Leela stories
Uddhava and the Gopis
उद्धव-गोपी संवाद
The learned Uddhava bowed before the gopis’ love.
Listen in the app — Hindi narration
After going to Mathura, Shri Krishna sent His dear friend, the learned Uddhava, to Braj to console Nanda, Yashoda and the gopis.
Uddhava wished to teach the gopis knowledge, but their hearts were immersed in love for Krishna. Seeing a bumblebee, one gopi took it for Krishna’s messenger and began to reproach it — this episode is called the “Bhramar Gita”.
Seeing the gopis’ one-pointed love, Uddhava’s pride in knowledge melted away. He prayed to become a bush, creeper or herb in Vrindavan, so that the dust of the gopis’ feet might always fall upon him.
Sources
- श्रीमद्भागवत महापुराण, दशम स्कंध, अध्याय 46
- श्रीमद्भागवत महापुराण, दशम स्कंध, अध्याय 47 (भ्रमर गीत; श्लोक 61)
Scriptural references and Braj folk tradition are shown separately.
Tradition
Surdas’s “Bhramargeet” sings this episode most movingly.
