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In Hindu Literature: Sweet

An early love of the king, fearing his disaffection, is heard to sing, — "How often hither did'st thou rove, Sweet bee, to kiss the mango's cheek Oh! leave not then thy early love, The lily's honeyed lip to seek."

The mango "this tree the favorite of Love and the darling of the bees" - is a favorite of the poet as well, and "red mango buds" blush from nearly every page, while one seldom finds the mango without finding at the same time its companion and lover, the bee. The mango and the lotus vie with each other in the favor of the Hindu poet, and the bees linger lovingly about both of them. As the result of a curse, Dushyanta forgets his wife Sakoontalá after he has married her and when she appears before him he exclaims: - "What charms are here revealed before mine eyes!

Truly no blemish mars the symmetry Of that fair form; yet can I ne'er believe She is my wedded wife; and like a bee In Hindu Literature That circles round the flower whose nectared cup Teems with the dew of morning, I must pause Ere eagerly I taste the proffered sweetness."

The king warns the bee that hovers about the lips of Šakoontalá's picture: - "Dost thou presume to disobey? Now hear me - An thou but touch the lips of my beloved, Sweet as the opening blossom, whence I quaffed In happier days love's nectar, I will place thee Within the hollow of yon lotus cup, And there imprison thee for thy presumption."

Kālidāsa's "The Birth of the War God," is also rich in exquisite love songs, and through the whole is intertwined the song and the flight of the bee.

The poet describes the love that Umá's father bears to her. She was to him what the mango blossom was to the bee. He loved her above all things, just as - "When spring-tide bids a thousand flowerets bloom, Loading the breezes with their rich perfume, Though here and there the wandering bee may rest, He loves his own - his darling mango - best."