Srila Prabhupada: What is the meaning of the word Christ?

Father Emmanuel: Christ comes from the Greek word Christos, meaning “the anointed one”.

Srila Prabhupada: Christos is the Greek version of the word Krishna.

Father Emmanuel: This is very interesting.

Srila Prabhupada: When an Indian person calls on Krishna, he often says, “Krsta”. Krsta is a Sanskrit word meaning “attraction”. So when we address God as “Christ”, “Krsta”, or “Krishna” we indicate the same all-attractive Supreme Personality of Godhead. When Jesus said, ” Our Father who art in heaven hallowed be Thy name,” the name of God was Krsta or Krishna. Do you agree?

Father Emmanuel: I think Jesus, as the son of God, has revealed to us the actual name of God: Christ. We can call God “Father”, but if we want to address Him by His actual name, we have to say “Christ”.

Srila Prabhupada: Yes. “Christ” is another way of saying Krsta and Krsta is another way of pronouncing Krishna, the name of God. Jesus said that one should glorify the name of God, but yesterday I heard one theologian say that God has no name — that we can call Him only “Father”. A son may call his father “Father”, but the father also has a specific name. Similarly, God is the general name of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, whose specific name is Krishna. Therefore whether you call God “Christ”, “Krsta”, or “Krishna”, ultimately you are addressing the same Supreme Personality of Godhead.

Father Emmanuel: Yes, if we speak of God’s actual name, then we must say, “Christos”. In our religion we have the Trinity: the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. We believe we can know the name of God only by revelation from the son of God. Jesus Christ revealed the name of the Father, and therefore we take the name “Christ” as the revealed name of God.

Srila Prabhupada: Actually, it doesn’t matter — Krishna or Christ — the name is the same. The main point is to follow the injunctions of the Vedic scriptures that recommend chanting the name of God in this age. The easiest way is to chant the maha-mantra: Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna Hare Hare/ Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama Hare Hare. Rama and Krishna are names of God and Hare is the energy of God. So when we chant the maha-mantra we address God along with His energy. This energy is of two kinds, the spiritual and the material. At present we are in the clutches of the material energy. Therefore we pray to Krishna that He may kindly deliver us from the service of the material energy and accept us into the service of the spiritual energy. This is our whole philosophy. Hare Krishna means, “O energy of God, O God (Krishna), please engage me in Your service.” It is our nature to render service. Somehow or other we have come to the service of material things, but when this service is transformed into the service of the spiritual energy, then our life is perfect. To practice bhakti-yoga [loving service to God] means to become free from designations like Hindu, Muslim, Christian, this or that, and simply to serve God. We have created Christian, Hindu and Mohammedan religions, but when we come to a religion without designations, in which we don’t think we are Hindus or Christians or Mohammedans, then we can speak of pure religion, or bhakti.

Father Emmanuel: Mukti? [liberation from material miseries]

Srila Prabhupada: No, bhakti. When we speak of bhakti, mukti is included. Without bhakti, there is no mukti, but if we act on the platform of bhakti, then mukti is included. We learn this from the Bhagavad-gita (14.26):

mam ca yo ‘vyabhicarena
bhakti-yogena sevate
sa gunan samatityaitan
brahma-bhuyaya kalpate

“One who engages in full devotional service, who does not fall down under any circumstance, at once transcends the modes of material nature and thus comes to the level of Brahman.”

Father Emmanuel: Is Brahman Krishna?

Srila Prabhupada: Krishna is Parabrahman. Brahman is realised in three aspects: as impersonal Brahman, as localised Paramatma and as personal Brahman. Krishna is personal and He is the Supreme Brahman, for God is ultimately a person. In Srimad-Bhagavatam (1.2.11), this is confirmed:

vadanti tat tattva-vidas
tattvam yaj-jnanam advayam
brahmeti paramatmati
bhagavan iti sabdyate

“Learned transcendentalists, who know the Absolute Truth, call this nondual substance Brahman, Paramatma or Bhagavan.” The feature of the Supreme Personality is the ultimate realisation of God. He has all six opulences in full: He is the strongest, the richest, the most beautiful, the most famous, the wisest and the most renounced.

Father Emmanuel: Yes, I agree.

Srila Prabhupada: Because God is absolute, His name, His form and His qualities are all absolute and they are nondifferent from Him. Therefore to chant God’s holy name means to associate directly with Him. When one associates with God one acquires Godly qualities and when one is completely purified he becomes an associate of the Supreme Lord.

Father Emmanuel: But our understanding of the name of God is limited.

Srila Prabhupada: Yes, we are limited, but God is unlimited. And because He is unlimited, or absolute, he has unlimited names, each if which is God. We can understand His names as much as our spiritual understanding is developed.

What is the difference between Krishna consciousness and Christianity?

Father Emmanuel: May I ask a question? We Christians also preach love of God, and we try to realise love of God and render service to Him with all our heart and all our soul. Now, what is the difference between your movement and ours? Why do you send your disciples to the Western countries to preach love of God when the gospel of Jesus Christ is propounding the same message?

Srila Prabhupada: The problem is that the Christians do not follow the commandments of God. Do you agree?

Father Emmanuel: Yes, to a large extent you’re right.

Srila Prabhupada: Then what is the meaning of the Christians’ love for God? If you do not follow the orders of God, then where is your love? Therefore we have come to teach what it means to love God. If you love Him you cannot be disobedient to His orders. And if you are disobedient your love is not real.

Srila Prabhupada: All over the world people don’t love God. They love their dogs. The Krishna consciousness movement is therefore necessary to teach people how to revive their forgotten love for God. Not only the Christians, but also the Hindus, the Mohammedans and all others are guilty. They have rubber-stamped themselves as Christian, Hindu or Mohammedan, but they do not obey God. This is the problem

Visitor: Can we say in what way the Christians are disobedient?

Srila Prabhupada: Yes. The first point is they violate the commandment “Thou shall not kill” by maintaining slaughterhouses. Do you agree that this commandment is being violated?

Father Emmanuel: Personally, I agree.

Srila Prabhupada: Good. So if the Christians want to love God, they must stop killing animals.

Father Emmanuel: But isn’t the most important point…

Srila Prabhupada: If you miss one point there is a mistake in your calculation. Regardless of what you add or subtract after that the mistake is already in the calculation and everything that follows will also be faulty. We cannot simply accept the part of the scripture we like and reject what we don’t like and still expect to get the result. For example, a hen lays eggs with it’s back part and eats with it’s beak. A farmer may consider, “The front part of the hen is very expensive because I have to feed it. Better to cut it off.” But if the head is missing there will be no eggs any more because the body is dead. Similarly, if we reject the difficult part of the scriptures and obey the part we like, such an interpretation will not help us. We have to accept all the injunctions of the scriptures as they are given , not just those that suit us. If you do not follow the first order, “Thou shall not kill,” then where is the question of love of God?

Visitor: Christians take this commandment to be applicable to human beings, not to animals.

Srila Prabhupada: That would mean Christ was not intelligent enough to use the right word: murder. There is killing, and there is murder, Murder refers to human beings. Do you think Jesus was not intelligent enough to use the right word. Killing means any kind of killing and especially animal killing. If Jesus had meant simply the killing of humans he would have used the word murder.
Mathew:5:21: Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment:
Mark:10:19: Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Defraud not, Honour thy father and mother.
Luke:18:20: Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honour thy father and thy mother.
Romans:13:9: For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
James:2:11: For he that said, Do not commit adultery, said also, Do not kill. Now if thou commit no adultery, yet if thou kill, thou art become a transgressor of the law.

Father Emmanuel: But in the Old Testament the commandment “Thou shall not kill” does refer to murder. And when Jesus said, “Thou shall not kill,” he extended the commandment to mean a human being should not only refrain from killing another human being, but should also treat him with love. He never spoke about man’s relationship with other living entities but only about his relationship with other human beings. When he said, “thou shall not kill,” he also meant in the mental and emotional sense — that you should not insult anyone or hurt him, treat him badly and so on.

Srila Prabhupada: We are not concerned with this or that testament but only with the words used in the commandments. If you want to interpret these words, that is something else. We understand the direct meaning. “Thou shall not kill” means, “The Christians should not kill.” You may put forward interpretations in order to continue the present way of action but we understand very clearly there is no need for interpretation. Interpretation is necessary if things are not clear. “Thou shall not kill” is a clear instruction. Why should we interpret it?

Father Emmanuel: Isn’t the eating of plants also killing?

Srila Prabhupada: The Vaisnava philosophy teaches that we should not even kill plants unnecessarily. In the Bhagavad-gita (9.26) Krishna says:

patram puspam phalam toyam
yo me bhaktya prayacchati
tad aham bhakty-upahrtam
asnami prayatatmanah

“If someone offers Me with love and devotion a leaf, a flower, a fruit or a little water, I will accept it.” We offer Krishna only the kind of food He demands, and then we eat the remnants. If offering vegetarian food to Krishna were sinful, then it would be Krishna’s sin, not ours. But God is apapa-vijna — sinful reactions are not applicable to Him. He is like the sun, which is so powerful that it can purify even urine — something impossible for us to do. Krishna is also like a king, who may order a murderer to be hanged, but who himself is not subject to punishment because he is very powerful. Eating food first offered to the Lord is also something like a soldier’s killing during wartime. In a war, when the commander orders a man to attack, the obedient soldier who kills the enemy will get a medal. But if the same soldier kills someone on his own he will be punished. Similarly when we eat only prasada [the remnants of food offered to Krishna], we do not commit any sin. This is confirmed in the Bhagavad-gita (3.13):

yajna-sistasinah santo
mucyante sarva-kilbisaih
bhunjate te tu agham papa
ye pacanty atma-karanat

“The devotees of the Lord are released from all kinds of sins because they eat food that is first offered for sacrifice. Others, who prepare food for personal sense enjoyment, verily eat only sin.”

Father Emmanuel: Krishna cannot give permission to eat animals?

Srila Prabhupada: Yes — in the animal kingdom. But the civilized human being, the religious human being is not meant to kill and eat animals. If you stop killing animals and chant the holy name Christ, everything will be perfect. I have not come to teach you, but only to request you to please chant the name of God. The Bible also demands this of you. So let’s kindly cooperate and chant, and if you have a prejudice about chanting the name Krishna then chant “Christos” or “Krsta” — there is no difference. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu said: namnam akari bahu-dha nija-sarva-saktis. “God has millions and millions of names, and because there is no difference between God’s name and Himself, each one of these names has the same potency as God.” Therefore even if you accept designations like Hindu, Christian or Mohammedan, if you simply chant the name of God found in your own scriptures, you will attain the spiritual platform. Human life is meant for self-realisation — to learn how to love God. That is the actual beauty of man. Whether you discharge this duty as a Hindu, a Christian or a Mohammedan, it doesn’t matter — but do it?

Father Emmanuel: I agree.

Srila Prabhupada: [pointing to a string of 108 meditation beads] We always have these beads, just as you have your rosary. You are chanting, but why don’t the other Christians also chant? Why should they miss this opportunity as human beings? Cats and dogs cannot chant, but we can because we have a human tongue. If we chant the holy names of God, we cannot loose anything; on the contrary, we gain greatly. My disciples practice chanting Hare Krishna constantly. They could also go to the cinema, or do so many other things, but they have given everything up. They eat neither fish nor meat nor eggs, they don’t take intoxicants, they don’t drink, they don’t smoke, they don’t partake in gambling, they don’t speculate and they don’t maintain illicit sexual connections. But they do chant the holy name of God. If you would like to cooperate with us then go to the other churches and chant, “Christ”, “Krishna” or “Krsta”. What could be the objection?

Instead of keeping the churches closed, why not give them to us?

Father Emmanuel: There is none. For my part I would be glad to join you.

Srila Prabhupada: No. We are speaking with you as a representative of the Christian church. Instead of keeping the churches closed why not give them to us? We would chant the holy name of God there twenty-four hours a day. In many places we have bought churches that were practically closed because no one was going there. In London I saw hundreds of churches that were closed or used for mundane purposes. We bought one such church in Los Angeles. It was sold because no one came there, but if you visit the same church today, you will see thousands of people. Any intelligent person can understand what God is in five minutes; it doesn’t require five hours.

Father Emmanuel: I understand.

Srila Prabhupada: But the people do not. Their disease is that they don’t want to understand.

Visitor: I think understanding God is not a question of intelligence but a question of humility.

Srila Prabhupada: Humility means intelligence. “The humble and meek own the kingdom of God.” This is stated in the Bible, is it not? But the philosophy of the rascals is that everyone is God and today this idea has become popular. Therefore no one is humble and meek. If everybody thinks he is God, why should he be humble and meek? Therefore I teach my disciples how to become humble and meek. They always offer their respectful obeisances in the temple and to the spiritual master, and in this way they make advancement. The qualities of humbleness and meekness lead very quickly to spiritual realisation. In the Vedic scriptures it is said, “To those who have firm faith in God and the spiritual master, who is His representative, the meaning of the Vedic scriptures is revealed.”

Father Emmanuel: But shouldn’t this humility be offered to everyone else also?

Srila Prabhupada: Yes, but there are two kinds of respect: special and ordinary. Sri Krishna Caitanya taught that we shouldn’t expect honour for ourselves, but should always respect everyone else, even if he is disrespectful to us. But special respect should be given to God and His pure devotee.

Father Emmanuel: Yes, I agree.

Srila Prabhupada: I think the Christian priests should cooperate with the Krishna consciousness movement. They should chant the name of Christ or Christos and should stop condoning the slaughter of animals. This program follows the teachings of the Bible; it is not my philosophy. Please act accordingly and you will see how the world situation will change.

Father Emmanuel: Thank you very much

Srila Prabhupada: Hare Krishna!

Krishna Balarama Abhiseka 2008 … Harekrishna Hare Krishna hare krishna balarama abhiseka events

…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.