O friend of My dear one, has My beloved sent you here again?

[Swami B.V. Vishnu Daivata]

TEXT 20 TEXT priya-sakha punar agah preyasa presitah kim varaya kim anurundhe mananiyo ’si me ’nga nayasi katham ihasman dustyaja-dvandva-parsvam satatam urasi saumya srir vadhuh sakam aste SYNONYMS priya—of My beloved; sakha—O friend; punah—once again; agah—you have come; preyasa—by My beloved; presitah—sent; kim—whether; varaya—please choose; kim—what; anurundhe—do you wish; mananiyah—to be honored; asi—you are; me—by Me; anga—My dear one; nayasi—you are bringing; katham—why; iha—here; asman—us; dustyaja—impossible to give up; dvandva—conjugal connection with whom; parsvam—to the side; satatam—always; urasi—on the chest; saumya—O gentle one; srih—the goddess of fortune; vadhuh—His consort; sakam—together with Him; aste—is present. TRANSLATION 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 Krsna, 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 Krsna 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 Krsna to inform Him all about Her talking against Him. ‘Krsna 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, ‘Krsna 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 Krsna.” Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti explains that the goddess of fortune, Sri, has the power to assume many different forms. Thus when Krsna enjoys other women, she stays on His chest in the form of a golden line. When He is not consorting with other women, she puts aside this form and gives Him pleasure in Her naturally beautiful form of a young woman. According to Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti, this statement of Srimati Radharani’s expresses pratijalpa, as described by Srila Rupa Gosvami: dustyaja-dvandva-bhave ’smin praptir narhety anuddhatam duta-sammananenoktam yatra sa pratijalpakah “When the lover humbly states that although she is unworthy of attaining her beloved she cannot give up hoping for a conjugal relationship with Him, such words, spoken with respect for her beloved’s message, are called pratijalpa.” (Ujjvala-nilamani 14.198) Here Srimati Radharani has given up Her harsh feelings and humbly acknowledges the greatness of Sri Krsna.