Question: I wish to clarify my previous question regarding Krsna’s flute (Digest 796). I meant was there a pastime between Krsna and the flute that explains how the flute became what I understand as His main instrument (or it appears so). While He may play other instruments, the flute is the only one we commonly see in His hands, and it is spoken about when we read the scriptures of its effect on inhabitants of the spiritual world (the gopis, including Srimati Radharani, the animals, on all the living entities, etc.).
Answer by Romapada Swami: There are three kinds of flutes used by Kṛṣṇa. One is called veṇu, one is called muralī, and the third is called vaṁśī.
Below is a summarization from HH Maha Vishnu Goswami’s class which addresses your question on why Krsna selected the flute as His favorite instrument. His explanation is one way to consider the reason behind His choice.
Krishna’s flute is the root of everything. Flute is very important to Him. He is never without it. Sound vibration is His impersonal manifestation. His sound vibration is concentrated in the flute. From the sound coming from His playing on the flute, the whole of the manifestation has come into being.
The construction of the flute is very interesting. It requires no machinery and at the same time, it is very simple to use. It is just a simple hollow bamboo with a few holes. Those holes are the seven notes. The transcendental vibration doesn’t require the help of any external source. The sound comes just by the manipulation of the different holes and the blowing of the air through the flute. And the sound is so pleasing that whenever we hear the sound of flute we like to stand and hear it for a while.
Why did Krishna not choose Harmonium or Thumba? Why should He choose the flute of all the instruments? Because the flute is the simplest instrument. Bamboo grows everywhere and making the flute is the easiest. You have to just cut a piece of bamboo stick and make seven holes in it to make the flute.
