Like this the flute is making Krishna do so much seva to play on it! The flute thus makes Krishna dance and makes all of us also dance in madness!! Maharaj said that the gopis also complain that to play the flute, Krishna has to bend himself in three places then Krishna has to bend and bow down his head in order to play it! And Krishna has to massage it by his fingers in order to play it. We are getting the remnants of the remnants of the remnants of the flute. He could keep it on his waist, or in his hands, why lips ? He wants to enjoy the flute ! Radharani is saying – This flute drinks the nectar without leaving even a drop for us. It is Krishna who is constantly keeping the flute on his lips.
Sometimes Radharani finds no fault with the flute, and puts all the blame on Krishna like this. Radharani continues to say – This Shyamsundar never goes against the flute. That is why here in this sloka, Radharani is saying that it is meant for the gopis alone. Because, there are females even on heavenly planets, earth, etc. If Radharani would have said that Krishna’s lips are meant for females only, it would have been wrong. So it is Radha’s Damodara – this is the hidden bhava. Also, Radha has also tied him up with flower garland. Also it shows the love that Yashoda maiya had by which she could tie him up. Maharaj next explained Why is the word ‘Damodar’ used in this verse, not any other name ? Maharaj quoted Srila Sanatana Goswami who says that Damodar word has the name Radha hidden in it – as in Radha Damodar. Please find out, so that we can also do the same and achieve this fortune of drinking the nectar of Shyamsundar’s lips. May be in his previous birth he was a human and did something. The bamboo has no rasa, no fruits, no flower, still what austerity did it do ? In this birth, he has not done anything. Maharaj then quoted Srila Vishvanatha Chakravarti Thakura, who wrote that Radharani is saying – what austerity did this flute do ? what charity did it do, to whom ? what sacrifices did it do ? Then we all will also do the same. So she is thinking, oh why did I and all of you sakhis, take birth as a gopi, why did we not take birth as a bamboo !! What austerity has this flute done ? It is always in the hands of Krishna or on his lips or on his hips, never away from Him! So she is saying that this flute even after being a male is drinking that which we females are supposed to drink. But Radharani is having the bhava that this flute is a male. Similarly Vamsi, venu, murali all stands for female gender. In Sanskrit dhaar means wife, dhaara also means wife. Maharaj said that the words Venu, murali, bansuri etc. I consider you gopis a bit because you also have the right on this nectar, but as for others, I consider them like a blade of grass.” Similarly Srila Sanatana Goswami says that `what to speak of the fortune of the sakhas, just look at the fortune of this neerasa, rasa-less bamboo which has no rasa in it.’ Radharani says that some steal others property but this flute steals our property by challenging loudly to us – “Hey gopis, if you want to drink the nectar of Krishna’s lips, then give up all your shyness and religion and all the rules of the society and come here and take this nectar, or else I am not afraid of you all or anyone, I will continue to drink this nectar. As a result of the unmaad exhibited due to this Mahabhava prema, the gopis are feeling envious towards even a non-living entity like the flute ! And they are having false feelings that the flute is drinking the nectar of Krishna’s lips which is actually their property. Maharaj said that in this verse Radharani is speaking about the flute and then quoted Srila Jiva Goswami who said that the gopis have Mahabhav prema in them and Radharani’s is topmost of them. His mother, the river on whose bank the bamboo was born, feels jubilation, and therefore her blooming lotus flowers are standing like hair on her body. My dear gopis, what auspicious activities must the flute have performed to enjoy the nectar of Krishna’s lips independently and leave only a taste for us gopis, for whom that nectar is actually meant! The forefathers of the flute, the bamboo trees, shed tears of pleasure. Gopyah kim acarad ayam kusalam sma venur damodaradhara-sudham api gopikanamīhunkte svayam yad avasishta-rasam hradinyo hrishyat-tvaco ‘sru mumucus taravo yatharyah HH Radha Govinda Maharaj first recited the below verse. We are all aware that the Venu Gita (Song of Lord Krishna’s Flute Play) is a compilation of twenty verses in the 21st chapter of tenth canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. I am sharing the below nectar from a lecture by HH Radha Govinda Maharaj on Venu Gita. This is in continuation of my last blog on Krishna’s flutes.