Live Caitanya Caritamrta · CC Antya 16.144
Hope for Kṛṣṇa’s Nectar Sustains the Gopīs
“ ‘This flute is utterly unfit because it is merely a dead bamboo stick. Moreover, it belongs to the male sex. Yet this flute is always drinking the nectar of Kṛṣṇa’s lips, which surpasses nectarean sweetness of every description. Only by hoping for that nectar do the gopīs continue to live.
What the purport teaches
- The gopīs described the flute as utterly unfit: merely a dead bamboo stick and belonging to the male sex.
- Yet the flute was always drinking the nectar of Kṛṣṇa’s lips, which surpasses nectarean sweetness of every description.
- The gopīs said that only the hope of tasting that nectar kept them alive.
Try this today
Read the verse slowly and underline the words that express how precious Kṛṣṇa’s nectar is to the gopīs.
Ask yourself
What contrast do you notice between the gopīs’ description of the flute and their description of what he receives?
Carry the question through the day, then answer it in your own words before sleep.
The study points are short summaries drawn from Śrīla Prabhupāda's translation and purport; the practice and question are plain words for trying the verse today.