Devanagari
किमिह बहु षडङ्घ्रे गायसि त्वं यदूना-
मधिपतिमगृहाणामग्रतो न: पुराणम् ।
विजयसखसखीनां गीयतां तत्प्रसङ्ग:
क्षपितकुचरुजस्ते कल्पयन्तीष्टमिष्टा: ॥ १४ ॥
Verse text
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
Synonyms
kim
—
why
;
iha
—
here
;
bahu
—
much
;
ṣaṭ
—
aṅghre — O bee (six-footed one)
;
gāyasi
—
are singing
;
tvam
—
you
;
yadūnām
—
of the Yadus
;
adhipatim
—
about the master
;
agṛhāṇām
—
who have no home
;
agrataḥ
—
in front of
;
naḥ
—
us
;
purāṇam
—
old
;
vijaya
—
of Arjuna
;
sakha
—
of the friend
;
sakhīnām
—
for the friends
;
gīyatām
—
should be sung
;
tat
—
of Him
;
prasaṅgaḥ
—
the topics
;
kṣapita
—
relieved
;
kuca
—
of whose breasts
;
rujaḥ
—
the pain
;
te
—
they
;
kalpayanti
—
will provide
;
iṣṭam
—
the charity you desire
;
iṣṭāḥ
—
His beloveds .
Translation
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.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
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.
KB 10.47.14
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. We know even more than you. So whatever you make up about Him will be old stories to us. Kṛṣṇa is now in the city and is better known as the friend of Arjuna. He now has many new girlfriends, who are no doubt very happy in His association. Because the lusty, burning sensation of their breasts has been satisfied by Kṛṣṇa, they are now happy. If you go there and glorify Kṛṣṇa, they may be pleased to reward you.
Purport
With the words
agṛhāṇām agrato naḥ,
Rādhārāṇī laments that even though She and the other
gopīs
gave up their homes to love Kṛṣṇa 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 Śrī Kṛṣṇa, who is always victorious in His endeavors, and besides meaning “old (news),” the word
purāṇam
also indicates that Śrī Kṛṣṇa is glorified in the ancient Vedic scriptures of that name.
In this verse we observe in Rādhārāṇī’s mood the seed of jealous anger, which arises from an apparent disdain for Kṛṣṇa, accompanied by a sarcastic sidelong glance directed toward Him. Thus this verse fits the following description of
vijalpa
from the
Ujjvala-nīlamaṇi
(14.186):
vyaktayāsūyayā gūḍha-
māna-mudrāntarālayā
agha-dviṣi kaṭākṣoktir
vijalpo viduṣāṁ mataḥ
“According to learned authorities,
vijalpa
is sarcastic speech that is addressed to the killer of Agha and that openly expresses jealousy while at the same time hinting at one’s angry pride.”
Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Seeing the bee constantly buzzing due to his nature, Radha thought, "Agitated by my criticism, he is singing his own glories."
She then spoke. "Why are you singing this to us gopis? The songs of an ignorant bee will not please the gopis. Again and again you are singing. And as well, in those songs you are publicizing the glories of the leader of the Yadus. You are doing that in front of us-who were made by Krsna to give up our homes and are now sitting at the edge of the forest. We cannot give you even a fistful of chickpeas in charity."
"Then just give me the old clothing and garlands from your body."
"You are completely ignorant of this. I will not give you anything. Reciting the Puranas you are trying to prove that Krsna is the lord of the Yadus. O six legged creature, 1.5 x a normal four legged animal, 1.5 times more unintelligent , you do not know where you should sing. Being an animal, how do you know the Puranas? And how can you receive charity? But since you are an animal, we are not angry with you. We will give instructions on where you should sing to support your existence.
"You should sing in front of the girl friends of that friend of yours who is preeminently victorious or defeated by them in the battle of love (vijaya sakha). You should sing all about those victories and defeat in love."
Vijaya sakha can also mean the friend of Arjuna who is also known as Vijaya. Previously Krsna was known as the friend of Subala, but after he left Vraja, he became known as the friend of Arjuna. Radha therefore refers to Krsna in the future.
"These women of Mathura, relieved of the pain in their breasts, being respected by you by your letting them hear your songs, will fulfill your desires."
The second half of the verse shows indignation concealing beneath deep seated anger. In all of the verse there are leering inferences, mocking Krsna. This is an example of vijalpa.
Leering statements directed towards Krsna with explicit envy, hiding within them signs of deep anger are called vijalpa, according to Ujjvala Nilamani.
Purport (Jiva Goswami)
Confused when Rādhā angrily brushed away the bee trying to touch her lotus feet, the bee came before her while humming. She then thought that the bee was profusely glorifying Kṛṣṇa to please her. She began to wonder about other things, in order to ignore the bee. O bee, you sing because that is your nature as a bee. But why do you sing here (iha) in Vraja, full of grief? And why do you sing so much (bahu)? He is the leader of unlimited persons of the royal order of Yadus in Mathurā. Here in Vraja the cowherds are not respected by him. The Yadus, protected by him, depend for their life on him, and thus praise him. They can supply him pleasure. The people of Vraja cannot please him. You should therefore sing in Mathurā a lot or a little as you please.
Animals have four feet. You have six feet. As an animal and a half, you sing with great lack of intelligence, without discrimination. This shows jealousy. “But he is full of prema in Vraja. Vraja is the best place.” The many pastimes he performed were done with deceit (purāṇam). Or, all that was done previously, long in the past. Or, just as the word Kṛṣṇa is made of kṛṣ (existence) and ṇa (bliss), so purāṇam can be made of purā and ṇa. Previously (purā) Vraja was happy (ṇa). How there is only existence. Why do you sing in front of us, and in Vraja, and so profusely? The gopīs gave up their houses after being spoiled by him, since they were rejected by others after they once tasted the bewitching rasa of his left over saliva. On the other hand, Mathurā is your place for singing since there reside his beloved women. You should sing in front of the girl friends of your friend Kṛṣṇa (vijaya) about what gives him happiness. Sing to Kṛṣṇa, controlled by hundreds of city women, whom he attained on giving us up and becoming the leader of the Yadus. Respected (iṣṭāḥ) by you and him, those women will quickly give you what you want. Or, they always remain doing what you want. Now, seeing our unhappy condition from afar, respected by you, those women who think they are respectable, while you sing his glories, will particularly fulfill all your desires, for the pangs of the desire in their breasts have been extinguished by Kṛṣṇa. After they have suffered, people give abundant charity to panegyrists (like you) out of joy. She glances and laughs while showing boldness, envy and crookedness.
Purport (Sanatana Goswami)
O bee! She indicates that by his nature he is skillful at singing. Animals have four feet. You have six feet. You sing without intelligence since you are just half an animal. Why do you sing so much, in front of us? If you have a desire to sing, do it invisibly just once.
Why do you sing constantly, even if we do not hear? This indicates veiled hatred. “I sing to fulfil my desire.” But why do you sing in Vraja (iha)? Your desire will be fulfilled in Mathurā, not in the forest. “This place is better than the city.” You sing about the lord of the Yadus. It is proper that you sing in front of persons whom he protects, not to others. “He is also the lord of you women.” We are without homes. We do not have knowledge of singing, since we are from the forest. This is sarcasm. “You are all very skillful.” We have heard this song many times. It is old. This suggests hatred. Or we are without lovers (agṛhāṇām). Why do you sing a song which previously gave happiness (purāṇam) but now gives grief, in front of us who have no lover?
“Where should I sing?” You should sing about him in a place where there are girl friends of your friend Kṛṣṇa, who has the power to defeat the world. By destroying desire in their hearts, he has made them his lovers. They thus fulfil your desires. This shows envy and crookedness. Or the great attachment for Kṛṣṇa (tat-prasaṅgaḥ) should be sung to your friends (since Kṛṣṇa’s friends are yours also) who are friends of he who has all attractiveness (vijaya).
Or you should sing about those whose pain in the heart is destroyed by his embraces and scratching with his nails. This is mocking him, showing his boldness. They become dear to you (īṣṭāḥ). Being respected by your singing, being dear to you, they will certainly fulfill your desires.