Text 12
gopy uvāca
madhupa kitava-bandho mā spṛśaṅghriṁ sapatnyāḥ
kuca-vilulita-mālā-kuṅkuma-śmaśrubhir naḥ
vahatu madhu-patis tan-māninīnāṁ prasādaṁ
yadu-sadasi viḍambyaṁ yasya dūtas tvam īdṛk
gopī uvāca — the gopī said; madhupa — O bumblebee; kitava — of a cheater; bandho — O friend; mā spṛśa — please do not touch; aṅghrim — the feet; sapatnyāḥ — of the lover who is our rival; kuca — the breast; vilulita — fallen from; mālā — from the garland; kuṅkuma — with the red cosmetic; śmaśrubhiḥ — with the whiskers; naḥ — our; vahatu — let Him bring; madhu-patiḥ — the Lord of the Madhu dynasty; tat — His; māninīnām — to the women; prasādam — mercy or kindness; yadu-sadasi — in the royal assembly of the Yadus; viḍambyam — an object of ridicule or contempt; yasya — whose; dūtaḥ — messenger; tvam — you; īdṛk — such.
The gopī said: O honeybee, O friend of a cheater, don’t touch My feet with your whiskers, which are smeared with the kuṅkuma that rubbed onto Kṛṣṇa’s garland when it was crushed by the breasts of a rival lover! Let Kṛṣṇa satisfy the women of Mathurā. One who sends a messenger like you will certainly be ridiculed in the Yadus’ assembly.
Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī indirectly chastised Kṛṣṇa 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 Kṛṣṇa as madhu-pati, “the Lord of Madhu.”
Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī points out that this and the following nine verses exemplify ten kinds of impulsive speech spoken by a lover. This verse illustrates the qualities of prajalpa, as described by Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī in the following verse from his Ujjvala-nīlamaṇi (14.182):
asūyerṣyā-mada-yujā
yo ’vadhīraṇa-mudrayā
priyasyākauśalodgāraḥ
prajalpaḥ sa tu kīrtyate
“Prajalpa is speech that denigrates the tactlessness of one’s lover with expressions of disrespect. It is spoken in a mood of envy, jealousy and pride.” Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī points out that the word kitava-bandho expresses envy; the phrase from sapatnyāḥ to naḥ, jealousy; the phrase mā spṛśa aṅghrim, pride; and the phrase from vahatu to prasādam, disrespect, while the phrase from yadu-sadasi to the end of the verse decries Kṛṣṇa’s tactless treatment of Rādhārāṇī.