Summary of the Poem

“The Flute Player of Brindaban” is a fine short love lyric by Sarojini Naidu. It is about devotional love. The Poetess is madly in love with her divine lover. She seeks a spiritual union with her divine lover Lord Krishna. She is so much fascinated by the sweet music of Krishna’s flute that in order to listen it she is prepared to follow him wherever he goes. She is ready to face any danger that comes in her way.

The poetess says that Lord Krishna played his flute under the tree of Kadamba. The music of his flute is deeply moving. She says that her heart was full of idle thoughts but the music of flute fills it with extreme happiness and joy. Now she cannot live without this music. She says she goes wherever her divine lover goes. The Poetess says that she feels as if she is like a homeless bird wandering here and there. She has abandoned everything for the sake of the music of Krishna’s flute. She has forsaken all earthly relationships of love and worldly allurements. Now she wants to follow the call of Krishna’s magical flute and goes wherever this music leads her. Her love for the music of Krishna’s flute is deep to the extent of madness. In order to listen to it, she is prepared to go to the grove of Lord Indra, a place where beautiful flowers bloom throughout the year and immortal streams flow. She is also prepared to go to the empire of Yama, the lord of death. The place of Yama is engulfed with darkness and sadness. She will go wherever she hears the melodious, enchanting music of her divine lover’s flute. She says that she is unable to stop herself to follow Lord Krishna. She says no danger, whether it is of height or of depth, can stop her. She will follow him even to those dangerous places. She says that all these dangers cannot terrify her heart which is dying to hear the sweet music of Karishna’s flute. This poem shows that the poetess is a true devotee of Lord Krishna. It also shows the poetess’ fascination for the music of Lord Krishna’s flute

Explain with Reference to the Context

Stanza 1

Reference to Context

The lines quoted above have been taken from Sarojini Naidu’s fine short love lyric titled “The Flute Player of Brindaban”. The speaker in the poem is the poetess herself who is madly in love with Lord Krishna, and seeks spiritual union with her divine lover. She is so much enchanted by the divine music of Krishna’s flute that in order to listen it she is prepared to follow him anywhere.

Explanation
In these lines the poetess says that Lord Krishna played his flute under the tree of Kadamba. The music of the flute is deeply moving. She says that her heart was full of idle thoughts, but the melodious music of the flute fills it with extreme happiness and joy. Now she cannot live without this music. She is so much enchanted by the music of Krishna’s flute that she is ready to follow him wherever he goes. These lines show the poetess’ love for the music of Lord Krishna’s flute.

Stanza 2

Reference to Context

In these lines the poetess says that Lord Krishna played his flute under the tree of Kadamba. The music of the flute is deeply moving. She says that her heart was full of idle thoughts, but the melodious music of the flute fills it with extreme happiness and joy. Now she cannot live without this music. She is so much enchanted by the music of Krishna’s flute that she is ready to follow him wherever he goes. These lines show the poetess’ love for the music of Lord Krishna’s flute.

Explanation

The devotee poetess says that now she is wandering here and there like a homeless bird. She has abandoned everything for the sake of the music of Krishna’s flute. She has forsaken all earthly relationship of love and worldly allurements. Now she will follow the call of Krishna’s magical flute and goes wherever this music leads her. These lines show the poetess’ spiritual love for her lover to the extent of madness. She is a true devotee of Lord Krishna.

Stanza 3

Reference to Context

The lines quoted above have been taken from Sarojini Naidu’s fine short love lyric titled “The Flute Player of Brindaban”. The speaker in the poem is the poetess herself who is madly in love with Lord Krishna, and seeks spiritual union with her divine lover. She is so much enchanted by the melodious, divine music of Krishna’s flute that in order to listen to it she is prepared to follow him anywhere.

Explanation

In these lines the poetess says that she will follow Lord Krishna wherever he goes. She is prepared to go to the grove of Lord Indra, a place where beautiful flowers bloom throughout the year and immortal streams flow. She is also ready to go to the empire of Yama, the lord of death. It is a place engulfed with the darkness and sadness. She will go wherever she hears the melodious music of her divine lover’s flute.

Stanza 4

Reference to Context

The lines quoted above have been taken from Sarojini Naidu’s fine short love lyric named “The Flute Player of Brindaban”. The speaker in the poem is the poetess herself who is madly in love with Lord Krishna, and seeks him. She is so much enchanted by the divine music of Krishna’s flute that in order to listen to it she is prepared to follow him anywhere.

Explanation :-

In these lines the devotee poetess says that she is unable to stop herself to follow Lord Krishna. She says no danger, whether it is of height or of depth, can stop her. She will follow him to those dangerous places where time is unconquered and light remains untravelled. What she means to say is that no danger can stop her to follow him. All these dangers cannot terrify the heart which is dying to enjoy the nectar of the music of Krishna’s flute. These lines shows that the only wish the poetess has is to listen to the music of Krishna’s flute.

Question-Answer (Short Type)

Q.1. Who is the flute player of Brindaban and why is the devotee eager to follow him”?
Ans.: The flute player of Brindaban is Lord Krishna. He played flute under the Kadamba tree. The music of the flute is very sweet. It has a magical effect on the heart of the poetess. This music fills the heart of the poetess with joy and happiness. She is eager to follow Lord Krishna in order to listen to the sweet music of his flute. For this music she is prepared to follow him wherever he goes.

Q.2. What kind of love is expressed in the poem?
Ans.: The Poetess loves Lord Krishna. Her love for Krishna is of spiritual kind. She is madly in love with Krishna and seeks a spiritual union with her divine lover.

Q. 3. Explain ‘poignant melody’ and ‘lampless woe’ the phrase.
Ans.: ‘Poignant melody’ means the music that is deeply moving the poetess says that the music of Lord Krishna’s flute is deeply moving. It is so sweet that it fills the heart of the poetess with joy and happiness. The phrase ‘lampless woe’ means the darkness of sadness that pervades the empire of Yama, the god of death. The Poetess is so mad after the music of Krishna’s flute that she does not hesitate to follow him even to Yama’s court. She does not care for any danger in order to hear the sweet music of Krishna’s flute.

Q. 4. What does the devotee’s heart long for?
Ans.: The devotee’s heart longs for the sweet music of Lord Krishna’s flute. The music of Krishna’s flute is deeply moving. It has a magical impact on the heart of the devotee. The melodious music of the flute brings about extreme happiness and joy to the devotee. The devotee says that the music of flute is like nectar. Her heart longs for this. To drink this nectar-like music of the flute, she is ready to follow Lord Krishna anywhere.

Question-Answer (Essay Type)

Q.1. The poem is full of references to Hind mythology. Discuss
Ans.: ‘The flute player of Brindaban’ written by Sarojini Naidu is a beautiful love lyric full of references to Hindu mythology. The theme of the poem is taken from Hindu mythology where the devotee is a soul that seeks complete union with the divine. The speaker of the poem is the poetess herself. She is a devotee of Lord Krishna. Her love for Krishna is of a spiritual kind. She seeks spiritual union with her lover, Lord Krishna.

Lord Krishna is also a famous figure. He is a part of Hindu mythology. This poem tells us about Lord Krishna, a flute player of Brindaban. The music of his flute is deeply moving. Its impact on the heart of listeners is magical. The devotee poetess is highly influenced by the sweet music of Lord Krishna’s flute. The melodious music of the flute brings about extreme happiness and joy to the poetess. For her, this music is like nectar. She wants to drink the nectar the in form of the music of Lord’s flute. In order to listen to the music of Krishna’s flute, she is prepared to follow him wherever he goes. She is prepared to sacrifice all earthly joy for his sake. She is prepared to face any kind of danger in order to follow him. She says that no danger of depth and of height can stop her from following him. She says that she will follow the call of flute and go wherever it leads her. She says that she cannot live without the music of the flute. All this is a reference to the Krishna-Gopi love which is a part of Hindu mythology. She is like Mirabai, who like her, was a poetess and lover of Krishna. This poem contains some other references also to Hindu Mythology. There is a reference o Lord Indra. According to Hindu Mythology, he is a lord of rain. This poem also tells us about Lord Yama, God but God of death. Thus, we can say that the poem is replete with references to Hindu Mythology.

Q.2. Describe the note of mysticism in the poem.
Ans.: ‘The flute player of Brindaban’ is a mystic poem. As we go through the poem we feel that a sense of mysticism pervades the entire poem. The Poetess is a true devotee of Lord Krishna. She is madly in love with him. Her love for Lord Krishna is of a spiritual kind. She seeks spiritual union with her divine lover. The spiritual love itself contains a touch of mysticism in it. The Poetess is highly impressed by the sweet music of Lord Krishna’s flute. In order to listen to it, she is prepared to follow him anywhere. She says that music of the flute fills her heart with extreme joy and happiness. Now she cannot live without this music. She says that she will follow Lord Krishna wherever he goes in order to listen to his flute’s music. She says that she has abandoned everything for the sake of her love for the music of the Lord’s flute. She has forsaken all earthly relationships and joys of this world. Now she wants to follow only the call of Krishna’s flute and go wherever this music leads her. In order to listen to it, she is prepared to visit to the grove of Lord Indra. She is also prepared to visit court of Yama, the Lord of death. She says that she will go wherever she hears the sweet music of Lord Krishna’s flute. She says that she cannot help following Lord Krishna. She further says that no danger of height or depth can stop her. She will follow him to those dangerous places where time is unconquered and light has not reached. She says that all these dangers cannot terrify her heart that is dying to listen to the flute. She says that the music of the flute is like nectar to her. So, she wants to drink this nectar like music of Krishna’s flute. The music of the flute is the call of the infinite to which every soul is attracted. Thus we can say that a sense of mysticism pervades the entire poem.