When Uddhava arrived from Mathura carrying a message for the gopis, the gopis began talking about Krsna and crying. Then one important gopi saw a bumblebee and began speaking to it like someone mad, thinking that the bee was a messenger of Uddhava's or was someone very dear to him and Krsna. The verses are as follows (SB. 10.47.12-21):

"My dear bumblebee, you are a very cunning friend of Uddhava and Krsna. You are very expert in touching people's feet, but I am not going to be misled by this. You appear to have sat on the breasts of one of Krsna's friends, for I see that you have kunkuma dust on your mustache. Krsna is now engaged in flattering all His young girl friends in Mathura. Therefore, now that He can be called a friend of the residents of Mathura, He does not need the help of the residents of Vrndavana. He has no reason to satisfy us gopis. Since you are the messenger of such a person as He, what is the use of your presence here? Certainly Krsna would be ashamed of your presence in this assembly."

"Krsna no longer gives us the enchanting nectar of His lips; instead, He now gives that nectar to the women of Mathura. Krsna directly attracts our minds, yet He resembles a bumblebee like you because He gives up the association of a beautiful flower and goes to a flower that is inferior. That is the way Krsna has treated us. I do not know why the goddess of fortune continues to serve His lotus feet instead of leaving them aside. Apparently she believes in Krsna's false words. We gopis, however, are not unintelligent like Laksmi."

"Dear bumblebee, Lord Krsna has no residence here, but we know Him as Yadupati [the King of the Yadu dynasty]. We know Him very well, and therefore we are not interested in hearing any more songs about Him. It would be better for you to go sing to those who are now very dear to Krsna. Those women of Mathura have now achieved the opportunity to be embraced by Him. They are His beloveds now, and therefore He has relieved the burning in their breasts. If you go there and sing your songs to those fortunate women, they will be very pleased, and they will honor you."

"O collector of honey, Krsna must be very sorry not to see us gopis. Surely He is afflicted by memories of our pastimes. Therefore He has sent you as a messenger to satisfy us. Do not speak to us! All the women in the three worlds where death is inevitable-the heavenly, middle and lower planets-are very easily available to Krsna because His curved eyebrows are so attractive. Moreover, He is always served very faithfully by the goddess of fortune. In comparison with her, we are most insignificant. Indeed, we are nothing. Yet although He is very cunning, Krsna is also very charitable. You may inform Him that He is praised for His kindness to unfortunate persons and that He is therefore known as Uttamasloka, one who is praised by chosen words and verses."

"You are buzzing at My feet just to be forgiven for your past offenses. Kindly go away from My feet! I know that Mukunda has taught you to speak very sweet, flattering words like this and to act as His messenger. These are certainly clever tricks, My dear bumblebee, but I can understand them. This is Krsna's offense. Do not tell Krsna what I have said, although I know that you are very envious. We gopis have given up our husbands, our sons, and all the religious principles that promise better births, and now we have no other business then serving Krsna. Yet Krsna, by controlling His mind, has easily forgotten us. Therefore, don't speak of Him any more. Let us forget our relationship."

"When we remember the past births of Krsna, My dear bumblebee, we are very afraid of Him. In His incarnation as Lord Ramacandra, He acted just like a hunter and unjustly killed His friend Vali. Lusty Surpanakha came to satisfy Ramacandra's desires, but He was so attached to Sitadevi that He cut off Surpanakha's nose. In His incarnation as Vamanadeva, He plundered Bali Maharaja and took all his possessions, cheating him on the pretext of accepting worship from him. Vamanadeva caught Bali Maharaja exactly as one catches a crow. My dear bumblebee, it is not very good to make friends with such a person. I know that once one begins to talk about Krsna, it is very difficult to stop, and I admit that I have insufficient strength to give up talking about Him."

"Topics about Krsna are so powerful that they destroy the four religious principles-religion, economic development, sense gratification and liberation. Anyone who drinks even a small drop of krsna-katha through aural reception is freed from all material attachment and envy. Like a bird with no means of subsistence, such a person becomes a mendicant and lives by begging. Ordinary household affairs become miserable for him, and without attachment he suddenly gives up everything. Although such renunciation is quite suitable, because I am a woman I am unable to adopt it."

"O My dear messenger, I am just like a foolish bird that hears the sweet songs of a hunter, believes in them due to simplicity, and is then pierced in the heart and made to suffer all kinds of miseries. Because we believed in Krsna's words, we have suffered great pain. Indeed, the touch of Krsna's nails has injured our faces. He has caused us so much pain! Therefore, you should give up topics concerning Him and talk about something else."

"You are Krsna's very dear friend, and by His order you have come here again. Therefore you are worshipable for Me. O best of messengers, tell Me now, what is your request? What do you want? Krsna cannot give up conjugal love, and therefore I understand that you have come here to take us to Him. But how will you do that? We know many goddesses of fortune now reside at Krsna's chest, and they constantly serve Krsna better than we can."

"Krsna is now living like a gentleman at the Gurukula in Mathura, forgetting all the gopis of Vrndavana. But does He not remember the sweet house of His father, Nanda Maharaja? We are all naturally His maidservants. Does He not remember us? Does He ever speak about us, or has He forgotten us completely? Will He ever forgive us and once again touch us with those hands fragrant with the scent of aguru?"