Live the Bhāgavatam · SB 10.21.9
Īśānukathā· The Lord and His devoteesThe Flute’s Fortune Inspires Longing
“My dear gopīs, what auspicious activities must the flute have performed to enjoy the nectar of Kṛṣṇa’s lips independently and leave only a taste for us gopīs, for whom that nectar is actually meant! The forefathers of the flute, the bamboo trees, shed tears of pleasure. 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.”
What the purport teaches
- The gopīs wondered what auspicious activities the flute had performed to enjoy the nectar of Kṛṣṇa’s lips. They felt it left only a taste for them.
- The bamboo trees shed flowing sap like tears of ecstasy because their child had become an exalted devotee-flute of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Śrī Kṛṣṇa. The river, described as its mother, also rejoiced.
- Sanātana Gosvāmī offers another explanation: the trees cry because they cannot play with Kṛṣṇa or taste the nectar of His lips. Their longing resembles that of intelligent persons unable to obtain the goal of life.
Try this today
Write one sentence expressing your wish to serve Kṛṣṇa, remembering the flute’s fortune.
Ask yourself
What does the flute’s honored position suggest about the value of serving Kṛṣṇa?
Carry the question through the day, then answer it in your own words before sleep.
From Canto 10, chapter 14 onward, the translation and purports were completed by Śrīla Prabhupāda's disciples after his departure, and published by the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust.