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Madhumangala the cowherd friend of Krsna

Srimad-Bhagavatam

SB Canto 2

SB 2.4.14, Purport:

There are two sides of the transcendental manifestations of the Supreme Lord, Śrī Kṛṣṇa. For the pure devotees He is the constant companion, as in the case of His becoming one of the family members of the Yadu dynasty, or His becoming the friend of Arjuna, or His becoming the associate neighbor of the inhabitants of Vṛndāvana, as the son of Nanda-Yaśodā, the friend of Sudāmā, Śrīdāmā and Madhumaṅgala, or the lover of the damsels of Vrajabhūmi, etc. That is part of His personal features.

SB Canto 10.1 to 10.13

SB 10.13.11, Purport:

When Kṛṣṇa was eating with His cowherd boyfriends, a certain bumblebee came there to take part in the eating. Thus Kṛṣṇa joked, "Why have you come to disturb My brāhmaṇa friend Madhumaṅgala? You want to kill a brāhmaṇa. This is not good." All the boys would laugh and enjoy, speaking such joking words while eating. Thus the inhabitants of the higher planets were astonished at how the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who eats only when yajña is offered, was now eating like an ordinary child with His friends in the forest.

Sri Caitanya-caritamrta

CC Antya-lila

CC Antya 1.144, Translation and Purport:

“""O dearly beautiful one, the artistic loveliness of Your picture is now impressed within My mind. Since You are now living within My mind, wherever I wish to run because I am agitated by impressions of You, I find that You, O My friend, are blocking My way.""

This verse (Vidagdha-mādhava 2.33) is written in the Prakrit language, not in Sanskrit. When transformed into Sanskrit, it reads as follows:

dhṛtvā praticchanda-guṇaṁ sundara mama mandire tvaṁ vasasi
tathā tathā ruṇatsi balitaṁ yathā yathā cakitā palāye

The meaning is the same, but the native language is different. It was spoken to Kṛṣṇa by Madhumaṅgala as he read Him a letter from Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī.

CC Antya 1.145, Translation and Purport:

“"Upon seeing peacock feathers in front of Her, this girl suddenly begins trembling. When She sometimes sees a necklace of guñjā (small conchshells), She sheds tears and cries loudly. I do not know what kind of new ecstatic influence has entered the heart of this poor girl. It has imbued Her with the dancing attitude of a player creating wonderful, unprecedented dances on a stage."

This verse (Vidagdha-mādhava 2.15) is spoken by Mukharā, a friend of Lord Kṛṣṇa's grandmother, in a conversation with Paurṇamāsī, the grandmother of Madhumaṅgala.

CC Antya 1.150, Translation and Purport:

“"When one hears praise from his beloved, he outwardly remains neutral but feels pain within his heart. When he hears his beloved making accusations about him, he takes them to be jokes and enjoys pleasure. When he finds faults in his beloved, they do not diminish his love, nor do the beloved"s good qualities increase his spontaneous affection. Thus spontaneous love continues under all circumstances. That is how spontaneous love of Godhead acts within the heart.’

This verse from the Vidagdha-mādhava (5.4) is spoken by Paurṇamāsī, the grandmother of Madhumaṅgala and mother of Sāndīpani Muni.

CC Antya 1.160, Translation and Purport:

“"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."

This verse from the Vidagdha-mādhava (1.31) is spoken by Lord Kṛṣṇa to His cowherd friend Madhumaṅgala.

CC Antya 1.164, Translation and Purport:

“"The transcendental vibration of Kṛṣṇa"s flute blocked the movements of the rain clouds, struck the Gandharvas full of wonder, and agitated the meditation of great saintly persons like Sanaka and Sanandana. It created wonder in Lord Brahmā, wrought intense curiosity that agitated the mind of Bali Mahārāja, who was otherwise firmly fixed, made Mahārāja Ananta, the carrier of the planets, whirl around, and penetrated the strong coverings of the universe. Thus the sound of the flute in the hands of Kṛṣṇa created a wonderful situation.’

This verse (Vidagdha-mādhava 1.27) is spoken by Madhumaṅgala, a cowherd friend of Kṛṣṇa's.

CC Antya 1.170, Translation and Purport:

“"Although the effulgence of the moon is brilliant initially at night, in the daytime it fades away. Similarly, although the lotus is beautiful during the daytime, at night it closes. But, O My friend, the face of My most dear Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī is always bright and beautiful, both day and night. Therefore, to what can Her face be compared?"

This verse (Vidagdha-mādhava 5.20) is spoken by Śrī Kṛṣṇa to Madhumaṅgala.

Other Books by Srila Prabhupada

Nectar of Devotion

Nectar of Devotion 30:

Madhumaṅgala was an intimate friend of Kṛṣṇa coming from the brāhmaṇa community. Kṛṣṇa's friends were mostly cowherd boys belonging to the vaiśya community, but there were others who belonged to the brāhmaṇa community. Actually, in Vṛndāvana the vaiśya community and the brāhmaṇa community are considered prominent. This Madhumaṅgala one day addressed Kṛṣṇa in this fashion: "My dear friend, I can see that You are not aware of the peacock feathers that are falling on the ground, and at the same time You are unmindful of the flower garlands which are offered to You. I think I can guess the reason for Your absentmindedness when I see Your two eyes flying over to the eyes of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī, just like black drones flying to lotus flowers." This is an instance of an argumentative suggestion in ecstatic love.

Nectar of Devotion 41:

The behavior of these confidential friends is described by a friend of Rādhārāṇī who told Rādhārāṇī, "My dear graceful Rādhārāṇī, Your intimate friend Kṛṣṇa is also served by His intimate boyfriends. Some of them cut jokes with Him in mild voices and please Him very much by this." For example, Kṛṣṇa had one brāhmaṇa friend whose name was Madhumaṅgala. This boy would joke by playing the part of a greedy brāhmaṇa. Whenever the friends ate, he would eat more than all others, especially laḍḍus, of which he was very fond. Then after eating more laḍḍus than anyone else, Madhumaṅgala would still not be satisfied, and he would say to Kṛṣṇa, "If You give me one more laḍḍu, then I shall be pleased to give You my blessings so that Your friend Rādhārāṇī will be very much pleased with You." The brāhmaṇas are supposed to give blessings to the vaiśyas (farming and merchant caste), and Kṛṣṇa presented Himself as the son of Mahārāja Nanda, a vaiśya; so the brāhmaṇa boy was right in giving blessings to Kṛṣṇa. Thus Kṛṣṇa was very pleased by His friend's blessings, and He would supply him with more and more laḍḍus.

Nectar of Devotion 51:

When Madhumaṅgala, an intimate friend of Kṛṣṇa, was dancing before Kṛṣṇa in a joking manner, no one was paying attention to him, and he jokingly said, "My dear Lord, please be merciful upon me. I am praying for Your mercy." This is an example of uparasa in fraternal affection and neutrality.

Conversations and Morning Walks

1969 Conversations and Morning Walks

Room Conversation -- May 10, 1969, Columbus, Ohio:

Madhumaṅgala: What does Madhumaṅgala mean?

Prabhupāda: That is not very good question.

Madhumaṅgala: (indistinct)...told me to ask.

Prabhupāda: Madhumaṅgala, you have explained when I initiated. Madhumaṅgala was one of the friend of Kṛṣṇa. That's all.

Page Title:Madhumangala the cowherd friend of Krsna
Compiler:Visnu Murti
Created:16 of Oct, 2010
Totals by Section:BG=0, SB=2, CC=6, OB=3, Lec=0, Con=1, Let=0
No. of Quotes:12