Bhṛṅgadūtam () (2004), literally The bumblebee messenger, is a Sanskrit minor poem (Khaṇḍakāvya) of the Dūtakāvya (messenger-poem) genre composed by Jagadguru Rambhadracharya (1950–). The poem consists of 501 verses in the Mandākrāntā metre divided in two parts. Set in the context of the Kiṣkindhākāṇḍa of Rāmāyaṇa, the poem describes the message sent via a bumblebee by Rāma, spending the four months of the rainy season on the Pravarṣaṇa mountain in Kiṣkindhā, to Sītā, held captive by Rāvaṇa in Laṅkā. A copy of the poem, with the Guñjana Hindi commentary by the poet himself, was published by the Jagadguru Rambhadracharya Handicapped University, Chitrakuta, Uttar Pradesh. The book was released on 30 August 2004. Narrative Like Meghadūtam of Kālidāsa, Bhṛṅgadūtam is divided in two parts. The first part is titled Pūrvabhṛṅgaḥ (literally, the earlier journey of the bumblebee) and consists of 251 verses. The second path is titled Uttarabhṛṅgaḥ (meaning the later journey of the bumblebee) and is composed of 250 verses. The actual message from Rāma is contained in 174 verses (2.71–2.245) of the Uttarabhṛṅgaḥ. Part I: Pūrvabhṛṅgaḥ One day while residing on the Pravarṣaṇa mountain with Lakṣmaṇa, Rāma comes to a lake to perform the morning Sandhyā. After the ritual, Rāma chooses a bumblebee (Bhṛṅga), a manifestation of his mind, as his messenger (Dūta) to Sītā. Rāma asks the bumblebee to have a pilgrimage of the pure land of Bhārata, before embarking on his journey to Laṅkā, saying the pilgrimage of this holy land absolves one of all sins. He asks the bumblebee to first visit Mithilā, to take some dust for Sītā from her birthplace. After seeing all the vividly described people and places of Mithilā related to the events in the Bālakāṇḍa of Rāmāyaṇa, the bumblebee is instructed to see all the rivers, hermitages and forests en route to Ayodhyā, which are described in detail by the poet. In 75 verses, various places and people of Ayodhyā are described, and the bumblebee is asked to bow to each one of them. Then after seeing Bharata and Śatrughna performing penance with their wives in Nandigrāma, the bumblebee is asked to fly over the route of Rāma's journey to Citrakūṭa as described in the Ayodhyākāṇḍa – the Śṛṅgaverapura kingdom of Guha; the confluence of the rivers Gaṅgā, Yamunā and Sarasvatī at Prayāgarāja; and finally Citrakūṭa are described in detail. The Pūrvabhṛṅgaḥ ends with the bumblebee asked to depart southwards from