This last week we harvested some of the honey from our bee hives, and as we extracted it I was in awe of its beautiful golden color. After we offered some of it to the Lord, we sampled its taste and it was amazing, not of this world. They must be devotee bees’s gathering the nectar from the lotus flowers and rose gardens at Srila Prabhupada’s Palace of Gold, here at New Vrindavan. The taste and texture was other-worldly, and remarkable. So I thought I would take a moment to to find some references on honey from Srila Prabhupada’s Books.
The pure devotees are always hankering after the lotus feet of the Lord. The lotus has a kind of honey which is transcendentally relished by the devotees. They are like the bees who are always after the honey. Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī, the great devotee ācārya of the Gauḍīya-Vaiṣṇava-sampradāya, has sung a song about this lotus honey, comparing himself to the bee:
“O my Lord Kṛṣṇa, I beg to offer my prayers unto You. My mind is like the bee, and it is after some honey. Kindly, therefore, give my bee-mind a place at Your lotus feet, which are the resources for all transcendental honey.” (SB 1.11.26)
When the Lord entered the forest of Vṛndāvana, all the inhabitants of the forest, both animate and inanimate, were eager to receive Him. He saw that the flowers of the forest, all fully blossoming, were weeping in ecstasy, honey flowing down their petals. The waterfalls on the hilly rocks were gladly flowing, and one could hear sweet sounds from the caves nearby. (Light of the Bhagavata text 24)
The Hare Krishna Movement 