
Gauri (Tecoma Stans)
Just see. He said: “No, no. I cannot accept sumptuous foodstuff from a brāhmaṇa’s place. That is not my duty. I shall accept mādhukarī.” Mādhukarī is a principle introduced by these Gosvāmīs. Mādh . . . mādhu. Mādhu means honey. And the bees who collect honey from flower—a drop from this flower, a drop from that flower, a drop from that flower—in this way, he subsists.
So this mādhukarī system means a renounced order of sannyāsī or a vairāgī, he should not accept in one place sumptuously. He should go to every householder and take a bit of capātī from this house, a bit of capātī from that house, a bit of capātī from that house, so that the householders also may not be disturbed and they may be benefited. When a real sannyāsī or vairāgi accepts something from the householder, it is a great benefit for him. Therefore to accept little from this house, to accept little from that house, that is also another mercy of the renounced sannyāsī or devotee of the Lord. Yes.
(661127 – Lecture CC Madhya 20.66-96 – New York)
Prabhupāda: Just like you have made this garland. Somebody intelligent has decorated. So who has made it? That they have no intelligence. They decorate this garland, one red flower and yellow flower, make it very attractive, but who has made this flower? That they have no intelligence. And that is answered: mām ebhyaḥ param, mūḍho nābhijānāti. I am trying to taking the flower to make it more beautiful by setting them in this way, but who has made this beautiful flower? Whose brain is there? And that is explained there.
………..
Prabhupāda: That is it. So I am setting up the flower, but who has made this flower? That is . . . I do not know. But somebody has made. You have to accept. Because you are somebody, you are trying to make more beautiful by setting up the different flowers, so who has made the flower? That is intelligence. But mūḍho nābhijānāti. The rascals, they do not.
(770131 – Conversation C – Bhuvanesvara)
As the Lord passed along the public road of Dvārakā, His head was protected from the sunshine by a white umbrella. White feathered fans moved in semicircles, and showers of flowers fell upon the road. His yellow garments and garlands of flowers made it appear as if a dark cloud were surrounded simultaneously by sun, moon, lightning and rainbows.
Purport
The sun, moon, rainbow and lightning do not appear in the sky simultaneously. When there is sun, the moonlight becomes insignificant, and if there are clouds and a rainbow, there is no manifestation of lightning. The Lord’s bodily hue is just like a new monsoon cloud. He is compared herein to the cloud. The white umbrella over His head is compared to the sun. The movement of the bunch-hair fan of flukes is compared to the moon. The showers of flowers are compared to the stars. His yellow garments are compared to the rainbow. So all these activities of the firmament, being impossible simultaneous factors, cannot be adjusted by comparison. The adjustment is possible only when we think of the inconceivable potency of the Lord. The Lord is all-powerful, and in His presence anything impossible can be made possible by His inconceivable energy. But the situation created at the time of His passing on the roads of Dvārakā was beautiful and could not be compared to anything besides the description of natural phenomena.
(SB 1.11.27)