamanadeva and asked charity from Bali Maharaja. Bali Maharaja was so magnanimous that he gave Him whatever he had, yet Krsna as Vamanadeva ungratefully arrested him just like a crow and pushed him down to the Patala kingdom. We know all about Krsna and how ungrateful He is. But here is the difficulty: in spite of His being so cruel and hardhearted, it is very difficult for us to give up talking about Him. Not only are we unable to give up this talk, but great sages and saintly persons are also engaged in talking about Him. We gopis of Vrndavana do not want to make any more friendships with this blackish boy, but we do not know how we shall be able to give up remembering and talking about His activities.”

Since Krsna is absolute, His so-called unkind activities are as relishable as His kind activities. Saintly persons and great devotees like the gopis cannot give up Krsna in any circumstances. Lord Caitanya therefore prayed, “Krsna, You are free and independent in all respects. You can either embrace Me or crush Me under Your feet–whatever You like. You may make Me brokenhearted by not letting Me see You throughout My whole life, but You are My only object of love.”

“In My opinion,” Srimati Radharani continued, “one should not hear about Krsna, because as soon as a drop of the nectar of His transcendental activities is poured into the ear, one immediately rises above the platform of duality, attraction and rejection. Being completely freed from the attraction of material attachment, one gives up the attachment for this material world, family, home, wife, children and everything which is materially dear to every person. Being disposed of all material acquisition, one makes his relatives and himself unhappy. Then he wanders in search of Krsna, either as a human being or in other species of life, even as a bird. It is very difficult to actually understand Krsna, His name, His quality, His form, His pastimes, His paraphernalia and His entourage.”

Srimati Radharani continued to speak to the black messenger of Krsna. “Please do not talk any more about Krsna. It is better to talk about something else. We are already doomed, like the black-spotted she-deer in the forest who are enchanted by the sweet musical vibration of the hunter. In the same way, we have been enchanted by the sweet words of Krsna, and again and again we are thinking of the rays of the nails of His toes. We are becoming more and more lustful for His association; therefore, I request you not to talk of Krsna anymore.”

This talk of Radharani with the bumblebee messenger and Her accusing Krsna, and, at the same time, Her inability to give up talking about Him, are symptoms of the topmost transcendental ecstasy, called maha-bhava. The ecstatic maha-bhava manifestation is possible only in the persons of Radharani and Her associates.

Great acaryas like Srila Rupa Gosvami and Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura have analyzed these maha-bhava speeches of Srimati Radharani, and they have described the different sentiments such as udghurna, bewilderment, and jalpapratijalpa, talking in different ways. In Radharani is found the science of ujjala, or the brightest jewel of love of God.

While Radharani was talking with the bee and the bee was flying hither and thither, it all of a sudden disappeared from Her sight. She was in full mourning due to separation from Krsna and was feeling ecstasy by talking with the bee. But as soon as the bee disappeared, She became almost mad, thinking that the messenger-bee might have returned to Krsna to inform Him all about Her talking against Him. “Krsna must have been very sorry to hear it,” She thought. In this way She was very much overwhelmed with another type of ecstasy.

In the meantime, the bee, flying hither and thither, appeared before Her again. She thought, “Krsna is still kind to Me. In spite of the messenger carrying disruptive messages, He is so kind that He has again sent the bee to take Me to Him.” Srimati Radharani was very careful this time not to say anything against Krsna. “My dear friend, I welcome you,” She said. “Krsna is so kind that He has again sent you. Krsna is so kind and affectionate to Me that He has sent you back, fortunately, in spite of your carrying My message against Him. My dear friend, you can ask from Me whatever you want. I shall give you anything because you are so kind upon Me. You have come to take Me to Krsna because He is not able to come here. He is surrounded by new girl friends in Mathura. But you are a tiny creature. How can you take Me there? How will you be able to help Me in meeting Krsna while He is taking rest there along with the goddess of fortune and embracing her to His chest? Never mind. Let us forget all these things about My going there or sending you. Please let Me know how Krsna is faring in Mathura. Tell Me if He still remembers His foster father, Nanda Maharaja, His affectionate mother, Yasoda, His cowherd friends and His poor friends like us, the gopis. I am sure that He must sometimes sing about us. We served Him just like maidservants, without any payment. Is there any possibility that Krsna will again come back and place His arms around us? His limbs are always fragrant with the aguru scent. Please put all these inquiries to Krsna.”

Uddhava was standing near, and he heard Radharani talking in this way, as if She had become almost mad after Krsna. He was exceedingly surprised at how the gopis were accustomed to think of Krsna constantly in that topmost ecstasy of maha-bhava love.

Srimad Bhagavatam 10.47.11 – 20

Text 11. One of the gopis, while meditating on Her previous association with Krishna, saw a honeybee before Her and imagined it to be a messenger sent by Her beloved. Thus She spoke as follows.

Text 12. The gopi said: O honeybee, O friend of a cheater, don’t touch My feet with your whiskers, which are smeared with the kunkuma that rubbed onto Krishna’s garland when it was crushed by the breasts of a rival lover! Let Krishna satisfy the women of Mathura. One who sends a messenger like you will certainly be ridiculed in the Yadus’ assembly.

Purport: Srimati Radharani indirectly chastised Krishna 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 Krishna as madhu-pati, “the Lord of Madhu.”

Text 13. After making us drink the enchanting nectar of His lips only once, Krishna suddenly abandoned us, just as you might quickly abandon some flowers. How is it, then, that Goddess Padma willingly serves His lotus feet? Alas! The answer must certainly be that her mind has been stolen away by His deceitful words.

Purport: In this verse Srimati Radharani continues to compare Sri Krishna 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 Krishna’s promises.

Text 14. O bee, why do you sing here so much about the Lord of the Yadus, in front of us homeless people? These topics are old news to us. Better you sing about that friend of Arjuna in front of His new girlfriends, the burning desire in whose breasts He has now relieved. Those ladies will surely give you the charity you are begging.

Purport: With the words agrihanam agrato nah, Radharani laments that even though She and the other gopis gave up their homes to love Krishna in a conjugal relationship, the Lord left them and became a prince in the great royal city of the Yadus. Besides meaning “Arjuna, the victor,” the word vijaya also directly indicates Sri Krishna, who is always victorious in His endeavors, and besides meaning “old (news),” the word puranam also indicates that Sri Krishna is glorified in the ancient Vedic scriptures of that name.

Text 15. In heaven, on earth or in the subterranean sphere, what women are unavailable to Him? He simply arches His eyebrows and smiles with deceptive charm, and they all become His. The supreme goddess herself worships the dust of His feet, so what is our position in comparison? But at least those who are wretched can chant His name, Uttamahsloka.

Text 16. Keep your head off My feet! I know what you’re doing. You expertly learned diplomacy from Mukunda, and now you come as His messenger with flattering words. But He abandoned those who for His sake alone gave up their children, husbands and all other relations. He’s simply ungrateful. Why should I make up with Him now?

Text 17. Like a hunter, He cruelly shot the king of the monkeys with arrows. Because He was conquered by a woman, He disfigured another woman who came to Him with lusty desires. And even after consuming the gifts of Bali Maharaja, He bound him up with ropes as if he were a crow. So let us give up all friendship with this dark-complexioned boy, even if we can’t give up talking about Him.

Purport: In Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Srila Prabhupada explains the meaning of this verse as follows: “[Srimati Radharani said to the bee,] ‘You poor messenger, you are only a less intelligent servant. You do not know much about Krishna — how ungrateful and hardhearted He has been, not only in this life but in His previous lives also. We have heard this from Our grandmother Paurnamasi. She has informed Us that Krishna was born in a kshatriya family previous to this birth and was known as Ramacandra. In that birth, instead of killing Vali, an enemy of His friend, in the manner of a kshatriya, He killed him just like a hunter. A hunter takes a secure hiding place and then kills an animal without facing it. So Lord Ramacandra, as a kshatriya, should have fought with Vali face to face, but instigated by His friend, He killed him from behind a tree. Thus He deviated from the religious principles of a kshatriya. Also, He was so attracted by the beauty of Sita that He converted Surpanakha, the sister of Ravana, into an ugly woman by cutting off her nose and ears. Surpanakha proposed an intimate relationship with Him, and as a kshatriya He should have satisfied her. But He was so henpecked that He could not forget Sita-devi and converted Surpanakha into an ugly woman. Before that birth as a kshatriya, He took birth as a brahmana boy known as Vamanadeva and asked charity from Bali Maharaja. Bali was so magnanimous that he gave Him whatever he had, yet Krishna as Vamanadeva ungratefully arrested him just like a crow and pushed him down to the Patala kingdom. We know all about Krishna and how ungrateful He is. But here is the difficulty: In spite of His being so cruel and hardhearted, it is very difficult for us to give up talking about Him.’ ”

Text 18. To hear about the pastimes that Krishna regularly performs is nectar for the ears. For those who relish just a single drop of that nectar, even once, their dedication to material duality is ruined. Many such persons have suddenly given up their wretched homes and families and, themselves becoming wretched, traveled here to Vrindavana to wander about like birds, begging for their living.

Text 19. Faithfully taking His deceitful words as true, we became just like the black deer’s foolish wives, who trust the cruel hunter’s song. Thus we repeatedly felt the sharp pain of lust caused by the touch of His nails. O messenger, please talk about something besides Krishna.

Text 20. O friend of My dear one, has My beloved sent you here again? I should honor you, friend, so please choose whatever boon you wish. But why have you come back here to take us to Him, whose conjugal love is so difficult to give up? After all, gentle bee, His consort is the goddess Sri, and she is always with Him, staying upon His chest.

Purport: In Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Srila Prabhupada explains the context of this verse: “While Radharani was talking with the bee and the bee was flying hither and thither, it all of a sudden disappeared from Her sight. She was in full mourning due to separation from Krishna and felt ecstasy by talking with the bee. But as soon as the bee disappeared, She became almost mad, thinking that the messenger-bee might have returned to Krishna to inform Him all about Her talking against Him. ‘Krishna must be very sorry to hear it,’ She thought. In this way She was overwhelmed by another type of ecstasy. “In the meantime, the bee, flying hither and thither, appeared before Her again. She thought, ‘Krishna is still kind to Me. In spite of the messenger’s carrying disruptive messages, He is so kind that He has again sent the bee to take Me to Him.’ Srimati Radharani was very careful this time not to say anything against Krishna.”

Thus ends Srimati Radharani’s talking to the bumblebee.