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. The verses are as follows (SB 10.47.12-21):
- madhupa kitava-bandho mā spṛśāṅghriṁ sapatnyāḥ
- kuca-vilulita-mālā-kuṅkuma-śmaśrubhir naḥ
- vahatu madhu-patis tan-māninīnāṁ prasādaṁ
- yadu-sadasi viḍambyaṁ yasya dūtas tvam īdṛk
- (SB 10.47.12)
“My dear bumblebee, you are a very cunning friend of Uddhava and Kṛṣṇa. You are very expert in touching people’s feet, but I am not going to be misled by this. You appear to have sat on the breasts of one of Kṛṣṇa’s friends, for I see that you have kuṅkuma dust on your mustache. Kṛṣṇa is now engaged in flattering all His young girlfriends in Mathurā. Therefore, now that He can be called a friend of the residents of Mathurā, He does not need the help of the residents of Vṛndāvana. He has no reason to satisfy us gopīs. Since you are the messenger of such a person as He, what is the use of your presence here? Certainly Kṛṣṇa would be ashamed of your presence in this assembly.”