Bumblebee (CC and other books)

Expressions researched:
"bumblebee" |"bumblebees"

CC Adi-lila

CC Adi 5.190, Translation:

His red stick moving in His hand, He seemed like a maddened lion. All around the four sides of His feet were bumblebees.

CC Adi 11.1, Translation:

After offering my obeisances unto all the devotees of Śrī Nityānanda Prabhu, who are like bumblebees collecting honey from His lotus feet, I shall try to describe those who are the most prominent.

CC Adi 13.41, Purport:

In this connection one should refer to Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī’s soliloquy after meeting Uddhava in Vṛndāvana. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu presented a similar picture of such ecstatic imaginary talking. Full of jealousy and madness symptomizing neglect by Kṛṣṇa, Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī, criticizing a bumblebee, talked just like a madwoman. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, in the last days of His pastimes, exhibited all the symptoms of such ecstasy. In this connection one should refer to the Fourth Chapter of the Ādi-līlā, verses 107 and 108.

CC Madhya-lila

CC Madhya 1.44, Purport:

In the second part, known as Uttara-campū, the following subject matters are discussed: (1) attraction for Vrajabhūmi; (2) the cruel activities of Akrūra; (3) Kṛṣṇa's departure for Mathurā; (4) a description of the city of Mathurā; (5) the killing of Kaṁsa; (6) Nanda Mahārāja's separation from Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma; (7) Nanda Mahārāja's entrance into Vṛndāvana without Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma; (8) the studies of Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma; (9) how the son of the teacher of Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma was returned; (10) Uddhava's visit to Vṛndāvana; (11) Rādhārāṇī’s talking with the messenger bumblebee;

CC Madhya 1.87, Translation:

Just as Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī talked inconsistently with a bumblebee in the presence of Uddhava, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu in His ecstasy talked crazily and inconsistently day and night.

CC Madhya 12.211, Translation:

Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu was very thirsty to see the Lord, and His eyes became like two bumblebees drinking the honey from the lotuslike eyes of Lord Jagannātha, who is Kṛṣṇa Himself.

CC Madhya 12.212, Purport:

Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu's eyes have been compared to thirsty bumblebees, and Śrī Jagannātha's eyes have been compared to blossoming lotus flowers. The author has made these comparisons in order to describe Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu while the Lord was deeply absorbed in ecstatic love for Lord Jagannātha.

CC Madhya 12.214, Translation:

The luster of His beautiful face increased at every moment, and the eyes of hundreds and thousands of devotees drank its honey like bumblebees.

CC Madhya 17.199, Translation:

Bumblebees and birds like the parrot and cuckoo all began to sing loudly on the fifth note, and the peacocks began to dance in front of the Lord.

CC Madhya 23.60, Translation:

Mad emotional talks include ten divisions, called prajalpa and other names. An example of this is the ten verses spoken by Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī called "The Song to the Bumblebee."

CC Madhya 24.175, Translation:

The word "muni" also means "bird" and "bumblebee." The word "nirgrantha" refers to foolish people. By the mercy of Kṛṣṇa, such creatures contact a sādhu (spiritual master) and thus engage in devotional service.

CC Antya-lila

CC Antya 1.158, Translation:

"The sweet, fragrant honey oozing from newly grown mango buds is again and again attracting groups of bumblebees, and this forest is trembling in the softly moving breezes from the Malaya Hills, which are full of sandalwood trees. Thus the forest of Vṛndāvana is increasing My transcendental pleasure."

CC Antya 1.159, Translation:

"My dear friend, see how this forest of Vṛndāvana is full of transcendental creepers and trees. The tops of the creepers are full of flowers, and intoxicated bumblebees are buzzing around them, humming songs that please the ear and surpass even the Vedic hymns."

CC Antya 1.160, Translation:

"My dear friend, this forest of Vṛndāvana is giving great pleasure to our senses in various ways. Somewhere bumblebees are singing in groups, and in some places mild breezes are cooling the entire atmosphere. Somewhere the creepers and tree twigs are dancing, the mallikā flowers are expanding their fragrance, and an overabundance of juice is constantly flowing in showers from pomegranate fruits."

CC Antya 1.166, Translation:

"O most beautiful friend, please accept the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is standing before You full of transcendental bliss. The borders of His eyes roam from side to side, and His eyebrows move slowly like bumblebees on His lotuslike face. Standing with His right foot placed below the knee of His left leg, the middle of His body curved in three places, and His neck gracefully tilted to the side, He takes His flute to His pursed lips and moves His fingers upon it here and there."

CC Antya 1.171, Translation:

"When Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī smiles, waves of joy flow over Her cheeks, and Her arched eyebrows dance like the bow of Cupid. Her glance is so enchanting that it is like a dancing bumblebee moving unsteadily due to intoxication. That bee has bitten the whorl of My heart."

CC Antya 11.53, Translation:

Haridāsa Ṭhākura made Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu sit down in front of him, and then he fixed his eyes, like two bumblebees, on the lotus face of the Lord.

CC Antya 15.33, Translation:

O all-auspicious tulasī plant, you are very dear to Govinda's lotus feet, and He is very dear to you. Have you seen Kṛṣṇa walking here wearing a garland of your leaves, surrounded by a swarm of bumblebees?

CC Antya 15.51, Translation:

Lord Caitanya continued, “"O trees, kindly tell us whether Balarāma"s younger brother, Kṛṣṇa, welcomed your obeisances with loving glances as He passed this way, resting one hand on the shoulder of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī, holding a lotus flower in the other, and being followed by a swarm of bumblebees maddened by the fragrance of tulasī flowers.

CC Antya 15.52, Translation:

To stop the bumblebees from landing on the face of His beloved, He whisked them away with the lotus flower in His hand, and thus His mind was slightly diverted.

CC Antya 18.25, Translation:

"As an independent leader among elephants enters the water with its female elephants, Kṛṣṇa, who is transcendental to the Vedic principles of morality, entered the water of the Yamunā with the gopīs. His chest had brushed against their breasts, crushing His flower garland and coloring it with red kuṅkuma powder. Attracted by the fragrance of that garland, humming bumblebees followed Kṛṣṇa like celestial beings of Gandharvaloka. In this way, Lord Kṛṣṇa mitigated the fatigue of the rāsa dance."

CC Antya 19.80, Translation:

n the garden were fully blossomed trees and creepers exactly like those in Vṛndāvana. Bumblebees and birds like the śuka, śārī and pika talked with one another.

CC Antya 19.99, Translation:

Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, His mind thus stolen by the scent of Kṛṣṇa's body, ran here and there like a bumblebee. He ran to the trees and plants, hoping that Lord Kṛṣṇa would appear, but instead He found only that scent.

CC Antya 19.107, Translation:

The evidence of the truth of these talks is found in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. There, in the section of the Tenth Canto known as the Bhramara-gīta, "The Song to the Bumblebee," Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī speaks insanely in ecstatic love for Kṛṣṇa.

CC Antya 19.107, Purport:

When Uddhava arrived from Mathurā carrying a message for the gopīs, the gopīs began talking about Kṛṣṇa and crying. Then Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī saw a bumblebee and began speaking to it like someone mad, thinking that the bee was a messenger of Uddhava's or was someone very dear to him and Kṛṣṇa.

CC Antya 19.107, Purport:

Kṛṣṇa no longer gives us the enchanting nectar of His lips; instead, He now gives that nectar to the women of Mathurā. Kṛṣṇa directly attracts our minds, yet He resembles a bumblebee like you because He gives up the association of a beautiful flower and goes to a flower that is inferior. That is the way Kṛṣṇa has treated us. I do not know why the goddess of fortune continues to serve His lotus feet instead of leaving them aside. Apparently she believes in Kṛṣṇa's false words. We gopīs, however, are not unintelligent like Lakṣmī.

CC Antya 19.107, Purport:

After hearing the bumblebee's sweet songs and recognizing that the bee was singing about Kṛṣṇa for Her satisfaction, the gopī replied:

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

"Dear bumblebee, Lord Kṛṣṇa has no residence here, but we know Him as Yadupati (the King of the Yadu dynasty). We know Him very well, and therefore we are not interested in hearing any more songs about Him. It would be better for you to go sing to those who are now very dear to Kṛṣṇa. Those women of Mathurā have now achieved the opportunity of being embraced by Him. They are His beloveds now, and therefore He has relieved the burning in their breasts. If you go there and sing your songs to those fortunate women, they will be very pleased, and they will honor you."

CC Antya 19.107, Purport:

“You are buzzing at My feet just to be forgiven for your past offenses. Kindly go away from My feet! I know that Mukunda has taught you to speak very sweet, flattering words like this and to act as His messenger. These are certainly clever tricks, My dear bumblebee, but I can understand them. This is Kṛṣṇa's offense. Do not tell Kṛṣṇa what I have said, although I know that you are very envious. We gopīs have given up our husbands, our sons and all the religious principles that promise better births, and now we have no business other than serving Kṛṣṇa. Yet Kṛṣṇa, by controlling His mind, has easily forgotten us. Therefore, don’t speak of Him any more. Let us forget our relationship.”

CC Antya 19.107, Purport:

“When we remember the past births of Kṛṣṇa, My dear bumblebee, we are very much afraid of Him. In His incarnation as Lord Rāmacandra, He acted just like a hunter and unjustly killed His friend Vāli. Lusty Śūrpaṇakhā came to satisfy Rāmacandra's desires, but He was so attached to Sītādevī that He cut off Śūrpaṇakhā’s nose. In His incarnation as Vāmanadeva, He plundered Bali Mahārāja and took all his possessions, cheating him on the pretext of accepting worship from him. Vāmanadeva caught Bali Mahārāja exactly as one catches a crow. My dear bumblebee, it is not very good to make friends with such a person. I know that once one begins to talk about Kṛṣṇa, it is very difficult to stop, and I admit that I have insufficient strength to give up talking about Him.”

CC Antya 19.107, Purport:

Praising the bumblebee for its sobriety, She began to speak in great jubilation.

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

"Kṛṣṇa is now living like a gentleman at the gurukula in Mathurā, forgetting all the gopīs of Vṛndāvana. But does He not remember the sweet house of His father, Nanda Mahārāja? We are all naturally His maidservants. Does He not remember us? Does He ever speak about us, or has He forgotten us completely? Will He ever forgive us and once again touch us with those hands fragrant with the scent of aguru?"

CC Antya 20.154, Translation:

Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta is filled with the activities of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, who is the Supreme Personality of Godhead Himself. It invokes all good fortune and destroys everything inauspicious. If one tastes the nectar of Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta with faith and love, I become like a bumblebee tasting the honey of transcendental love from his lotus feet.

CC Antya 20.156, Translation:

Realized devotees are like bumblebees maddened by their own mellows at Kṛṣṇa's lotus feet. The scent of those lotus feet perfumes the entire world. Who is the realized soul that could give them up?

Krsna, The Supreme Personality of Godhead

Krsna Book 33:

The gopīs and Kṛṣṇa entered the water of the Yamunā just to relieve their fatigue from the rāsa dance. The lily-flower garlands around the necks of the gopīs were strewn to pieces due to the gopīs' embracing the body of Kṛṣṇa, and the flowers were reddish from being smeared with the kuṅkuma on their breasts. The bumblebees were humming about in order to get honey from the flowers. Kṛṣṇa and the gopīs entered the water of the Yamunā just as an elephant enters a water tank with his many female companions. Both the gopīs and Kṛṣṇa forgot their real identities, playing in the water, enjoying each other's company and relieving the fatigue of rāsa dancing.

Krsna Book 34:

The young damsels of Vraja were very nicely dressed and anointed with pulp of sandalwood and decorated with flowers. The moon was shining in the sky, surrounded by glittering stars. The breeze was blowing, bearing the aroma of mallikā flowers, and the bumblebees were mad after the aroma. Taking advantage of the pleasing atmosphere, Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma began to sing very melodiously.

Krsna Book 35:

When Kṛṣṇa walked on the bank of the Yamunā, He was seen nicely decorated with tilaka on His face. He was garlanded with different kinds of forest flowers, and His body was smeared with the pulp of sandalwood and tulasī leaves. The bumblebees became mad after the fragrance and sweetness of the atmosphere. Being pleased by the humming sound of the bees, Kṛṣṇa would play His flute, and together the sounds became so sweet to hear that aquatic birds like cranes, swans and ducks were charmed.

Krsna Book 47:

Specifically, a person attached to the wives of others is interested in them as long as there is a need of sense gratification, just as bumblebees have interest in flowers as long as they want to take the honey out of them.

Krsna Book 47:

One of the gopīs, namely Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī, was so much absorbed in thoughts of Kṛṣṇa 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 the other gopīs were talking with Kṛṣṇa's messenger Uddhava, Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī took that bumblebee to be a messenger from Kṛṣṇa and began to talk with it as follows: “Bumblebee, you are accustomed to drinking honey from flower to flower, and therefore you have preferred to be a messenger of Kṛṣṇa, who is of the same nature as you.

Krsna Book 47:

You feel very proud because of having touched that garland, and your mustaches have become reddish. You have come here carrying a message for Me, 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 Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī purposely addressed the bumblebee sarcastically in order to indirectly criticize the messenger Uddhava.

Krsna Book 47:

She addressed the bumblebee, “Your master Kṛṣṇa is exactly of your quality. You sit down on a flower, and after tasting a little honey you immediately fly away and sit on another flower and taste.

Krsna Book 47:

Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī continued: “You foolish bumblebee, you are trying to satisfy Me and get a reward by singing the glories of Kṛṣṇa, but it is a useless attempt. We gopīs are bereft of all our possessions. We are away from our homes and families. We know very well about Kṛṣṇa.

Krsna Book 47:

These talks of Rādhārāṇī with the bumblebee messenger, including Her accusing Kṛṣṇa in so many ways and at the same time expressing Her inability to give up talking about Him, are signs of the topmost transcendental ecstasy, called mahā-bhāva. The ecstatic mahā-bhāva manifestation is possible only in the persons of Rādhārāṇī and Her associates.

Krsna Book 90:

Because there were so many nice trees of fruits and flowers, all the sweetly chirping birds and buzzing bumblebees joined together to make sweet vibrations. The city of Dvārakā thus fully displayed all opulences. The heroes in the dynasty of Yadu used to think themselves the most fortunate residents of the city, and actually they enjoyed all transcendental facilities.