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Part One
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<h1 class="menu-title">Nectar of Devotion - Part II</h1>
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<h1><a class="header" href="#part-three" id="part-three">Part Three</a></h1>
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Transcendental Mellow
In this second division of Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu the author offers his respectful obeisances unto "Sanātana." This Sanātana can be interpreted as either Śrī Kṛṣṇa Himself or as Sanātana Gosvāmī, the elder brother and spiritual master of Rūpa Gosvāmī.
In the case where Sanātana is accepted to mean Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the obeisances are offered to Kṛṣṇa because He is naturally so beautiful and because He is the killer of the demon Agha.
If it is interpreted to mean Sanātana Gosvāmī, then it is because he is so greatly favored by Rūpa Gosvāmī, being always served by him, and because he is the annihilator of all kinds of sinful activities.
In this division of Bhaktirasāmṛta-sindhu the author wants to describe the general symptoms of the transcendental mellow (loving mood) of discharging devotional service.
In this division of Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu there are five general topics: 1) vibhāva-special symptoms of ecstasy, 2) anubhāva-subsequent ecstasy, 3) sāttvika-bhāva-constitutional ecstasy, 4) vyabhicārī-bhāva-aggressive ecstasy and 5) sthāyi- bhāva-fervent ecstasy.
The word rasa, used in the Bhakti- rasāmṛta-sindhu, is understood by different persons differently because the exact English equivalent is very difficult to find.
But as we have seen our spiritual master translate this word rasa into "mellow," we shall follow in his footsteps and also translate the word in that way.
The particular loving mood or attitude relished in the exchange of love with the Supreme Personality of Godhead is called rasa, or mellow.
The different types of rasa, when combined together, help one to taste the mellow of devotional service in the highest degree of transcendental ecstasy.
Such a position, although entirely transcendental to our experience, will be explained in this section as far as possible, following in the footsteps of Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī.
Without relishing some sort of mellow or loving mood in one's activities, no one can continue to perform such activities.
Similarly, in the transcendental life of Kṛṣṇa consciousness and devotional service there must be some mellow or specific taste from the service.
Generally this mellow is experienced by chanting, hearing, worshiping in the temple and being engaged in the service of the Lord.
So when a person feels transcendental bliss, that is called "relishing the mellow." To be more clear, we may understand that the various feelings of happiness derived from discharging devotional service may be termed the "mellows" of devotional service.
This relishing of transcendental mellow in discharging devotional service cannot be experienced by all classes of men because this sweet loving mood is developed only from one's previous life's activities, or by the association of unalloyed devotees.
As explained above, association with pure devotees is the beginning of faith in devotional service.
Only by developing such faith in the association of a pure devotee, or by having in one's previous life executed devotional activities, can one actually relish the mellow of devotional service.
In other words, this transcendental bliss is not to be enjoyed by any common man unless he is so extraordinarily fortunate as to be in association with devotees or to be continuing his previous birth's devotional activities.
The gradual process of development to the stage of devotional service is explained in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, First Canto: "The beginning is to hear about Lord Kṛṣṇa in the association of devotees who have themselves cleansed their hearts by association.
Hearing about the transcendental activities of the Lord will result in one's feeling transcendental bliss always." It is also explained in the Bhagavad-gītā that for one who has actually come to the spiritual platform, the first symptom visible will be that he is always joyful.
This joyous life is attained by one's reaction to reading the Bhagavad-gītā or Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, or else from associating with persons who are very interested in the spiritual life of Kṛṣṇa consciousnessspecifically those who have made the determination to achieve the favor of Govinda by being engaged in transcendental loving service at His lotus feet.
Being encouraged by such a feeling, one who is constantly engaged in discharging the regulative principles of devotional service in such a way as to please the Supreme Personality of Godhead develops two principles of compelling force, which come under the heading of vibhāva.
Thus one enjoys transcendental bliss.
There are several origins or causes for this compulsive love of Kṛṣṇa, such as Kṛṣṇa Himself, the devotees of Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa's playing on the flute, etc.
The effect is sometimes loving and sometimes stunted.
There are eight transcendental symptoms found in the body during ecstasy, and all of them are possible only by a mixture of the abovementioned five ecstatic divisions.
Without some mixture of these five ecstatic principles, one cannot relish transcendental bliss.
The cause or basis for relishing transcendental mellow is exactly what we mean by vibhāva.
This vibhāva is divided into two-namely, basic and impetuous.
In the Agni Purāṇa the description of vibhāva is given as follows: "The basis from which ecstatic love is born is called vibhāva, which is divided into two-basic and impetuous." In other words, there are two kinds of ecstatic love.
The object of basic ecstatic love is Kṛṣṇa and His devotee.
Lord Kṛṣṇa is the object of basic ecstatic love, and His pure devotee, a reservoir of such love, is the object of impetuous ecstatic love.
Impetuous ecstatic love, then, is that love which develops when one sees an object which reminds him of Kṛṣṇa.
Lord Kṛṣṇa, who is the possessor of inconceivable potencies and qualities of transcendental knowledge and bliss, is the basic cause of ecstatic love.
Lord Kṛṣṇa also becomes the reservoir (impetus) of ecstatic love by His different incarnations and expansions.
In the Śrīmad- Bhāgavatam there is a statement in connection with the brahma-vimohana- līlā, which demonstrates something of this impetuous feature of ecstatic love.
When Brahmā was deluded by Kṛṣṇa, who expanded Himself into so many cowherd boys, calves and cows, Kṛṣṇa's elder brother, Śrī Baladeva (a direct expansion of Kṛṣṇa Himself), felt astonishment and said, "How wonderful it is that My ecstatic love for Kṛṣṇa is again being attracted to so many cowherd boys, calves and cows!" He was struck with wonder by thinking in this way.
This is one of the examples in which Kṛṣṇa Himself becomes the object and reservoir of ecstatic love in the impetuous aspect.
Qualities of Śrī Kṛṣṇa
Personal features can be divided into two: one feature is covered, and the other feature is manifested.
When Kṛṣṇa is covered by different kinds of dress, His personal feature is covered.
There is an example of His covered personal feature in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam in connection with His Dvārakā līlā (His residence in Dvārakā as its king).
Sometimes Lord Kṛṣṇa began to play by dressing Himself like a woman.
Seeing this form, Uddhava said, "How wonderful it is that this woman is attracting my ecstatic love exactly as Lord Kṛṣṇa does.
I think she must be Kṛṣṇa covered by the dress of a woman!" One devotee praised the bodily features of Kṛṣṇa when he saw the Lord in His manifested personal feature.
He exclaimed, "How wonderful is the personal feature of Lord Kṛṣṇa! How His neck is just like a conchshell! His eyes are so beautiful, as though they themselves are encountering the beauty of a lotus flower.
His body is just like the tāmala tree, very blackish.
His head is protected with a canopy of hair.
There are the marks of śrīvatsa on His chest, and He is holding His conchshell.
By such beautiful bodily features, the enemy of the demon Madhu has appeared so pleasing that He can bestow upon me transcendental bliss simply by my seeing His transcendental qualities." Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī, after consulting various scriptures, has enumerated the transcendental qualities of the Lord as follows: 1) beautiful features of the entire body; 2) marked with all auspicious characteristics; 3) extremely pleasing; 4) effulgent; 5) strong; 6) ever-youthful; 7) a wonderful linguist; 8) truthful; 9) talks pleasingly; 10) can speak fluently in all languages; 11) highly learned; 12) highly intelligent; 13) a genius; 14) artistic; 15) extremely clever; 16) expert; 17) grateful; 18) firmly determined; 19) an expert judge of time and circumstances; 20) sees and speaks on the authority of Vedas, or scriptures; 21) pure; 22) self-controlled; 23) steadfast; 24) forbearing; 25) forgiving; 26) grave; 27) self-satisfied; 28) possesses equilibrium; 29) magnanimous; 30) religious; 31) heroic; 32) compassionate; 33) respectful; 34) gentle; 35) liberal; 36) shy; 37) the protector of surrendered souls; 38) happy; 39) the well-wisher of devotees; 40) controlled by love; 41) all-auspicious; 42) most powerful; 43) allfamous; 44) popular; 45) partial to devotees; 46) very attractive to all women; 47) all-worshipable; 48) all-opulent; 49) all-honorable; 50) the supreme controller.
The Supreme Personality of Godhead has all these fifty transcendental qualities in fullness as deep as the ocean.
In other words, the extent of His qualities is inconceivable.
As parts and parcels of the Supreme Lord, the individual living entities can also possess all of these qualities in minute quantities, provided they become pure devotees of the Lord.
In other words, all of the above transcendental qualities can be present in the devotees in minute quantity, whereas the qualities in fullness are always present in the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
Besides these, there are other transcendental qualities which are described by Lord Śiva to Pārvatī in the Padma Purāṇa, and in the First Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, in connection with a conversation between the demigod of the earth and the King of religion, Yamarāj.
It is said therein: "Persons who are desirous of becoming great personalities must be decorated with the following qualities: truthfulness, cleanliness, mercy, perseverance, renunciation, peacefulness, simplicity, control of the senses, equilibrium of the mind, austerity, equality, forbearance, placidity, learning, knowledge, opulence, chivalry, influence, strength, memory, independence, tactfulness, luster, patience, ability to talk, gravity, steadiness, faithfulness, fame, respectfulness and lack of false egotism." Persons who are desiring to become great souls cannot be without any of the above qualities, so we can know for certain that these qualities are found in Lord Kṛṣṇa, the supreme soul.
Besides all of the above-mentioned fifty qualities, Lord Kṛṣṇa possesses five more, which are sometimes partially manifested in the persons of Lord Brahmā or Lord Śiva.
These transcendental qualities are as follows: 51) changeless; 52) all-cognizant; 53) ever fresh; 54) sac-cid- ānanda (possessing an eternal blissful body); 55) possessing all mystic perfection.
Kṛṣṇa also possesses five other qualities, which are manifest in the body of Nārāyaṇa, and they are listed as follows: 56) He has inconceivable potency.
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Uncountable universes generate from His body.
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He is the original source of all incarnations.
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He is the giver of salvation to the enemies whom He kills.
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He is the attractor of liberated souls.
All these transcendental qualities are manifest wonderfully in the personal feature of Lord Kṛṣṇa.
Besides these sixty transcendental qualities, Kṛṣṇa has four more, which are not manifest even in the Nārāyaṇa form of Godhead, not to speak of the demigods or living entities.
They are as follows: 61) He is the performer of wonderful varieties of pastimes (especially His childhood pastimes).
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He can attract all living entities all over the universes by playing on His flute.
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He is surrounded by devotees endowed with wonderful love of Godhead.
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He has a wonderful excellence of beauty which cannot be rivalled anywhere in the creation.
Adding to the list these four exceptional qualities of Kṛṣṇa, it is to be understood that the aggregate number of qualities of Kṛṣṇa is sixty-four.
Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī has attempted to give evidences from various scriptures about all sixty-four qualities present in the person of the Supreme Lord.
1.Beautiful Bodily Features Any comparison of the different parts of the Lord's body to different material objects cannot factually be a complete comparison.
Ordinary persons, who cannot understand how exalted are the bodily features of the Lord, are simply given a chance to understand by a material comparison.
It is said that Kṛṣṇa's face is as beautiful as the moon, His thighs are powerful, just like the trunks of elephants, His arms are just like two pillars, His palms are expanded like lotus flowers, His chest is just like a doorway, His hips are dens, and the middle of His body is a terrace.
2.Auspicious Characteristics There are certain characteristics of different limbs which are considered to be very auspicious and are fully present in the body of the Lord.
In this connection, one friend of Nanda Mahārāj, speaking about Lord Kṛṣṇa's auspicious bodily symptoms, said, "My dear King of the cowherds, I can find 32 auspicious symptoms on the body of your son! I am wondering how this boy could have taken His birth in a family of cowherd men." Generally, when Lord Kṛṣṇa appears He does so in a family of kṣatriyas (kings), as did Lord Rāmacandra, and sometimes in a family of brāhmaṇas.
But Kṛṣṇa accepted the role of son to Mahārāj Nanda, despite the fact that Nanda belonged to the vaiśya community.
The business of the vaiśya community is trade, commerce and the protection of cows.
Therefore his friend, who may have been born into a brāhmaṇa family, expressed his wonder at how such an exalted child could take birth in a family of vaiśyas.
Anyway, he pointed out the auspicious signs on the body of Kṛṣṇa to the boy's foster father.
He continued: "This boy has a reddish luster in seven places-His eyes, the ends of His hands, the ends of His legs, His palate, His lips, His tongue and His nails.
A reddish luster in these seven places is considered to be auspicious.
Three parts of His body are very broad: His waist, forehead and chest.
Three parts of His body are short: His neck, thighs and genitals.
Three parts of His body are very deep: His voice, intelligence and navel.
There is highness in five parts of His body: His nose, arms, ears, forehead and thighs.
In five parts of His body there is fineness-His skin, the hairs on His head and on the other parts of His body, His teeth and His fingertips.
The aggregate of all these bodily features are manifest only in the bodies of great personalities." The fate lines on the palm are also considered to be auspicious bodily symptoms.
In this connection, one old gopī informed King Nanda: "Your son possesses various wonderful fate lines on His palms.
There are the signs of lotus flowers and wheels on His palms, and on His soles there are the signs of a flag, thunderbolt, fish, rod for controlling elephants, and a lotus flower.
Please observe how auspicious these signs are!" 3.Pleasing Beautiful bodily features which automatically attract the eyes are called rucira (pleasing).
Kṛṣṇa possesses this attractive feature of rucira in His personal features.
In the Third Canto, 2nd Chapter, 13th verse, of ŚrīmadBhāgavatam there is a statement about this.
"The Supreme Personality of Godhead, in His pleasing dress, appeared at the scene of the sacrificial arena when King Yudhiṣṭhira was performing the rāja-sūya sacrifice.
All important personalities from different parts of the universe had been invited to the sacrificial arena, and all of them, upon beholding Kṛṣṇa there, considered that the Creator had ended all of His craftsmanship in the creation of this particular body of Kṛṣṇa." It is said that the transcendental body of Kṛṣṇa resembles the lotus flower in eight parts-namely, His face, His two eyes, His two hands, His navel and His two feet.
The gopīs and inhabitants of Vṛndāvana used to see the luster of lotus flowers everywhere, and they could hardly withdraw their eyes from such a vision.
4.Effulgent The effulgence pervading the universe is considered to be the rays of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
The supreme abode of Kṛṣṇa is always throwing off the effulgence known as brahma-jyoti, and that effulgence is emanating from His body.
The luster of the hosts of jewels fixed on the chest of the Lord can defeat even the luster of the sun, and still, when compared with the bodily luster of the Lord, that crest of jewels appears to be only as bright as one of the stars in the sky.
Therefore the transcendental influence of Kṛṣṇa is so great that it can defeat anyone.
When Kṛṣṇa was present in the sacrificial arena of His enemy King Kaṁsa, the wrestlers present, although appreciating the softness of the body of Śrī Kṛṣṇa, were nevertheless afraid and perturbed when they thought of engaging with Him in battle.
5.Strong A person who has extraordinary bodily strength is called balīyān.
When Kṛṣṇa killed Ariṣṭāsura, some of the gopīs said, "My dear friends, just see how Kṛṣṇa has killed Ariṣṭāsura! Although be was stronger than a mountain, Kṛṣṇa plucked him up just like a piece of cotton and threw him away without any difficulty!" There is another passage wherein it is said: "O my dear devotees of Lord Kṛṣṇa, may the left hand of Lord Kṛṣṇa, which has lifted Govardhana Hill like a ball, save you from all dangers." 6.Ever-youthful Kṛṣṇa is beautiful at His different ages-namely, His childhood, His boyhood and His youth.
Out of these three, His youth is the reservoir of all pleasures and is the time when the highest varieties of devotional service are acceptable.
At that age, Kṛṣṇa is full with all transcendental qualities and is engaged in His transcendental pastimes.
Therefore, devotees have accepted the beginning of His youth as the most attractive feature in ecstatic love.
At this age Kṛṣṇa is described as follows: "The force of Kṛṣṇa's youth was combined with His beautiful smile, which defeated even the beauty of the full moon.
He was always nicely dressed, in beauty surpassing even Cupid, and He was always attracting the minds of the gopīs, who were thereby always feeling pleasure." 7.Wonderful Linguist Rūpa Gosvāmī says that a person who knows the languages of different countries, especially the Sanskrit language, which is spoken in the cities of the demigods-as well as other worldly languages, including those of the animals-is called a wonderful linguist.
It appears from this statement that Kṛṣṇa can also speak and understand the languages of the animals.
An old woman in Vṛndāvana, present at the time of Kṛṣṇa's pastimes, once stated in surprise: "How wonderful it is that Kṛṣṇa, who owns the hearts of all the young girls of Brajabhūmi, can nicely speak the language of Brajabhūmi with the gopīs, while in Sanskrit He speaks with the demigods, and in the language of the animals He can even speak with the cows and buffalo! Similarly, in the language of the Kashmere Province, and with the parrots and other birds, as well as in most common languages, Kṛṣṇa is so expressive!" She inquired from the gopīs as to how Kṛṣṇa had become so expert in speaking so many different types of languages.
8.Truthful A person whose word of honor is never broken is called truthful.
Kṛṣṇa once promised Kuntī, the mother of the Pāṇḍavas, that He would bring her five sons back from the battlefield of Kurukṣetra.
After the battle was finished, when all the Pāṇḍavas had come home, Kuntī praised Kṛṣṇa because His promise was so nicely fulfilled.
She said, "Even the sunshine may one day become cool and the moonshine may one day become hot, but still Your promise will not fail.
Similarly, when Kṛṣṇa, along with Bhīma and Arjuna, went to challenge Jarāsandha, He plainly told Jarāsandha that He was the eternal Kṛṣṇa, present along with two of the Pāṇḍavas.
The story is that both Kṛṣṇa and the Pāṇḍavas-in this case Bhīma and Arjuna-were kṣatriyas (warrior-kings).
Jarāsandha was also a kṣatriya and was very charitable toward the brāhmaṇas.
Thus Kṛṣṇa, who had planned to fight with Jarāsandha, went to him with Bhīma and Arjuna in the dress of brāhmaṇas.
Jarāsandha, being very charitable toward the brāhmaṇas, asked them what they wanted, and they expressed their desire to fight with him.
Then Kṛṣṇa, dressed as a brāhmaṇa, declared Himself to be the same Kṛṣṇa who was the King's eternal enemy.
9.Pleasing Talker A person who can speak sweetly even with his enemy just to pacify him is called a pleasing talker.
Kṛṣṇa was such a pleasing talker that after defeating His enemy, Kāliya, in the water of Yamunā, He said: "My dear King of the snakes, although I have given you so much pain, please do not be dissatisfied with Me.
It is My duty to protect these cows, which are worshiped even by the demigods.
Only in order to save them from the danger of your presence have I been obliged to banish you from this place." Kāliya was residing within the water of the Yamunā, and as a result the back portion of that river had become poisoned.
Thus so many cows who had drunk the water had died.
Therefore Kṛṣṇa, even though He was only four or five years old, dipped Himself into the water, punished Kāliya very severely and then asked him to leave the place and go elsewhere.
Kṛṣṇa said at that time that the cows are worshiped even by the demigods, and He practically demonstrated how to protect the cows.
At least people who are in Kṛṣṇa consciousness should follow in His footsteps and give all protection to the cows.
Cows are worshiped not only by the demigods.
Kṛṣṇa Himself worshiped the cows on several occasions, especially on the days of Gopāṣṭamī and Govardhana Pūjā.
10.Fluent in All Languages A person who can speak meaningful words and with all politeness and good qualities is called vāvadūka, or fluent.
There is a nice statement in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam regarding Kṛṣṇa's speaking politely.
When Kṛṣṇa politely bade His father, Nanda Mahārāj, to stop the ritualistic offering of sacrifice to the raingod, Indra, a wife of one village cowherd man became captivated.
She later thus described the speaking of Kṛṣṇa to her friends: "Kṛṣṇa was speaking to His father so politely and gently that it was as if He were pouring nectar into the ears of all present there.
After hearing such sweet words from Kṛṣṇa, who will not be attracted to Him?" Kṛṣṇa's speech, which contains all good qualities in the universe, is described in the following statement by Uddhava: "The words of Kṛṣṇa are so attractive that they can immediately change the heart of even His opponent.
His words can immediately solve all of the questions and problems of the world.
Although He does not speak very long, each and every word from His mouth contains volumes of meaning.
These speeches of Kṛṣṇa are very pleasing to my heart." 11.Highly Learned When a person is highly educated and acts strictly on moral principles, he is called highly learned.
A person conversant in different departments of knowledge is called educated, and because he acts on moral principles, he is called morally stout.
Together, these two factors constitute learning.
Kṛṣṇa's receiving education from Sāndīpani Muni is described by Śrī Nārada Muni as follows: "In the beginning, Lord Brahmā and others are as clouds of evaporated water from the great ocean of Kṛṣṇa.
In other words, Brahmā first received the Vedic education from Kṛṣṇa, as the clouds receive water from the ocean.
That Vedic education or instruction which was spoken by Brahmā to the world was then reposed upon the mountain of Sāndīpani Muni.
Sāndīpani Muni's instructions to Kṛṣṇa are like a reservoir of water on the mountain, which flows as a river and goes again to mix with the source, the ocean of Kṛṣṇa." To be more clear, the idea is that Kṛṣṇa actually cannot be instructed by anyone, just as the ocean does not receive water from any source but itself.
It only appears that the rivers are pouring water into the ocean.
So it is clear that Brahmā received his education from Kṛṣṇa, and from Brahmā, via the disciplic succession, this Vedic instruction was distributed.
Sāndīpani Muni is likened to the river which is flowing down again to that same original ocean of Kṛṣṇa.
The Siddhas, the inhabitants of Siddha-loka (where all are born with fully developed mystic powers), and the Cāraṇas, the inhabitants of a similar planet, pray to Kṛṣṇa as follows: "My Lord Govinda, the goddess of learning, who is decorated with fourteen kinds of educational ornaments, whose intelligence is all-pervading within the four departments of the Vedas, whose attention is always on the lawbooks given by great sages like Manu, and who is appareled in six kinds of expert knowledge-namely Vedic evidence, grammar, astrology, rhetoric, vocabulary, and logic, and whose constant friends are the supplements of the Vedas and Purāṇas, decorated with the final conclusion of all education-has now acquired an opportunity to sit with You as a class friend in school, and she is now engaged in Your service." Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, does not require any education, but He gives a chance to the goddess of learning to serve Him.
Being self-sufficient, Kṛṣṇa does not require the service of any living entity, although He has many devotees.
It is because Kṛṣṇa is so kind and merciful that He gives the opportunity to everyone to serve Him, as though He required the service of His devotees.
Regarding His moral principles, it is stated in the Śrīmad- Bhāgavatam that Kṛṣṇa is ruling over Vṛndāvana as death personified to the thieves, as pleasing bliss to the pious, as the most beautiful Cupid to the young girls and as the most munificent personality to the poor men.
He is as refreshing as the full moon to His friends, and to His opponents He is the annihilating fire generated from Lord Śiva.
Kṛṣṇa is therefore the most perfect moralist in His reciprocal dealings with different kinds of persons.
When He is death personified to the thieves, it is not that He is without moral principles or that He is cruel; He is still kind, because to punish thieves with death is to exhibit the highest quality of moral principles.
In the Bhagavad-gītā, also, Kṛṣṇa says that He deals with different kinds of persons according to their dealings with Him.
Kṛṣṇa's dealings with devotees and with nondevotees, although different, are both equally good.
Because Kṛṣṇa is all good, His dealings with everyone are always good.
12.Highly Intelligent A man is called intelligent if he has a sharp memory and fine discretion.
As far as Kṛṣṇa's memory is concerned, it is said that when He was studying in the school of Sāndīpani Muni in Avantīpura, He showed such a sharp memory that by once taking instructions from the teacher He immediately became perfect in any subject.
Actually, His going to the school of Sāndīpani Muni was to show the people of the world that however great or ingenious one may be, he must go to higher authorities for general education.
However great one may be, he must accept a teacher or spiritual master.
Kṛṣṇa's fine discretion was exhibited when He was fighting with the untouchable king who attacked the city of Mathurā.
According to Vedic rites, those who are untouchable are not to be touched by the kṣatriya kings, not even for killing.
Therefore, when the untouchable king seized the city of Mathurā, Kṛṣṇa did not think it wise to kill him directly with His own hand.
Still the king had to be killed, and therefore Kṛṣṇa decided with fine discretion that He should flee from the battlefield so that the untouchable king would chase Him.
He could then lead the king to the mountain where Mucukunda was lying asleep.
Mucukunda had received a benediction from Lord Śiva to the effect that when he awoke from his sleep, whomever he might see would at once be burnt to ashes.
Therefore Kṛṣṇa thought it wise to lead the untouchable king to that cave so that the king's presence would awaken Mucukunda, and he would at once be burnt to ashes.
13.Genius A person is called a genius when he can refute any kind of opposing element with newer and newer arguments.
In this connection there is a statement in Padyāvalī which contains the following conversation between Kṛṣṇa and Rādhā: One morning, when Kṛṣṇa came to Rādhā, Rādhā asked Him, "My dear Keśava, where is Your vāsa at present?" The Sanskrit word vāsa has three meanings: one meaning is residence, one meaning is fragrance, and another meaning is dress.
Actually Rādhārāṇī inquired from Kṛṣṇa, "Where is Your dress?" But Kṛṣṇa took the meaning as residence, and He replied to Rādhārāṇī, "My dear captivated one, at the present moment My residence is in Your beautiful eyes." To this Rādhārāṇī replied, "My dear cunning boy, I did not ask You about Your residence.
I inquired about Your dress." Kṛṣṇa then took the meaning of vāsa as fragrance and said, "My dear fortunate one, I have just assumed this fragrance in order to be associated with Your body." Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī again inquired from Kṛṣṇa, "Where did You pass Your night?" The exact Sanskrit word used in this connection was yāminyāmuṣitaḥ.
Yāminyām means at night, and uṣitaḥ means pass.
Kṛṣṇa, however, divided the word yāminyāmuṣitaḥ into two separate words, namely yāminyā and muṣitaḥ.
By dividing this word into two, it came out to mean that He was kidnapped by Yāminī, or night.
Kṛṣṇa therefore replied to Rādhārāṇī, "My dear Rādhārāṇī, is it possible that night can kidnap Me?" In this way He was answering all of the questions of Rādhārāṇī so cunningly that He gladdened this dearest of the gopīs.
14.Artistic One who can talk and dress himself very artistically is called vidagdha.
This exemplary characteristic was visible in the personality of Śrī Kṛṣṇa.
It is spoken of by Rādhārāṇī as follows: "My dear friend, just see how Kṛṣṇa has nicely composed songs and how He dances and speaks funny words and plays on His flute, wearing such nice garlands.
He has dressed Himself in such an enchanting way, as though He has defeated all kinds of players at the chessboard.
He lives wonderfully at the topmost height of artistic craftsmanship." 15.Clever A person who can perform various types of work at once is called clever.
In this connection one of the gopīs said: "My dear friends, just see the clever activities of Śrī Kṛṣṇa! He has composed nice songs about the cowherd boys and is pleasing the cows.
By the movement of His eyes He is pleasing the gopīs, and at the same time, He is fighting with demons like Ariṣṭāsura and others.
In this way, He is sitting with different living entities in different ways, and He is thoroughly enjoying the situation." 16.Expert Any person who can quickly execute a very difficult task is called expert.
About the expertise of Kṛṣṇa there is a statement in the Tenth Canto, 59th Chapter, 13th verse, of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, wherein Śukadeva Gosvāmī tells Mahārāj Parīkṣit: "O best of the Kurus, Śrī Kṛṣṇa cut into pieces all the different weapons used by different fighters." Formerly, fighting was done by releasing different kinds of arrows.
One party would release a certain arrow, and the other party had to defeat it by counteracting it with another arrow.
For example, one party might release an arrow which would cause water to pour from the sky, and to counteract this, the opposing party would have to release an arrow which could immediately turn the water into clouds.
So from this statement it appears that Kṛṣṇa was very expert in counteracting the enemy's arrows.
Similarly, at the rāsa dance, each and every gopī requested that Kṛṣṇa individually become her partner, and Kṛṣṇa immediately expanded Himself into so many Kṛṣṇas in order to be coupled with each and every gopī.
The result was that each gopī found Kṛṣṇa by her side.
17.Grateful Any person who is conscious of his friend's beneficent activities and never forgets his service is called grateful.
In the Mahābhārata, Kṛṣṇa says, "When I was away from Draupadī, she cried with the words, 'Hey, Govinda!' This call for Me has put Me in her debt, and that indebtedness is gradually increasing in My heart!" This statement by Kṛṣṇa gives evidence of how one can please the Supreme Lord simply by addressing Him: "Hey, Kṛṣṇa! Hey, Govinda!" The mahā-mantra (Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare) is also simply an address to the Lord and His energy.
So to anyone who is constantly engaged in addressing the Lord and His energy, we can imagine how much the Supreme Lord is obliged.
It is impossible for the Lord to ever forget such a devotee.
It is clearly stated in this verse that anyone who addresses the Lord immediately attracts the attention of the Lord, who always remains obliged to him.
Another instance of Kṛṣṇa's feeling of obligation is stated in connection with His dealings with Jāmbavān.
When the Lord was present as Lord Rāmacandra, Jāmbavān, the great king of the monkeys, rendered very faithful service to Him.
When the Lord again appeared as Lord Kṛṣṇa, He married Jāmbavān's daughter and paid him all the respect that is usually given to superiors.
Any honest person is obliged to his friend if some service has been rendered unto Him.
Since Kṛṣṇa is the supreme honest personality, how can He forget an obligation to His servitor? 18.Determined Any person who observes regulative principles and fulfills his promises by practical activity is called determined.
As far as the Lord's determination is concerned, there is an example in His dealings in the Harivaṁśa.
This is in connection with Lord Kṛṣṇa's fighting the King of heaven, Indra, who was forcibly deprived of the pārijāta flower.
Pārijāta is a kind of lotus flower grown on the heavenly planets.
Once, Satyabhāmā, one of Kṛṣṇa's queens, wanted that lotus flower, and Kṛṣṇa promised to deliver it; but Indra refused to part with his pārijāta flower.
Therefore there was a great fight, with Kṛṣṇa and the Pāṇḍavas on one side and all of the demigods on the other.
Ultimately, Kṛṣṇa defeated all of them and took the pārijāta flower, which He presented to His queen.
So, in regard to that occurrence, Kṛṣṇa told Nārada Muni, "My dear great sage of the demigods, now you can declare to the devotees in general, and to the nondevotees in particular, that in this matter of taking the pārijāta flower, all the demigods-the Gandharvas, the Nāgas, the demon Rākṣasas, the Yakṣas, the Pannagas-tried to defeat Me, but none could make Me break My promise to My queen." There is another promise by Kṛṣṇa in the Bhagavad-gītā to the effect that His devotee will never be vanquished.
So a sincere devotee who is always engaged in the transcendental loving service of the Lord should know for certain that Kṛṣṇa will never break His promise.
He will always protect His devotees in every circumstance.
Kṛṣṇa showed how He fulfills His promise by delivering the pārijāta flower to Satyabhāmā, by saving Draupadī from being insulted and by freeing Arjuna from the attacks of all enemies.
The promise of Kṛṣṇa that His devotees are never vanquished had also previously been admitted by Indra when he was defeated in the Govardhana-līlā.
When Kṛṣṇa stopped the villagers of Braja (Vṛndāvana) from worshiping Indra, Indra became angry and therefore inundated Vṛndāvana with continual rain.
Kṛṣṇa, however, protected all of the citizens and animals of Vṛndāvana by lifting Govardhan Hill, which served as an umbrella.
After the incident was over, Indra surrendered to Kṛṣṇa with many prayers, in which he admitted, "By Your lifting Govardhan Hill and protecting the citizens of Vṛndāvana, You have kept Your promise that Your devotees are never to be vanquished." 19.Expert Judge of Time and Circumstances Kṛṣṇa was very expert in dealing with people according to circumstances, country, time and paraphernalia.
How He could take advantage of a particular time, circumstance and person is expressed by Him while talking to Uddhava about His rāsa dance with the gopīs.
He says: "The most opportune time is the full moon night in autumn, like tonight.
The best place within the universe is Vṛndāvana, and the most beautiful girls are the gopīs.
So, My dear friend Uddhava, I think I should now take advantage of all these circumstances and engage Myself in the rāsa dance." 20.Seer by the Authority of the Scriptures A person who acts exactly according to the tenets of scripture is called śāstra-cakṣus.
Śāstra-cakṣus means one who sees through the eyes of the authorized scriptures.
Actually, any man of knowledge and experience should see everything through these books.
For example, with our naked eye we perceive the sun globe simply as some glaring substance, but when we see through authorized books of science and other literature, we can understand how much greater the sun globe is than this earth and how powerful it is.
So seeing things through the naked eye is not actually seeing.
Seeing things through the authorized books or authorized teachers is the correct way to see.
So, although Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Personality of Godhead and can see all that is past, present and future, to teach the people in general He used to always refer to the scriptures.
For example, in the Bhagavad-gītā, although Kṛṣṇa was speaking as the supreme authority, He still mentioned and quoted Vedānta-sūtra as authority.
There is a statement in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam wherein a person jokingly says that Kṛṣṇa, the enemy of Kaṁsa, is known as the seer through the śāstras.
In order to establish His authority, however, He is now engaged in seeing the gopīs, whereby the gopīs are becoming maddened.
21.Pure There are two kinds of supreme purity.
When one type is possessed, one is able to deliver a sinful person.
When the other type is possessed, one does not do anything which is impure.
A person who possesses either of these qualities is called supremely pure.
Kṛṣṇa is both; He can deliver all sinful conditioned souls, and at the same time, He never does anything by which He can be contaminated.
In this connection, Vidura, while trying to detach his elder brother, Dhṛtarāṣṭra, from his familial attachments, said, "My dear brother, you just fix your mind on the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa, who is worshiped with beautiful erudite verses by great sages and saintly persons.
Kṛṣṇa is the supreme deliverer amongst all other deliverers.
Undoubtedly there are great demigods like Lord Śiva and Lord Brahmā, but their positions as deliverers depend always upon the mercy of Kṛṣṇa." Therefore Vidura advised his elder brother Dhṛtarāṣṭra to concentrate his mind and worship only Kṛṣṇa.
If one simply chants the holy name of Kṛṣṇa, this holy name will rise within one's heart like the powerful sun and will immediately dissipate all the darkness of ignorance.
Vidura advised Dhṛtarāṣṭra to therefore think always of Kṛṣṇa so that the volumes of contaminations due to sinful activities would be washed off immediately.
In the Bhagavad-gītā also Kṛṣṇa is addressed by Arjuna as paraṁ brahma paraṁ dhāma pavitram-the supreme pure.
There are many other instances exhibiting Kṛṣṇa's supreme purity.
22.Self-controlled A person who can control his senses fully is called vaśī, or self-controlled.
In this connection it is stated in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam: "All the 16,000 wives of Kṛṣṇa were so exquisitely beautiful that their smiling and shyness were able to captivate the minds of great demigods like Lord Śiva.
But still they could not even agitate the mind of Kṛṣṇa, in spite of their attractive feminine behavior." Every one of the thousands of wives of Kṛṣṇa was thinking that Kṛṣṇa was captivated by her feminine beauty, but this was not the case.
Kṛṣṇa is therefore the supreme controller of the senses, and this is admitted in the Bhagavad-gītā, where He is addressed as Hṛṣīkeśa-the master of the senses.
23.Steadfast A person who continues to work until his desired goal is achieved is called steadfast.
There was a fight between Kṛṣṇa and King Syamantaka, and Kṛṣṇa was to take a valuable jewel from the King.
The King tried to hide himself in the forest, but Kṛṣṇa would not become discouraged.
Kṛṣṇa finally got the jewel by seeking out the King with great steadfastness.
24.Forbearing A person who tolerates all kinds of troubles, even though such troubles appear to be unbearable, is called forbearing.
When Kṛṣṇa was residing at the place of His spiritual master, He did not mind taking all troubles in rendering service to His guru, although His body was very soft and delicate.
It is the duty of the disciple to execute all services unto the spiritual master, despite all kinds of difficulties.
The disciple living at the residence of the spiritual master has to go begging from door to door and bring everything back to the spiritual master.
When prasādam is being served, the spiritual master is supposed to call each and every disciple to come eat.
If by chance the spiritual master forgets to call a disciple to partake of the prasādam, it is enjoined in the scriptures that the student should fast on that day rather than accept food on his own initiative.
There are many such strictures.
Sometimes, also, Kṛṣṇa went to the forest to collect dry wood for fuel.
25.Forgiving A person who can tolerate all kinds of offenses from the opposite party is known to be forgiving.
Lord Kṛṣṇa's forgiving quality is described in the Mahābhārata in connection with His forbidding the killing of Śiśupāla.
King Śiśupāla was the monarch of the Cedi Kingdom, and although he happened to be a cousin of Kṛṣṇa's, he was always envious of Him.
Whenever they would meet, Śiśupāla would try to insult Kṛṣṇa and call Him ill names as much as possible.
In the arena of the rāja-sūya sacrifice of Mahārāj Yushiṣṭhira, when Śiśupāla began to call Lord Kṛṣṇa ill names, Kṛṣṇa did not care and remained silent.
Some of the people at the arena were prepared to kill Śiśupāla, but Kṛṣṇa restricted them.
He was so forgiving.
It is said that when there is a thundering sound in the clouds, the mighty lion immediately replies with his thundering roar.
But the lion doesn't care when all the foolish jackals begin to make their less important sounds.
Śrī Yāmunācārya praises Kṛṣṇa's power of forgiveness with the following statement: "My dear Lord Rāmacandra, You are so merciful to have excused the crow's clawing on the nipples of Jānakī simply because of his bowing down before You." Once Indra, the King of heaven, assumed the form of a crow and attacked Sītā (Jānakī), Lord Rāmacandra's wife, by striking her on the breast.
This was certainly an insult to the universal mother, Sītā, and Lord Rāmacandra was immediately prepared to kill the crow.
But because later on the crow bowed down before the Lord, He excused his offense.
Śrī Yāmunācārya further says in his prayer that the forgiving power of Lord Kṛṣṇa is even greater than that of Lord Rāmacandra, because Śiśupāla was always in the habit of insulting Kṛṣṇa-not only in one lifetime, but continually throughout three lives.
Still, Kṛṣṇa was so kind that He gave Śiśupāla the salvation of merging into His existence.
From this we can understand that the goal of the monist to merge into the effulgence of the supreme is not a very difficult problem.
Persons like Śiśupāla who are consistently inimical to Kṛṣṇa can also get this liberation.
26.Grave A person who does not express his mind to everyone, or whose mental activity and plan of action are very difficult to understand, is called grave.
After Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa had been offended by Brahmā, Brahmā prayed to Him to be excused.
But in spite of his offering nice prayers to Kṛṣṇa, Brahmā could not understand whether Kṛṣṇa was satisfied or still dissatisfied.
In other words, Kṛṣṇa was so grave that He did not take the prayers of Brahmā very seriously.
Another instance of Kṛṣṇa's gravity is found in connection with His love affairs with Rādhārāṇī.
Kṛṣṇa was always very silent about His love affairs with Rādhārāṇī, so much so that Baladeva, Kṛṣṇa's elder brother and constant companion, could not understand the transformations of Kṛṣṇa on account of His gravity.
27.Self-satisfied A person who is fully satisfied in himself, without any hankering, and who is not agitated even in the presence of serious cause for distress, is called self-satisfied.
An example of Kṛṣṇa's self-satisfaction was exhibited when He, Arjuna and Bhīma went to challenge Jarāsandha, the formidable king of Magadha, and Kṛṣṇa gave all credit to Bhīma for the killing of Jarāsandha.
From this we can understand that Kṛṣṇa never cares at all for fame, although no one can be more famous.
An example of His not being disturbed was shown when Śiśupāla began to call Him ill names.
All the kings and brāhmaṇas assembled at the sacrificial arena of Mahārāj Yudhiṣṭhira became perturbed and immediately wanted to satisfy Kṛṣṇa by offering nice prayers.
But all these kings and brāhmaṇas could not discover any disturbance in Kṛṣṇa's person.
28.Possessing Equilibrium A person who is unaffected by attachment and envy is said to possess equilibrium.
An example of Kṛṣṇa's equilibrium is given in the Tenth Canto, 16th Chapter, 29th verse, of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam in connection with His chastising Kāliya, the hundred-headed serpent.
While Kāliya was being severely punished, all of his wives appeared before the Lord and prayed as follows: "My dear Lord, You have descended to punish all kinds of demoniac living creatures.
Our husband, this Kāliya, is a greatly sinful creature, and so Your punishment for him is quite appropriate.
We know that Your punishment for Your enemies and Your dealings with Your sons are both the same.
We know that it is in thinking of the future welfare of this condemned creature that You have chastised him." In another prayer it is said, "My dear Lord Kṛṣṇa, best of all the Kuru dynasty, You are so impartial that if even Your enemy is qualified, You will reward him; and if one of Your sons is a culprit, You will chastise him.
This is Your business, because You are the supreme author of universes.
You have no partiality.
If anyone finds any partiality in Your characteristics, he is surely mistaken." 29.Magnanimous Any person who is very charitably disposed is called magnanimous.
When Kṛṣṇa was reigning over Dvārakā, He was so magnanimous and charitably disposed that there was no limit to His charity.
In fact, so great was His charity in Dvārakā that even the spiritual kingdom, with all of its opulence of cintāmaṇi (touchstone), desire trees and surabhi cows, was surpassed.
In the spiritual kingdom of Lord Kṛṣṇa, named Goloka Vṛndāvana, there are surabhi cows which give unlimited quantities of milk.
There are desire trees from which anyone can take all kinds of fruits, as much as he may desire.
The land is made of touchstone, which when touched to iron will transform it into gold.
In other words, although in the spiritual kingdom, the abode of Kṛṣṇa, everything is wonderfully opulent, still when Kṛṣṇa was in Dvārakā His charity exceeded the opulences of Goloka Vṛndāvana.
Wherever Kṛṣṇa is present, the limitless opulence of Goloka Vṛndāvana is automatically present.
It is also stated that while Lord Kṛṣṇa was living in Dvārakā, He expanded Himself into 16,108 forms, and each and every expansion resided in a palace with a queen.
Not only was Kṛṣṇa happily living with His queens in those palaces, but He was giving in charity from each palace an aggregate number of 13,054 cows completely decorated with nice clothing and ornaments.
From each of Kṛṣṇa's 16,108 palaces, these cows were given daily.
This means that 13,054 multiplied by 16,108 cows were being given in charity by Kṛṣṇa every day.
No one can estimate the value of such a large number of cows given in charity, but that was the system of Kṛṣṇa's daily affairs while He was reigning in Dvārakā.
30.Religious A person who personally practices the tenets of religion as they are enjoined in the śāstras and who also teaches others the same principles is called religious.
Simply professing a kind of faith is not a sign of religiousness.
One must act according to religious principles, and by his personal example he should teach others.
Such a person is to be understood as religious.
When Kṛṣṇa was present on this planet, there was no irreligion.
In this connection, Nārada Muni once addressed Kṛṣṇa jokingly: "My dear Lord of the cowherd boys, Your bulls [bulls are the representation of religion], while eating grass from the pasturing ground and moving on their four legs, have certainly eaten up all the grass of irreligion!" In other words, by the grace of Kṛṣṇa, religious principles were so well cared for that hardly any irreligious activities could be found.
It is said that because Kṛṣṇa was constantly performing various types of sacrifices and was inviting the demigods from the higher planetary systems, the demigods were almost always absent from their consorts.
Therefore the wives of the demigods, regretting the absence of their husbands, began to pray for the appearance of Lord Buddha, the ninth incarnation of Kṛṣṇa in the age of Kali.
In other words, instead of being pleased that Lord Kṛṣṇa had come, they began to pray for Lord Buddha, who is the ninth incarnation, because Lord Buddha stopped the ritualistic ceremonies and sacrifices recommended in the Vedas in order to discourage animal killing.
The demigods' wives thought that if Lord Buddha appeared, all kinds of sacrifices would be stopped, and thus their husbands would not be invited to such ceremonies and thus would not be separated from them.
Sometimes it is inquired, "Why don't the demigods from higher planetary systems come to this earth planet nowadays?" The plain answer is that since Lord Buddha appeared and began to deprecate the performance of sacrifice in order to stop animal killing on this planet, the process of offering sacrifices has been stopped, and the demigods do not care to come here anymore.
Qualities of Kṛṣṇa Further Explained
31.Heroic A person who is very enthusiastic in military activities and expert in releasing different kinds of weapons is called heroic.
Regarding Kṛṣṇa's heroism in fighting, there is the following statement: "My dear killer of the enemy, just as the elephant while taking bath in the lake destroys all the lotus stems within the water by swinging its trunk, so simply by moving Your arms, which are compared to the trunks of elephants, You have killed so many lotus-like enemies." Regarding Kṛṣṇa's expertise in releasing weapons, when Jarāsandha and thirteen divisions of soldiers, attacked Kṛṣṇa's army, they were unable to hurt even one soldier on the side of Kṛṣṇa.
This was due to Kṛṣṇa's expert military training.
This is unique in the history of military art.
32.Compassionate A person who is unable to bear another's distress is called compassionate.
Kṛṣṇa's compassion for distressed persons was exhibited when He released all of the kings imprisoned by Magadhendra.
While dying, Grandfather Bhīṣma prayed to Kṛṣṇa and described Him as the sun which eradicated darkness.
The kings who were imprisoned by Magadhendra were put into dark cells, and when Kṛṣṇa appeared there, the darkness immediately disappeared, just as if the sun had risen.
In other words, although Magadhendra was able to imprison so many kings, upon the appearance of Kṛṣṇa they were all released.
Kṛṣṇa did this out of His sincere compassion for them.
Kṛṣṇa's compassion was also exhibited when Grandfather Bhīṣma was lying on the bed of arrows which had been shot through his body.
While lying in this position, Bhīṣma was very anxious to see Kṛṣṇa, and thus Kṛṣṇa appeared there.
Upon seeing the pitiable condition of Bhīṣma, Kṛṣṇa began speaking with tears in His eyes.
Not only was He shedding tears, but He also forgot Himself in His compassion.
Therefore, instead of offering obeisances to Kṛṣṇa directly, devotees offer obeisances to His compassionate nature.
Actually, because Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, it is very difficult to approach Him.
But the devotees, taking advantage of His compassionate nature, which is represented by Rādhārāṇī, always pray to Rādhārāṇī for Kṛṣṇa's compassion.
33.Respectful A person who shows adequate respect to a spiritual master, a brāhmaṇa and an old person is to be understood as being respectful.
When superior persons assembled before Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa first of all offered respect to His spiritual master, then to His father and then to His elder brother, Balarāma.
In this way Lord Kṛṣṇa, the lotus-eyed, was completely happy and pure at heart in all of His dealings.
34.Gentle Any person who neither becomes impudent nor exhibits a puffed-up nature is called gentle.
The example of Kṛṣṇa's gentle behavior was manifested when He was coming to the arena of the rāja-sūya sacrifice arranged by Mahārāj Yudhiṣṭhira, Kṛṣṇa's older cousin.
Mahārāj Yudhiṣṭhira knew that Kṛṣṇa was the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and he was attempting to get down from his chariot to receive Kṛṣṇa.
But before Yudhiṣṭhira could get down, Lord Kṛṣṇa got down from His own chariot and immediately fell at the feet of the King.
Even though Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, He never forgets to show social etiquette in His dealings.
35.Liberal Any person who is by his natural behavior very mild is called liberal.
A statement by Uddhava after the Syamantaka jewel plundering confirms that Kṛṣṇa is so kind and favorable that if a servitor is accused even of great offenses, Kṛṣṇa does not take this into consideration.
He simply considers the service that is rendered by His devotee.
36.Shy A person who sometimes exhibits humility and bashfulness is called shy.
As described in the Lalita-mādhava, Kṛṣṇa's shyness was manifested when He lifted Govardhan Hill by the little finger of His left hand.
All of the gopīs were observing Kṛṣṇa's wonderful achievement, and Kṛṣṇa was also smiling at seeing the gopīs.
When Kṛṣṇa's glance went over the breasts of the gopīs, His hand began to shake, and upon seeing His hand shake, all of the cowherd men underneath the hill became a little disturbed.
Then there was a tumultuous roaring sound, and they all began to pray to Kṛṣṇa for safety.
At this time Lord Balarāma was smiling, thinking that these cowherd men had been frightened by the shaking of Govardhan Hill.
But, seeing Balarāma smile, Kṛṣṇa thought that Balarāma had understood His mind in observing the breasts of the gopīs, and He immediately became bashful.
37.Protector of Surrendered Souls Kṛṣṇa is the protector of all surrendered souls.
Some enemy of Kṛṣṇa's was enlivened with the thought that he needn't fear Kṛṣṇa because if he simply surrendered unto Him, Kṛṣṇa would give him all protection.
Kṛṣṇa is sometimes compared with the moon, which does not hesitate to distribute its soothing rays, even on the houses of the caṇḍālas and untouchables.
38.Happy Any person who is always joyful and untouched by any distress is called happy.
As far as Kṛṣṇa's enjoyment is concerned, it is stated that the ornaments which decorated the bodies of Kṛṣṇa and His queens were beyond the dreams of Kubera, the treasurer of the heavenly kingdom.
The constant dancing before the doors of Kṛṣṇa's palaces was not to be imagined even by the demigods in the heavenly kingdom.
In the heavenly kingdom, Indra always sees the dancing of the society girls.
But even Indra could not imagine how beautiful were the dances being performed at the gates of Kṛṣṇa's palaces.
Gaurī means white woman, and Lord Śiva's wife is called Gaurī.
The beautiful women residing within the palaces of Kṛṣṇa were so much whiter than Gaurī that they were compared to the moonshine, and they were constantly visible to Kṛṣṇa.
Therefore, no one can be enjoying more than Kṛṣṇa.
The conception of enjoyment is beautiful women, ornaments and riches.
And all of these things were fabulously present in the palaces of Kṛṣṇa, defeating even the imagination of Kubera, Lord Indra or Lord Śiva.
Not even a slight distress can touch Kṛṣṇa.
Once some of the gopīs went to the place where the brāhmaṇas were performing sacrifices and said, "My Dear wives of the brāhmaṇas, you must know that not even a slight smell of distress can touch Kṛṣṇa.
He knows no loss, He knows no defamation, He has no fear, He has no anxiety, and He does not know calamity.
He is simply encircled by the dancers of Braja and is enjoying their company in the rāsa dance." 39.Well-wisher of His Devotees It is said of Kṛṣṇa's devotees that if they offer even a little water or a tulasī leaf in devotion to Lord Viṣṇu, Lord Viṣṇu is so kind that He will sell Himself to them.
Kṛṣṇa's favoritism towards His devotees was exhibited in His fight with Bhīṣma.
When Grandfather Bhīṣma was lying at the point of death on the bed of arrows, Kṛṣṇa was present before him, and Bhīṣma was remembering how Kṛṣṇa had been kind to him on the battlefield.
Kṛṣṇa had promised that in the Battle of Kurukṣetra He would not even touch a weapon to help either side; He would remain neutral.
Although Kṛṣṇa was Arjuna's charioteer, He had promised that He would not help Arjuna by using any weapons.
But one day Bhīṣma, in order to nullify Kṛṣṇa's promise, exhibited his fighting spirit so magnificently against Arjuna that Kṛṣṇa was obliged to get down from His chariot.
Taking up a broken chariot wheel, He ran toward Grandfather Bhīṣma as a lion runs toward an elephant to kill it.
Grandfather Bhīṣma remembered this scene, and He later praised Kṛṣṇa for His glorious favoritism towards His devotee, Arjuna, even at the risk of breaking His own promise.
40.Controlled by Love Kṛṣṇa becomes obliged to the loving spirit of the devotee and not exactly to the service rendered.
No one can serve Kṛṣṇa completely.
He is so complete and self-sufficient that He has no need of any service from the devotee.
It is the devotee's attitude of love and affection for Kṛṣṇa that makes Him obliged.
A very nice example of this obligatory behavior was manifested when Sudāmā Vipra went to Kṛṣṇa's palace.
Sudāmā Vipra had been a class friend of Kṛṣṇa's, and due to his poverty he was induced by his wife to see Kṛṣṇa to request some aid.
When Sudāmā Vipra reached Kṛṣṇa's palace, Kṛṣṇa received him very well, and both He and His wife washed the feet of Sudāmā Vipra, showing respect to the brāhmaṇa.
Remembering His loving affairs with Sudāmā in their childhood, Kṛṣṇa began to shed tears while receiving him.
Another instance of Kṛṣṇa's obligation to His devotee is described in the Tenth Canto, 9th Chapter, 14th verse, of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, where Śukadeva Gosvāmī tells King Parīkṣit: "My dear King, when Mother Yaśodā was perspiring, tired of trying to bind Kṛṣṇa up with rope, Kṛṣṇa agreed to allow her to bind Him." Kṛṣṇa, as a child, was disturbing His mother by His naughty activities, and she wanted to bind Him up.
Mother Yaśodā brought some rope from the house and tried to tie up the child, but she could not tie a knot due to the shortness of the rope.
She tied together many ropes, but when she finished still the rope was too short.
After a while she felt very tired and began to perspire.
At that time Kṛṣṇa agreed to be bound up by His mother.
In other words, no one can bind Kṛṣṇa by any means other than love.
He is bound only by obligation to His devotees, because of their ecstatic love for Him.
41.All-auspicious A person who is always engaged in auspicious welfare activities for everyone is known as all-auspicious.
After the disappearance of Lord Kṛṣṇa from this planet, Uddhava began to remember the activities of the Lord and said, "Kṛṣṇa satisfied all great sages by His wonderful pastimes.
He demolished all of the demoniac activities of the cruel royal order, protected all pious men, and killed all cruel fighters on the battlefield.
Therefore He is all-auspicious for all men." 42.Most Powerful A person who can always put his enemy into calamities is called powerful.
When Kṛṣṇa was present on this planet, just as the powerful sun drives all darkness to take shelter in caves, He drove away all of His enemies, who fled like owls to take shelter beyond His sight.
43.All-famous A person who becomes well-known due to his spotless character is called famous.
It is stated that the diffusion of Kṛṣṇa's fame is like the moonshine which turns darkness into light.
In other words, if Kṛṣṇa consciousness is preached all over the world, the darkness of ignorance and the anxiety of material existence will turn into the whiteness of purity, peacefulness and prosperity.
When the great sage Nārada was chanting the glories of the Lord, the bluish line on the neck of Lord Śiva disappeared.
Upon seeing this, Gaurī, the wife of Lord Śiva, suspected Lord Śiva of being someone else disguised as her husband, and out of fear she immediately left his company.
Upon hearing the chanting of Kṛṣṇa's name, Lord Balarāma saw that His dress had become white, although He was generally accustomed to a bluish dress.
And the cowherd girls saw all of the water of the Yamunā River turn into milk, so they began to churn it into butter.
In other words, by the spreading of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, or the glories of Kṛṣṇa, everything became white and pure.
44.Popular Any person who is very dear to people in general is called a popular man.
As for Kṛṣṇa's popularity, there is a statement in the First Canto, 11th Chapter, 8th verse, of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam that deals with His returning home from the capital of Hastināpur.
While He had been absent from Dvārakā at the Battle of Kurukṣetra, all the citizens of Dvārakā had become morose.
Then, when He returned, the citizens joyfully received Him and said, "My dear Lord, while You were absent from the city, we passed our days in the darkness of night.
As in the darkness of night every moment appears to be a long duration of time, so while You were gone every moment appeared to us like millions of years.
Your separation is completely unbearable to us." This statement shows how popular Kṛṣṇa was all over the country.
A similar incident occurred when Kṛṣṇa entered the arena of sacrifice, arranged by King Kaṁsa for His death.
As soon as He entered the place, all the sages began to cry, "Jai! Jai! Jai!" (which means "Victory!").
Kṛṣṇa was a boy at that time, and all the sages offered their respectful blessings to Him.
The demigods who were present also began to offer beautiful prayers to Kṛṣṇa.
And the ladies and girls present expressed their joy from all corners of the arena.
In other words, there was no one in that particular place with whom Kṛṣṇa was not very popular.
45.Partiality to Devotees Although Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Personality of Godhead and is therefore not partial to anyone, it is stated in the Bhagavad-gītā that He has special attraction for a devotee who worships His name in love and affection.
When Kṛṣṇa was on this planet, one devotee expressed his feeling in this way: "My dear Lord, if You had not appeared on this planet, then the asuras [demons] and atheists would have surely created havoc against the activities of the devotees.
I cannot imagine the magnitude of such devastation prevented by Your presence." From the very beginning of His appearance, Kṛṣṇa was the greatest enemy of all demoniac persons, although Kṛṣṇa's enmity toward the demons is actually comparable to His friendship with the devotees.
This is because any demon who is killed by Kṛṣṇa receives immediate salvation.
46.Very Attractive to All Women Any person who has special qualifications becomes immediately very attractive to women.
A devotee made the following statement about the queens of Dvārakā: "How shall I describe the glories of the queens of Dvārakā who were personally engaged in the service of the Lord? The Lord is so great that simply by chanting His name all the great sages like Nārada can enjoy transcendental bliss.
So what can be said about those queens who were at every moment seeing the Lord and serving Him personally?" Kṛṣṇa had 16,108 wives in Dvārakā, and each and every one of them was attracted to Kṛṣṇa just as iron is attracted by a magnet.
There is a statement by a devotee: "My dear Lord, You are just like a magnet, and all the damsels of Braja are just like iron: in whichever direction You are moving they are following You as iron is attracted by magnetic force." 47.All-worshipable A person who is respected and worshiped by all kinds of human beings and demigods is called sarvārādhya, or all-worshipable.
Kṛṣṇa is worshiped not only by all living entities, including the great demigods like Lord Śiva and Lord Brahmā, but also by Viṣṇu expansions (forms of Godhead) such as Baladeva and Śeṣa.
Baladeva is a direct expansion of Kṛṣṇa, but He still accepts Kṛṣṇa as worshipable.
When Kṛṣṇa appeared in the arena of the rāja-sūya sacrifice organized by Mahārāj Yudhiṣṭhira, to all present, including great sages and demigods, Kṛṣṇa became the cynosure, the center of attraction, and everyone offered Him their respects.
48.All-opulent Kṛṣṇa is full in all opulences-namely, strength, wealth, fame, beauty, knowledge, and renunciation.
When Kṛṣṇa was present in Dvārakā, His family, which is known as the Yadu dynasty, consisted of 560 million members.
And all of these family members were very obedient and faithful to Kṛṣṇa.
There were more than 900,000 big palatial buildings there to house all the people, and everyone in them respected Kṛṣṇa as the most worshipable.
Devotees were astonished to see the opulence of Kṛṣṇa.
This was verified by Bilvamaṅgala Thākur when in Kṛṣṇa- karṇāmṛta he addressed Kṛṣṇa thus: "My dear Lord, what can I say about the opulence of Your Vṛndāvana? Simply the ornaments on the legs of the damsels of Vṛndāvana are more than cintāmaṇi, and their dresses are as good as the heavenly pārijāta flowers.
And the cows exactly resemble the surabhi cows in the transcendental abode.
Therefore Your opulence is just like an ocean that no one can measure." 49.All-honorable A person who is chief among all important persons is called all honorable.
When Kṛṣṇa was living at Dvārakā, demigods like Lord Śiva, Lord Brahmā, Indra the King of heaven and many others used to come to visit Him.
The doorkeeper, who had to manage the entrance of all these demigods, one very busy day said, "My dear Lord Brahmā and Lord Śiva, please sit down on this bench and wait.
My dear Indra, please desist from reading your prayers.
This is creating a disturbance.
Please wait silently.
My dear Varuṇa, please go away.
And my dear demigods, do not waste your time uselessly.
Kṛṣṇa is very busy; He cannot see you!" 50.Supreme Controller There are two kinds of controllers, or lords: one who is independent is called controller, and one whose orders cannot be neglected by anyone is called controller.
Regarding Kṛṣṇa's complete independence and lordship, ŚrīmadBhāgavatam says that although Kāliya was a great offender, Kṛṣṇa still favored him by marking his head with His lotus feet, whereas Lord Brahmā, although having prayed to Kṛṣṇa with so many wonderful verses, still could not attract Him.
This contradictory treatment by Kṛṣṇa is just befitting His position, because in all the Vedic literature He is described as the complete independent.
In the beginning of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam the Lord is described as svarāṭ, which means completely independent.
That is the position of the supreme absolute truth.
The absolute truth is not only sentient, but He is also completely independent.
As for Kṛṣṇa's orders not being neglected by anyone, in ŚrīmadBhāgavatam, Third Canto, 2nd Chapter, 21st verse, Uddhava tells Vidura: "Lord Kṛṣṇa is the master of the three modes of material nature.
He is the enjoyer of all opulences, and therefore there is no one equal to or greater than Him." All the great kings and emperors used to come before Him, offer their gifts and pay obeisances with their helmets at the feet of the Lord.
One devotee said, "My dear Kṛṣṇa, when You order Brahmā-'Now you may create the universe,'-and when You order Lord Śiva-'Now you dissolve this material manifestation,'- You are in this way creating and dissolving the material creation Yourself.
Simply by Your orders and by Your partial representation as Viṣṇu, You are maintaining the universes.
In this way, O Kṛṣṇa, O enemy of Kaṁsa, there are so many Brahmās and Śivas who are simply carrying out Your orders." 51.Changeless Kṛṣṇa does not change His constitutional position, not even when He appears in this material world.
Ordinary living entities have their constitutional spiritual positions covered.
They appear in different bodies, and under the different bodily concepts of life they act.
But Kṛṣṇa does not change His body.
He appears in His own body and is therefore not affected by the modes of material nature.
In the First Canto, 11th Chapter, 24th verse, of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam it is stated that the special prerogative of the supreme controller is that He is not at all affected by the modes of nature.
The practical example of this is that devotees who are under the protection of the Lord are also not affected by material nature.
To overcome the influence of material nature is very difficult, but the devotees or the saintly persons who are under the protection of the Lord are not affected.
So what need is there to speak of the Lord Himself? To be more clear, although the Lord sometimes appears in this material world, He has nothing to do with the modes of material nature, and He acts with full independence in His transcendental position.
This is the special quality of the Lord.
52.All-cognizant Any person who can understand the feelings of all persons and incidents in all places at all times is called all-cognizant.
A nice example of the all-cognizant quality of the Lord is described in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, First Canto, 15th Chapter, 11th verse, in connection with Durvāsā Muni's visit to the house of the Pāṇḍavas in the forest.
Following a calculated plan, Duryodhana sent Durvāsā Muni and his ten thousand disciples to be guests of the Pāṇḍavas in the forest.
Duryodhana arranged for Durvāsā and his men to reach the place of the Pāṇḍavas just when the Pāṇḍavas' lunchtime was ended, so that the Pāṇḍavas would be caught without sufficient means to feed such a large number of guests.
Knowing Duryodhana's plan, Kṛṣṇa came to the Pāṇḍavas and asked their wife Draupadī if there were any remnants of food which she could offer to Him.
Draupadī offered Him a container in which there was only a little fragment of some vegetable preparation, and Kṛṣṇa at once ate it.
At that moment all of the sages accompanying Durvāsā were taking bath in the river, and when Kṛṣṇa felt satisfaction from eating Draupadī's offering, they also felt satisfaction, and their hunger was gone.
Because Durvāsā and his men were unable to eat anything more, they went away without coming into the house of the Pāṇḍavas.
In this way the Pāṇḍavas were saved from the wrath of Durvāsā.
Duryodhana had sent them because he knew that the Pāṇḍavas would not be able to receive such a large number, and thus Durvāsā would become angry, and the Pāṇḍavas would be cursed.
But Kṛṣṇa saved them from this calamity by His trick and by His all-cognizant quality.
53.Ever-fresh Kṛṣṇa is always remembered, and His name is always chanted by millions of devotees, but the devotees never become saturated.
Instead of becoming disinterested in thinking of Kṛṣṇa and in chanting His holy name, the devotees get newer and newer impetus to continue the process.
Therefore Kṛṣṇa is ever-fresh.
Not only Kṛṣṇa Himself, but also Kṛṣṇa's knowledge is ever-fresh.
The Bhagavad-gītā, which was imparted 5,000 years ago, is still being read repeatedly by many, many men, and still new light is always being found in it.
Therefore, Kṛṣṇa and His name, fame, qualities-and everything in relationship with Him-is ever-fresh.
All the queens at Dvārakā were goddesses of fortune.
It is said in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, First Canto, 11th Chapter, 29th verse, that the goddesses of fortune are very fickle and restless, so no one can consistently captivate them.
Thus one's luck will always change sometime.
Yet the goddesses of fortune could not leave Kṛṣṇa for even a moment when they were residing with Him at Dvārakā.
This means that Kṛṣṇa's attraction is ever-fresh.
Even the goddesses of fortune cannot leave His company.
Regarding Kṛṣṇa's attractive features being ever-fresh, there is a statement by Rādhārāṇī in the Lalita-mādhava, in which Kṛṣṇa is compared with the greatest sculptor because He is expert in chisling at the chastity of women.
In other words, although chaste women may follow the rules and regulations of Vedic principles to become ever-faithful to their husbands, Kṛṣṇa is able to break their stone-like chastity with the chisel of His beauty.
Most of the girl friends of Kṛṣṇa were married, but because Kṛṣṇa was their friend before their marriages, they could not forget His attractive features, which were always fascinating to them, even after their marriages.
54.Sac-cid-ānanda-vigraha This means that Kṛṣṇa's transcendental body is eternal, full of knowledge and bliss.
Sat means ever-existing for all time and in all places; in other words, all-pervading in time and space.
Cit means full of knowledge.
Kṛṣṇa has nothing to learn from anyone.
He is independently full of all knowledge.
Ānanda means the reservoir of all pleasure.
The impersonalists are seeking to merge into the Brahman effulgence of eternity and knowledge, but the major portion of the absolute pleasure which is in Kṛṣṇa is avoided by them.
One can enjoy the transcendental blissfulness of merging into the Brahman effulgence after being freed from the contamination of material illusion, false identification, attachment, detachment and material absorption.
These are the preliminary qualifications of a person who can realize Brahman.
It is stated in the Bhagavad-gītā that one has to become full of joyfulness; this is not exactly joyfulness, but a sense of freedom from all anxieties.
Freedom from all anxieties may be the first principle of joyfulness, but it is not actual joyfulness.
Those who realize the self, or become brahma-bhūta, are only preparing themselves for the platform of joyfulness.
That joyfulness can be actually achieved only when one comes into contact with Kṛṣṇa.
Kṛṣṇa consciousness is so complete that it includes the transcendental pleasure derived from impersonal or Brahman realization.
Even the impersonalist will become attracted to the personal form of Kṛṣṇa, known as Śyāmasundara.
It is confirmed by the statement of Brahma-saṁhitā that the Brahman effulgence is the bodily ray of Kṛṣṇa; the Brahman effulgence is simply an exhibition of the energy of Kṛṣṇa.
Kṛṣṇa is the source of the Brahman effulgence, as He Himself confirms in the Bhagavad-gītā.
From this we can conclude that the impersonal feature of the absolute truth is not the ultimate end; Kṛṣṇa is the ultimate end of the absolute truth.
The Vaiṣṇava schools therefore never try to merge into the Brahman effulgence in their pursuit of spiritual perfection.
They accept Kṛṣṇa as the ultimate goal of self-realization.
Therefore Kṛṣṇa is called parambrahman (the Supreme Brahman) or parameśvara (the supreme controller).
Śrī Yāmunācārya has prayed as follows: "My dear Lord, I know that the gigantic universe and gigantic space and time within the universe are covered by the ten layers of the material elements, each layer ten times larger than the previous one.
The three material modes of nature, the Garbhodakaśāyī Viṣṇu, the Kṣīrodakaśāyī Viṣṇu, and the Mahā-Viṣṇu, and beyond them the spiritual sky and its spiritual planets, known as Vaikuṇṭhas, and the Brahman effulgence in that spiritual sky-all of these taken together are nothing but a small exhibition of Your potency." 55.Possessing All Mystic Perfections There are many standards of perfection.
The highest material perfections, obtained by perfect yogīs, are listed as eight: to become the smallest of the small, to become the greatest of the great, etc.
All of these material perfections, as well as all spiritual perfections, can be found fully in Kṛṣṇa's personality.
56.Kṛṣṇa's Inconceivable Potencies Kṛṣṇa is present everywhere, not only within the universe, not only within the hearts of all living entities, but also within every atom.
In the prayers of Queen Kuntī we find mention of this inconceivable potency of Kṛṣṇa.
While Kṛṣṇa was talking with Kuntī, He simultaneously entered the womb of Uttarā, who was in danger due to the atomic weapon of Aśvatthāmā.
Kṛṣṇa can illusion even Lord Brahmā and Lord Śiva, and He can protect all surrendered devotees from the reaction of sinful activities.
These are some of the examples of His inconceivable potencies.
Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī therefore offers his obeisances unto Kṛṣṇa by saying, "Kṛṣṇa, who is present as a human being, has as His mere shadow the whole material nature.
He has expanded Himself into so many cows, calves and cowherd boys, and He has again manifested Himself in all of them as the four-handed Nārāyaṇa.
He has taught millions of Brahmās self-realization, and thus He is worshipable not only by the heads of all universes, but by everyone else also.
Therefore let me always accept Him as the Supreme Personality of Godhead." When Indra was defeated by Kṛṣṇa in the matter of taking the pārijāta plant from heaven, Nārada met Indra and criticized him: "O Indra, great King of heaven, Kṛṣṇa has already defeated Lord Brahmā and Lord Śiva.
So what can be said of an insignificant demigod like you?" Nārada Muni, of course, was criticizing Indra jokingly, and Indra enjoyed it.
In Nārada's statement it is confirmed that Kṛṣṇa was able to illusion even Lord Brahmā and Lord Śiva, as well as Indra.
So there is no question of Kṛṣṇa's power to do the same to lesser living entities.
A description of Kṛṣṇa's power in minimizing the sufferings of sinful reactions is given in Brahma-saṁhitā as follows: "Beginning from the great King of heaven down to the ant, everyone is undergoing the reactions of past deeds.
But a devotee of Kṛṣṇa is relieved from such reactions by the grace of Kṛṣṇa." This was clearly proved when Kṛṣṇa went to the place of Yamarāja, the Lord of death, to reclaim the dead sons of His teacher.
Kṛṣṇa's teacher had requested Kṛṣṇa to bring back his dead sons, and to do so Kṛṣṇa went to the place of Yamarāja to claim those souls, who had been brought there by Yamarāja and were being kept under his control.
Kṛṣṇa immediately ordered Yamarāja, "Be benefited by My order and return those souls unto Me!" The purport of this incident is that even a person who is under the regulative principles of the laws of nature, and is therefore punishable by Yamarāja under these laws, can be granted complete immunity by the grace of Kṛṣṇa.
Kṛṣṇa's inconceivable potencies have been described by Śukadeva Gosvāmī as follows: "Kṛṣṇa is bewildering my intelligence because, although He is unborn, He has appeared as the son of Nanda Mahārāj.
He is all-pervading, but still He is held on the lap of Yaśodā.
In spite of His being all-pervasive, He has become limited by the love of Yaśodā.
Although He has innumerable forms, still He is moving as one Kṛṣṇa before His father and mother, Nanda and Yaśodā.
In the Brahma-saṁhitā also it is said that although Kṛṣṇa is eternally living in Goloka Vṛndāvana, His transcendental abode, He is still present everywhere, even within the atoms.
57.Kṛṣṇa's Body Generates Innumerable Universes In the Tenth Canto, 14th Chapter, 11th verse, of the Śrīmad- Bhāgavatam, Lord Brahmā says, "My dear Lord, false ego, intelligence, mind, sky, air, fire, water and earth are the material ingredients of this universe, which can be compared to a gigantic pot.
In that gigantic pot my body is of insignificant measurement, and even though one of the many universes is created by me, innumerable universes are coming and going from the pores of Your body, just as atomic particles are seen flickering in the sunlight.
I think I am very, very insignificant before You, and I am therefore begging Your pardon.
Please be merciful toward me." If one takes account of only one universe, he will find so many combinations of wonderful things within, because there are innumerable planets, innumerable residences and places of demigods.
The length and breadth of the universe is 400 million miles by 400 million miles, and it is infested with many unfathomable regions known as pātālas, or downward planetary systems.
Although Kṛṣṇa is the origin of all this, He can always be seen in Vṛndāvana, exhibiting His inconceivable potencies.
So who can adequately worship such an all-powerful Lord, possessed of such inconceivable energy? 58.The Original Source of All Incarnations Jayadeva Gosvāmī, in his Gīta-govinda, has sung as follows: "The Lord has saved the Vedas in His form as a fish, and He has borne the whole universe on His back in the form of a tortoise.
He has picked up this earthly planet from the water in the form of a boar.
He has killed Hiraṇyakaśipu in the form of Nṛsiṁha.
He has cheated Mahārāj Bali in the form of Vāmana.
He has annihilated all the dynasties of the kṣatriyas in the form of Paraśurāma.
He has killed all the demons in the form of Lord Rāma.
He has accepted the great plow in the form of Balarāma.
He has annihilated all the atheistic persons in the form of Kalki.
And He has saved all the poor animals in the form of Lord Buddha."* These are some of the descriptions of the incarnations emanating from Kṛṣṇa, and from the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam it is understood that innumerable incarnations are always coming out from the body of Kṛṣṇa, just like waves in the ocean.
No one can even count how many waves there are, and similarly no one can count how many incarnations are coming from the Lord's body.
59.Kṛṣṇa Gives Salvation to the Enemies that He kills Another name for salvation is apavarga.
Apavarga is the opposite of pavarga, or the various miserable conditions of material existence.
Pavarga consists of the combinations of five letters: pa, pha, ba, bha and ma.
These letters are the first letters of the words for five different conditions as described below.
The first letter, pa, comes from the word parābhava, which means "defeat." In this material struggle for existence, we are simply meeting defeat.
Actually, we have to conquer birth, death, disease and old age, and because there is no possibility of overcoming all these miserable conditions, due to the illusion of māyā we are simply meeting with parābhava, or defeat.
The next letter, pha, is taken from the word phenila.
Phenila is the foam which is found on the mouth when one is very tired (as is commonly observed with horses).
The letter ba comes from the word bandha, or bondage.
Bha is taken from the word bhīti, or fearfulness.
Ma is taken from the word mṛti, or death.
So the word pavarga * All of these incranation of godhead are described in the author's Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam Volume I, Chapter 3.
signifies our struggle for existence and our meeting with defeat, exhaustion, bondage, fearfulness and, at last, death.
Apavarga means that which can nullify all of these material conditions.
Kṛṣṇa is said to be the giver of apavarga, the path of liberation.
For the impersonalists and the enemies of Kṛṣṇa, liberation means to merge into the supreme.
The demons and the impersonalists do not care for Kṛṣṇa, but Kṛṣṇa is so kind that He gives this liberation even to His enemies and to the impersonalists.
There is the following statement in this connection: "O Murāri [Kṛṣṇa]! How wonderful it is that although the demons, who were always envious of the demigods, have failed to penetrate Your military phalanx, they have penetrated the region of mitra, the sun globe." The word mitra is used metaphorically.
Mitra means the sun globe, and mitra also means friend.
The demons who opposed Kṛṣṇa as enemies wanted to penetrate His military phalanx; but instead of doing this, they died in battle, and the result was that they penetrated the planet of Mitra, or the sun planet.
In other words, they entered into the Brahman effulgence.
The example of the sun planet is given here because the sun is ever- illuminating, like the spiritual sky, where there are innumerable illuminating Vaikuṇṭha planets.
The enemies of Kṛṣṇa were killed, and instead of penetrating Kṛṣṇa's phalanx, they entered into the friendly atmosphere of the spiritual effulgence.
That is the mercy of Kṛṣṇa, and therefore He is known as the deliverer of His enemies also.
60.The Attractor of Liberated Souls There are many examples of how Kṛṣṇa attracted even great liberated souls like Śukadeva Gosvāmī and the Kumāras.
In this connection the following statement was given by the Kumāras: "How wonderful it is that although we are completely liberated, free from desire and situated at the stage of paramahaṁsa, we are still aspiring to taste the pastimes of Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa." 61.Performer of Wonderful Activities In the Bṛhad-Vāmana Purāṇa, the Lord says, "Although I have many fascinating pastimes, whenever I think of the rāsa-līlā, which I perform with the gopīs, I become eager to have it again." One devotee has said, "I know about Nārāyaṇa, the husband of the goddess of fortune, and I also know about many other incarnations of the Lord.
Certainly all the pastimes of such incarnations are exciting to my mind, but still, the pastimes of the rāsa-līlā performed by Lord Kṛṣṇa Himself are wonderfully increasing my transcendental pleasure." In the Tenth Canto, 31st Chapter, 15th verse, of Śrīmad- Bhāgavatam, the gopīs lament: "My dear Kṛṣṇa, during the daytime when You go out into the forest of Vṛndāvana with Your cows, we consider one moment to be twelve years, and it is very difficult for us to pass the time.
And again when You come back at the end of the day, by seeing Your beautiful face we are so much attracted that we are unable to stop looking upon You constantly.
At these times, when there is occasional blinking of our eyelids, we condemn the creator, Lord Brahmā, as a dunce, because he does not know how to make perfect eyes!" In other words, the gopīs were disturbed by the blinking of their eyes because for the moment that their eyes were closed they could not see Kṛṣṇa.
This means that the gopīs' love for Kṛṣṇa was so great and ecstatic that they were disturbed by even His momentary absence.
And when they saw Kṛṣṇa, they were also disturbed.
This is a paradox.
One gopī, expressing herself to Kṛṣṇa, says: "When we meet You at night, we consider the duration of night to be very small.
And why speak of only this night? Even if we had a night of Brahmā* we would consider it a very short time!" We get an idea of Brahmā's day from the following statement of the Bhagavad-gītā: "By human calculation, a thousand yuga cycles taken together is Brahmā's one day.
And such also is the duration of his night." (Bg.8.17)The gopīs said that even if they could have that duration of night, it would still not be sufficient for their meeting with Kṛṣṇa.
- 64,300,000,000 solar years equals twelve hours or one night of Brahmā.
62.Kṛṣṇa's Attractive Flute In the Tenth Canto, 35th Chapter, 8th verse, of the Śrīmad- Bhāgavatam, the gopīs tell Mother Yaśodā, "When your son plays on His flute, Lord Śiva, Lord Brahmā and Indra-although they are supposed to be the greatest learned scholars and personalities-all become bewildered.
Although they are all very great personalities, by hearing the sound of Kṛṣṇa's flute they humbly bow down and become grave from studying the sound vibrated." In his book Vidagdha-mādhava, Śrī Rūpa Gosvāmī thus describes the vibration of Kṛṣṇa's flute: "The sound vibration created by the flute of Kṛṣṇa wonderfully stopped Lord Śiva from playing his ḍiṇḍima drum, and the same flute has caused great sages like the four Kumāras to become disturbed in their meditation.
It has caused Lord Brahmā, who was sitting on the lotus flower for the creative function, to become astonished.
And Anantadeva, who was calmly holding all the planets on His hood, was moving in this way and that due to the transcendental vibration from Kṛṣṇa's flute, which penetrated through the covering of this universe and reached to the spiritual sky." 63.Kṛṣṇa is Surrounded by Loving Devotees When we speak of Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa is not alone.
Kṛṣṇa means His name, His qualities, His fame, His friends, His paraphernalia, His entourage-all of these are included.
When we speak of a king, it is to be understood that he is surrounded by ministers, secretaries, military commanders and many other people.
Similarly, Kṛṣṇa is not impersonal.
In His Vṛndāvana līlā especially, He is surrounded by the gopīs, the cowherd boys, His father, His mother and all the inhabitants of Vṛndāvana.
64.Kṛṣṇa's Exquisite Beauty In the Third Canto 2nd Chapter, 12th verse, of Śrīmad- Bhāgavatam, Uddhava tells Vidura, "My dear sir, Kṛṣṇa's form was most wonderful when He appeared on this planet and exhibited the potency of His internal energy.
His wonderfully attractive form was present during His pastimes on this planet, and by His internal potency He exhibited His opulences, which are striking to everyone.
His personal beauty was so great that there was no necessity for His wearing ornaments on His body.
In fact, instead of the ornaments beautifying Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa's beauty enhanced the ornaments." Regarding the attractiveness of Kṛṣṇa's bodily beauty and the sound vibration of His flute, in the Tenth Canto, 29th Chapter, 37th verse, of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, the gopīs address Kṛṣṇa as follows: "Although our attitude towards You resembles loving affairs with a paramour, we cannot but wonder at how no woman can maintain her chastity upon hearing the vibration from Your flute.
And not only women, but even stronghearted men are subject to falling down from their position at the sound of Your flute.
In fact, we have seen that in Vṛndāvana even the cows, the deer, the birds, the trees-everyone-has been enchanted by the sweet vibration of Your flute and the fascinating beauty of Your person." In Rūpa Gosvāmī's Lalita-mādhava, it is said: "One day Kṛṣṇa happened to see the shadow of His beautiful form reflected on the jeweled foreground.
Upon seeing this bodily reflection, He expressed His feelings: 'How wonderful it is that I have never seen such a beautiful form! Although it is My own form, still, like Rādhārāṇī, I am trying to embrace this form and enjoy celestial bliss.'" This statement shows how Kṛṣṇa and His shadow reflection are one and the same.
There is no difference between Kṛṣṇa and His shadow reflection, nor between Kṛṣṇa and His picture.
That is the transcendental position of Kṛṣṇa.
The above statements describe some of the wonderful reservoirs of pleasure within Kṛṣṇa, as well as the transcendental qualities of His personality.
The transcendental qualities of Kṛṣṇa are compared to the ocean: no one can estimate the length and breadth of the ocean.
But as one can understand the ocean's contents simply by testing one drop of it, so these statements will give us some understanding of Kṛṣṇa's transcendental position and qualities.
In the Tenth Canto, 14th Chapter, 7th verse, of Śrīmad- Bhāgavatam, Lord Brahmā says, "My dear Lord, the inconceivable qualities, beauties and activities which You have revealed by Your presence on this planet cannot be calculated by any material measurement.
If one even tries to imagine that, 'Krṣpa may be like this,' that is also impossible.
The day may come when the material scientist, after many, many births or after many, many years, will be able to estimate the atomic constitution of the whole world, or he may be able to count the atomic fragments that permeate the sky, or he may even give an estimate of all the atoms within the universe, but still he will never be able to count the transcendental qualities in Your reservoir of transcendental bliss."
Kṛṣṇa's Personality
Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī states that although Lord Kṛṣṇa is the reservoir of unlimited pleasure and the greatest leader of all, He is still dependent upon His devotees in three ways.
According to the emotional status of the devotee, the Supreme Personality of Godhead is appreciated in three ways: as the most perfect, as very perfect and as perfect.
When He exhibits Himself in fullness, He is appreciated by great learned scholars as most perfect.
When He exhibits Himself in lesser degrees, He is called very perfect.
And when He exhibits still less, He is called perfect.
This means that Kṛṣṇa is appreciated for three degrees of perfection.
These three degrees of perfection are especially exhibited as follows: when He is in Goloka Vṛndāvana His transcendental qualities are exhibited as most perfect, when He is in Dvārakā He exhibits His qualities as very perfect, and when He is in Mathurā He exhibits His qualities as perfect.
Kṛṣṇa's personality is analyzed as dhīrodātta, dhīra-lalita, dhīrapraśānta and dhīroddhata.
If one asks how a personality can be beheld in four quite opposing ways, the answer is that the Lord is the reservoir of all transcendental qualities and activities.
Therefore, His different aspects can be analyzed according to the exhibition of His limitless variety of pastimes, and as such there is no contradiction.
Dhīrodātta A dhīrodātta is a person who is naturally very grave, gentle, forgiving, merciful, determined, humble, highly qualified, chivalrous and bodily attractive.
In this connection, the following statement given by Indra, the King of heaven, is very significant: "My dear Lord, I admit that I have committed great offenses unto You, but I cannot express my feelings of regret, being bewildered at seeing Your extraordinary chivalrous spirit, Your endeavor to protect Your devotees, Your determination, Your steadiness in lifting the great Hill of Govardhana, Your beautiful bodily features and Your astonishing characteristic of being pleased simply by accepting the prayers of Your devotees and offenders." The above statement by the King of heaven is an exact corroboration of Kṛṣṇa's being dhīrodātta.
Many learned scholars have agreed to also accept Lord Rāmacandra as dhīrodātta, but all of Lord Rāmacandra's qualities are also included in the character of Lord Kṛṣṇa.
Dhīra-lalita A person is called dhīra-lalita if he is naturally very funny, always in full youthfulness, expert in joking, and free from all anxieties.
Such a dhīralalita personality is generally found to be domesticated and very submissive to his lover.
This dhīra-lalita trait in the personality of Kṛṣṇa is described in Śrīmad- Bhāgavatam where Yajñapatnī, the wife of one of the brāhmaṇas who were performing sacrifices in Vṛndāvana tells her friends: "One day Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī, accompanied by Her associates, was taking rest in Her garden, and at that time Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa arrived in that assembly.
After sitting down, He began to narrate very impudently about His previous night's pastimes with Rādhārāṇī.
While He was speaking in that way, Rādhārāṇī became very embarrassed.
She was feeling ashamed and was absorbed in thought, and Kṛṣṇa took the opportunity to mark Her breasts with different kinds of tilaka.
Kṛṣṇa proved Himself to be very expert in that art." In this way Kṛṣṇa, as dhīra-lalita, was enjoying His youthful proclivities in the company of the gopīs.
Generally, those who are expert in writing drama choose to call Cupid the ideal dhīra-lalita, but we can more perfectly find in the personality of Kṛṣṇa all the characteristics of dhīra-lalita.
Dhīra-praśānta A person who is very peaceful, forbearing, considerate and obliging is called dhīra-praśānta.
This dhīra-praśānta trait of Kṛṣṇa was exhibited in His dealings with the Pāṇḍavas.
On account of the Pāṇḍavas' faithful devotion to the Lord, He agreed to become their charioteer, their advisor, their friend, their messenger and sometimes their bodyguard.
Such is an example of the result of devotional service towards Viṣṇu.
When Kṛṣṇa was speaking to Mahārāj Yudhiṣṭhira about religious principles, He demonstrated Himself to be a great learned scholar, but because He accepted the position of younger cousin to Yudhiṣṭhira, He was speaking in a very gentle tone which enhanced His beautiful bodily features.
The movements of His eyes and the mode of His speech proved that He was very, very expert in giving moral instruction.
Sometimes, Mahārāj Yudhiṣṭhira is also accepted by learned scholars as dhīra-praśānta.
Dhīroddhata A person who is very envious, proud, easily angered, restless and complacent is called dhīroddhata by learned scholars.
Such qualities were visible in the character of Lord Kṛṣṇa because, when He was writing a letter to Kālayavana, Kṛṣṇa addressed him as a sinful frog.
In His letter Kṛṣṇa advised Kālayavana that he should immediately go and find some dark well for his residence, because there was a black snake named Kṛṣṇa who was very eager to devour all such sinful frogs.
Kṛṣṇa reminded Kālayavana that He could turn all the universes to ashes simply by looking at them.
The above statement by Kṛṣṇa seems apparently to be of an envious nature, but according to different pastimes, places and times this quality is accepted as a great characteristic.
Kṛṣṇa's dhīroddhata qualities have been accepted as great because Kṛṣṇa uses them only to protect His devotees.
In other words, even undesirable traits may also be used in the exchange of devotional service.
Sometimes Bhīma, the second brother of the Pāṇḍavas, is also described as dhīroddhata.
Once, while fighting with a demon who was appearing as a deer, Kṛṣṇa challenged him in this way: "I have come before you as a great elephant named Kṛṣṇa.
You must leave the battlefield, accepting defeat, or else there is death awaiting you." This challenging spirit of Kṛṣṇa's is not contradictory to His sublime character because, as the Supreme Being, everything is possible in His character.
There is a nice statement in the Kūrma Purāṇa about these contradictory traits of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
It is stated there that the Supreme Person is neither very fat nor very thin; He is always transcendental to material qualities, and yet His bodily luster is blackish.
His eyes are reddish, He is all-powerful, and He is equipped with all different kinds of opulences.
Contradictory traits in Kṛṣṇa's person are not at all surprising: one should not consider the characteristics of Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, to be actually contradictory.
One should try to understand the traits of Kṛṣṇa from authorities and try to understand how these characteristics are employed by the supreme will of the Lord.
In the Mahā-varāha Purāṇa it is confirmed that the transcendental bodies of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and His expansions are all existing eternally.
Such bodies are never material and are completely spiritual and full of knowledge.
They are reservoirs of all transcendental qualities.
In the Vaiṣṇava Tantra there is a statement that the Personality of Godhead and His expanded bodies are always free from the eighteen kinds of material contaminations,* because such bodies are always full of knowledge, bliss and eternity.
Regarding all of the above-mentioned statements, it is understood that the Mahā- Viṣṇu is the source of all incarnations in the material world.
But because of His greater extraordinary opulence, we can * The eighteen kinds of materials contaminations mentioned above are described in the Viṣṇu-yāmala Tantra as follows: illusion, fatigue, committing errors, roughness, material lust, restlessness,pride, envy, violence, disgrace, exhaustion, untruth, anger, hankering, dependance, desire to lord over the universe, seeing duality, and cheating.
understand that the son of Nanda Mahārāj is the source of the Mahā-Viṣṇu also.
This is confirmed in the Brahma-saṁhitā, wherein it is stated: "Let me offer my respectful obeisances unto Govinda, whose partial representation is the Mahā-Viṣṇu." The gigantic form of the Mahā-Viṣṇu is the source of generation for innumerable universes.
Innumerable universes are coming out of His exhaling breath, and the same universes are going back in with His inhaling breath.
This Mahā-Viṣṇu is also a plenary portion of a portion of Kṛṣṇa.
Further Traits of Śrī Kṛṣṇa
After describing the different opulences of Kṛṣṇa, Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī tries to further describe the transcendental beauties and qualities of the Lord as: decorated, enjoying, pleasing, dependable, steady and predominating.
He is also described as a meticulous dresser and a magnanimous personality.
These are generally considered to be the qualities of great personalities.
Decorated It is said that a person is great if he is decorated with the qualities of being very merciful toward the unfortunate, very powerful, superior, chivalrous, enthusiastic, expert and truthful.
These decorations were manifested in the character of Kṛṣṇa during His Govardhana-līlā.
At that time the whole tract of land in Vṛndāvana was being disturbed by the rains sent by Indra, as described elsewhere above.
At first Kṛṣṇa thought, "Let Me retaliate against this vengeance of Indra by destroying his heavenly kingdom," but later on, when He thought of the insignificance of the King of heaven, Kṛṣṇa changed His mind and felt merciful toward Indra.
No one is able to tolerate the wrath of Kṛṣṇa, so instead of retaliating against Indra, He simply showed His compassion for His friends in Vṛndāvana by lifting the whole of Govardhan Hill to protect them.
Enjoying When a person is seen to be always happy and is accustomed to speak smilingly, he is considered to be in the mode of enjoyment.
This trait was found in Kṛṣṇa when He appeared at the sacrificial arena of King Kaṁsa.
It is described that the lotus-eyed Kṛṣṇa entered amongst the wrestlers without being impolite to them, glanced over them with determination, and seemed to them just like an elephant attacking some plants.
Even while speaking to them, Kṛṣṇa was still smiling, and in this way He stood valiantly upon the wrestling dais.
Pleasing When one's characteristics are very sweet and desirable, his personality is called pleasing.
An example of Kṛṣṇa's pleasing nature is thus described in the Śrīmad- Bhāgavatam: "One day while Kṛṣṇa was awaiting the arrival of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī by the bank of the Yamunā, He began to make a garland of kadamba flowers.
In the meantime, Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī appeared there, and at that time Murāri [Kṛṣṇa], the enemy of Mura, glanced over Rādhārāṇī very sweetly." Dependable Any person who is reliable in all circumstances is called dependable.
In this connection Rūpa Gosvāmī says that even the demons were relying upon the dependability of Kṛṣṇa because they were confident that Kṛṣṇa would never attack them without due cause.
Therefore, with faith and confidence, they used to live with their doors wide open.
And the demigods, although afraid of the demons, were confident of the protection of Kṛṣṇa.
Therefore, even in the midst of danger they were engaged in sportive activities.
Persons who had never undergone the reformatory ritualistic ceremonies of the Vedas were confident that Kṛṣṇa would accept only faith and devotion, and so they were engaged in Kṛṣṇa consciousness and were freed from all anxieties.
In other words, all kinds of men, from the demigods down to the uncultured, can rely on the causeless mercy of the Supreme Lord.
Steady A person who is not disturbed even in a situation of reverses is called steady.
This steadiness was observed in Kṛṣṇa in connection with His killing the demon known as Bāṇa.
The Bāṇa demon had many hands, and Kṛṣṇa was cutting off these hands one after another.
This Bāṇa was a great devotee of Lord Śiva and the goddess Durgā.
Thus, when Bāṇa was being killed, Lord Śiva and Durgā became very furious at Kṛṣṇa.
But Kṛṣṇa did not care for them.
Predominating A person who can affect the mind of everyone is called predominating.
As far as Kṛṣṇa's predomination is concerned, in the Tenth Canto, 43rd Chapter, 14th verse, of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Kṛṣṇa is described thus by Śukadeva Gosvāmī to King Parīkṣit: "My dear King, Kṛṣṇa is a thunderbolt to the wrestlers; to the common man He is the most beautiful human being; to the young girls He is just like Cupid; to the cowherd men and women He is the most intimate relative; to the impious kings He is the supreme ruler; to His parents, Nanda and Yaśodā, He is just a baby; to Kaṁsa, the King of Bhoja, He is death personified; to the dull and stupid He is just like a stone; to the yogīs He is the supreme absolute truth; and to the Vṛṣṇis He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
In such a predominating position Kṛṣṇa appeared in that arena along with His older brother Balarāma." When Kṛṣṇa, the reservoir of all mellows, was present in the arena of Kaṁsa, He appeared differently to the different persons who were related to Him in different mellows.
It is stated in the Bhagavad- gītā that He appears to every person according to one's relationship with Him.
Sometimes learned scholars describe "predominating" to mean a person intolerant of being neglected.
This peculiarity in Kṛṣṇa was visible when Kaṁsa was insulting Mahārāj Nanda and Vasudeva asking Kṛṣṇa's assistance in killing Kaṁsa.
Kṛṣṇa was glancing over Kaṁsa with longing eyes, just like a prostitute, and He was just preparing to jump at the King.
Meticulous Dresser A person who is very fond of dressing himself is called lalita, or a meticulous dresser.
This characteristic was found in Kṛṣṇa in two ways: sometimes He used to decorate Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī with various marks, and sometimes, when He was preparing to kill demons like Ariṣṭāsura, He would take care to arrange His belt very nicely.
Magnanimous Persons who can give themselves to anyone are called magnanimous.
No one could be more magnanimous than Kṛṣṇa because He is always prepared to give Himself completely to His devotee.
Even to one who is not a devotee, Kṛṣṇa in His form of Lord Caitanya is prepared to give Himself and to grant deliverance.
Although Kṛṣṇa is independent of everyone, out of His causeless mercy He is dependent upon Garga Ṛṣi for religious instruction; for learning the military art He is dependent upon Sātyaki; and for good counsel He is dependent upon His friend, Uddhava.
Devotees of Kṛṣṇa
A person who is always absorbed in Kṛṣṇa consciousness is called a devotee of Kṛṣṇa.
Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī says that all the transcendental qualities discussed above are also found in the devotees of Kṛṣṇa.
The devotees of Kṛṣṇa can be classified into two groups: those who are cultivating devotional service in order to enter into the transcendental kingdom, and those who are already in the perfectional stage of devotional service.
A person who has attained the stage of attraction for Kṛṣṇa and who is not freed from the material impasse, but who has qualified himself to enter into the kingdom of God, is called sādhaka.
Sādhaka means one who is cultivating devotion in Kṛṣṇa consciousness.
The description of such a devotee is found in the Eleventh Canto, 2nd Chapter, 45th verse, of ŚrīmadBhāgavatam.
It is said there that a person who has unflinching faith in and love for the Personality of Godhead, who is in friendship with devotees of Kṛṣṇa, and who is very merciful to the ignorant, raising them to the standard of devotional service, and who is uninterested in nondevotees, is considered to be situated in the position of cultivating devotional service.
When one is found shedding tears by hearing of the pastimes of the Lord, it is to be understood that the blazing fire of material existence will be extinguished by such watering.
When there is shivering of the body and the hairs of the body stand up, it is to be understood that the devotee is nearing perfection.
An example of a sādhaka cultivating devotional service is Bilvamaṅgala Thākur.
When a person is never tired of executing devotional service and is always engaged in Kṛṣṇa conscious activities, constantly relishing the transcendental mellows in relationship with Kṛṣṇa, the devotee is called perfect.
This perfectional stage can be achieved in two ways: one may achieve this stage of perfection by gradual progress in devotional service, or one may become perfect by the causeless mercy of Kṛṣṇa, even though he has not executed all the details of devotional service.
There is the following nice statement in the Third Canto, 15th Chapter, 25th verse, of ŚrīmadBhāgavatam describing a devotee who achieves perfection by regularly executing devotional service: A person who is freed from the false egotism of material existence, or an advanced mystic, is eligible to enter into the kingdom of God known as Vaikuṇṭha.
Such a mystic becomes so joyful by constant execution of the regulative principles of devotional service that he thereby achieves the special favor of the Supreme Lord.
Yamarāja, the mighty superintendent of death, is afraid to go near such a devotee; so we can imagine the potency of advanced devotional service, especially when devotees sit together and engage in talking of the pastimes of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
Those devotees express their feelings in such a way that they automatically melt with ecstasy, and many transcendental symptoms become manifested in their bodies.
Anyone desiring advancement in devotional service must follow in the footsteps of such devotees.
Prahlāda Mahārāj said that no one can attain the perfectional stage of devotional service without bowing down before exalted devotees.
Learned sages like Mārkaṇḍeya Ṛṣi attained perfection in devotional service simply by executing such regulative principles of service.
A person's achieving perfection in devotional service simply by the causeless mercy of the Lord is explained in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam in connection with the brāhmaṇas and their wives who were engaged in performing yajṣa, or sacrifice.
When the wives of the brāhmaṇas were favored by Lord Kṛṣṇa and immediately attained the ecstasy of love of Godhead, their husbands began to say, "How wonderful it is that although these women have undertaken no reformatory performances such as accepting the sacred thread, have not resided in the monasteries of the spiritual master, have not observed the strict principles of celibacy, have not undergone any austerities, nor philosophized upon the observance of all ritualistic ceremonies-they still have attained the favor of Kṛṣṇa, which is aspired after even by great mystics! How wonderful it is that these women have attained such perfection, while we, although brāhmaṇas who have performed all the reformatory activities, cannot attain to this advanced stage!" There is a similar statement by Nārada, addressed to Śukadeva Gosvāmī: "My dear Śukadeva Gosvāmī, you never took the trouble to reside under the care of a spiritual master, and yet you have attained such a great status of transcendental knowledge.
You never took the trouble to undergo severe austerities, and still, how wonderful it is that you have been situated in the most perfect stage of love of Godhead." Śukadeva Gosvāmī and the wives of the brāhmaṇas performing yajṣa are vivid examples of devotees who achieved the perfectional stage of devotional service by the grace of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
Eternal Perfection Persons who have achieved eternal, blissful life exactly on the level of Śrī Kṛṣṇa, and who are able to attract Lord Kṛṣṇa by their transcendental loving service, are called eternally perfect.
The technical name is nitya-siddha.
There are two classes of living entities-namely, nitya-siddha and nityabaddha.
The distinction is that the nitya-siddhas are eternally Kṛṣṇa conscious without any forgetfulness, whereas the nitya-baddhas, or eternally conditioned souls, are forgetful of their relationship with Kṛṣṇa.
The position of the nitya-siddhas is explained in the Padma Purāṇa in connection with the narration of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and Satyabhāmādevī.
The Lord tells Satyabhāmā: "My dear Satyabhāmādevī, I have descended to this earthly planet by the request of Lord Brahmā and other demigods.
Those who are born into this family of Yadu are all My eternal associates.
My dear wife, you should not consider that My associates are ever separated from Me; they are My personal expansions, and as such, you must know that they are almost as powerful as I am.
Because of their transcendental qualities, they are very, very dear to Me, as I am very, very dear to them." Anyone who becomes exhilarated by hearing of the pastimes of Lord Kṛṣṇa when He was present on this earth with His associates is to be understood as nitya-siddha, eternally perfect.
In the Tenth Canto, 14th Chapter, 30th verse, of Śrīmad- Bhāgavatam there is this statement: "How wonderful are the fortunate residents of Vṛndāvana, such as Nanda and the other cowherd men.
The Supreme Personality of Godhead, the supreme Brahman, has actually become their intimate friend!" A similar statement is there in the Tenth Canto, 26th Chapter, 10th verse, of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.
When Lord Kṛṣṇa lifted Govardhan Hill, the cowherd men, under the protection of Lord Kṛṣṇa, became struck with wonder and went to Nanda Mahārāj and inquired from him, "My dear Nanda Mahārāj, how is it that we are so intensely attached to Kṛṣṇa and Kṛṣṇa is also so affectionately attached to us? Does it mean that He is the supersoul of everyone?" All of the residents of Vṛndāvana and Dvārakā-namely the cowherd men and the members of the Yadu family-are eternally perfect devotees of the Lord.
As the Lord descends by His causeless mercy upon this planet, so, in order to help in the pastimes of the Lord, these devotees also come here.
They are not ordinary living entities or conditioned souls; they are everliberated persons, associates of the Personality of Godhead.
And, just as Lord Kṛṣṇa behaves like an ordinary man when He descends to this planet, so the members of the Yadu dynasty and the residents of Vṛndāvana execute activities just like ordinary men.
But they are not ordinary men; they are as liberated as Lord Kṛṣṇa Himself.
In the Padma Purāṇa, Uttara-khaṇḍa section, it is stated, "Just as Lord Rāmacandra descends along with Lakṣmaṇa and Bharata, an expansion of Saṅkarṣaṇa,*so the members of the Yadu dynasty and the cowherd men of Vṛndāvana also descend with Lord Kṛṣṇa in order to join in the transcendental pastimes of the Lord.
When the Supreme Lord returns to His eternal abode, His associates return with Him to *A detailed description of the ways in which the various expansions and incarnations of Godhead are developed is to be found in the author's Teaching's of Lord Chaitanya (New York: 1968) in Chapters VI, VII and XIII.
their respective places.
As such, these ever-liberated Vaiṣṇavas are not bound by the material laws of birth and death." As stated in the Bhagavad-gītā by the Lord Himself, His birth, deeds and activities are all transcendental.
Similarly, the birth, deeds and activities of the associates of the Lord are also transcendental.
And, as it is an offense to consider oneself to be Kṛṣṇa, so it is offensive to consider oneself to be Yaśodā, Nanda or any other associate of the Lord.
We should always remember that they are transcendental; they are never conditioned souls.
It is described that Kṛṣṇa, the enemy of Kaṁsa, has sixty-four transcendental qualities, and all of the ever-liberated souls who accompany the Lord have the first fifty-five of the qualities, without any doubt.
Such devotees are related to the Supreme Personality of Godhead in any of five transcendental mellows- namely, neutrality, servitorship, friendship, parenthood and conjugal love.
These relationships with the Lord are eternal, and therefore nitya-siddha devotees do not have to strive to attain the perfectional stage by executing regulative devotional principles.
They are eternally qualified to serve Kṛṣṇa.
Stimulation for Ecstatic Love
Some things which give stimulation to ecstatic love of Kṛṣṇa are His transcendental qualities, His uncommon activities, His smiling features, His apparel, His garlands, His flute, His buffalo horn, His leg bells, His conchshell, His footprints, His places of pastimes (such as Vṛndāvana), His favorite plant (tulasī), His devotee and the periodical occasions for remembering Him.
One such occasion for remembrance is Ekādaśī, which comes twice a month on the eleventh day of the moon, both waning and waxing.
On that day all the devotees remain fasting throughout the night and continuously chant the glories of the Lord.
Kṛṣṇa's Transcendental Qualities, His Uncommon Activities and His Smile As far as Kṛṣṇa's transcendental qualities are concerned, they can be divided into three groups: qualities pertaining to His transcendental body, qualities pertaining to His transcendental speech, and qualities pertaining to His transcendental mind.
Kṛṣṇa's age, His transcendental bodily features, His beauty, and His mildness are qualities pertaining to His body.
There is no difference between Kṛṣṇa and His body, and therefore the transcendental features pertaining to His body are the same as Kṛṣṇa Himself.
But because these qualities stimulate the devotee's ecstatic love, they have been analyzed as separate causes of that love.
To be attracted by the qualities of Kṛṣṇa means to be attracted by Kṛṣṇa Himself, because there is no real distinction between Kṛṣṇa and His qualities.
Kṛṣṇa's name is also Kṛṣṇa.
Kṛṣṇa's fame is also Kṛṣṇa.
Kṛṣṇa's entourage is also Kṛṣṇa.
Kṛṣṇa and everything related with Kṛṣṇa which gives stimulation to love of Kṛṣṇa are all Kṛṣṇa, but for our understanding these items can be considered separately.
Kṛṣṇa is the reservoir of all transcendental pleasure.
Therefore, the impetuses to love of Kṛṣṇa, although seemingly different, are not actually distinct from Kṛṣṇa Himself.
In the technical Sanskrit terms, such qualities as Kṛṣṇa's name, fame, etc., are accepted both as reservoirs of and stimulation for love of Kṛṣṇa.
Kṛṣṇa's age is considered in three periods: from His appearance day to the end of His sixth year is called kaumāra; from the beginning of the sixth year up to the tenth year is called paugaṇḍa; and from the tenth to the sixteenth year is called kaiśora; after the beginning of the sixteenth year, Kṛṣṇa is called a yauvana or a youth, and this continues with no change.
As far as Kṛṣṇa's transcendental pastimes are concerned, they are mostly executed during the kaumāra, paugaṇḍa and kaiśora periods.
His affectionate pastimes with His parents are executed during His kaumāra age.
His friendship with the cowherd boys is exhibited during the paugaṇḍa period.
And His friendship with the gopīs is exhibited during the age of kaiśora.
Kṛṣṇa's pastimes at Vṛndāvana are finished by the end of His fifteenth year, and then He is transferred to Mathurā and Dvārakā, where all other pastimes are performed.
Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī gives us a vivid description of Kṛṣṇa as the reservoir of all pleasures in his Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu.
Here are some parts of that description.
Kṛṣṇa's kaiśora age can be divided into three parts.
In the beginning of His kaiśora age-that is, at the beginning of His eleventh year, the luster of His body becomes so bright that it becomes an impetus for ecstatic love.
Similarly, there are reddish borders around His eyes, and a growth of soft hairs on His body.
In describing this early stage of His kaiśora age, Kundalatā, one of the residents of Vṛndāvana, said to her friend, "My dear friend, I have just seen an extraordinary beauty appearing in the person of Kṛṣṇa.
His blackish bodily hue appears just like the indranīla jewel.
There are reddish signs on His eyes, and small soft hairs are coming out on His body.
The appearance of these symptoms has made Him extraordinarily beautiful." In this connection, in the Tenth Canto, 21st Chapter, 5th verse, of ŚrīmadBhāgavatam, Śukadeva Gosvāmī tells King Parīkṣit: "My dear King, I shall try to describe how the minds of the gopīs became absorbed in thought of Kṛṣṇa.
The gopīs would meditate on Kṛṣṇa's dressing Himself just like a dancing actor and entering the forest of Vṛndāvana, marking the ground with His footprints.
They meditated on Kṛṣṇa's having a helmet with a peacock feather and wearing earrings on His ears and yellow-gold colored garments covered with jewels and pearls.
They also meditated on Kṛṣṇa's blowing His flute and on all the cowherd boys' singing of the glories of the Lord." That is the description of the meditation which the gopīs used to perform.
Sometimes the gopīs would think about His soft nails, His moving eyebrows and His teeth, which were catechu colored from chewing pan.
One description was given by a gopī to her friend: "My dear friend, just see how the enemy of Agha has assumed such wonderful features! His brows are just like the brows of Cupid, and they are moving just as though they were dancing.
The tips of His nails are so soft-it is as if they were dried bamboo leaves.
His teeth are reddish, and so it appears that He has assumed a feature of anger.
Under the circumstances, where is the chance for a young girl not to be attracted by such beautiful features and not to be afraid of becoming a victim to such beauty?" Kṛṣṇa's attractive features are also described by Vṛndā, the gopī after whom Vṛndāvana was named.
She told Kṛṣṇa: "My dear Mādhava, Your newly- invented smile has so captivated the hearts of the gopīs that they are simply unable to express themselves! As such, they have become bewildered and will not talk with others.
All of these gopīs have become so affected that it is as if they had offered three sprinkles of water upon their lives.
In other words, they have given up all hope for their living condition." According to the Indian system, when a person is dead there is a sprinkling of water on the body.
Thus, the statement of Vṛndā shows that the gopīs were so enchanted by the beauty of Kṛṣṇa that because they could not express their minds, they decided to commit suicide.
When Kṛṣṇa arrived at the age of thirteen to fourteen years, His two arms and chest assumed an unspeakable beauty, and His whole form became simply enchanting.
When Kṛṣṇa attained thirteen years of age, His two arms were challenging the trunks of elephants, His rising chest was trying to come to peace talks with doors of jewels, and His two arms were minimizing the value of the bolts found on doors.
Who can describe the wonderful beauty of these features of Kṛṣṇa? The special beauty of Kṛṣṇa's body was His mild smiling, His restless eyes and His world-enchanting songs.
These are the special features of this age.
There is a statement in this connection that Kṛṣṇa, on arriving at this age, manifested such beautiful bodily features that His restless eyes became the playthings of Cupid, and His mild smile resembled the newly-grown lotus flower.
The enchanting vibration of His songs became a great impediment to the young girls, who were supposed to remain chaste and faithful to their husbands.
At this age Kṛṣṇa enjoyed the rāsa-līlā, exhibiting His power of joking with the cowherd girls and enjoying their company in the bushes of the gardens by the bank of the Yamunā.
In this connection there is the following statement: "Throughout the whole tract of land known as Vṛndāvana there were the footprints of Kṛṣṇa and the gopīs, and in some places peacock feathers were strewn about.
In some places there were nice beddings in the bushes of the Vṛndāvana gardens, and in some places there were piles of dust due to the group- dancing of Govinda and the gopīs." These are some of the features which are due to the different pastimes invented by Śrī Kṛṣṇa in the place known as Vṛndāvana.
There is the following statement by one gopī, describing Kṛṣṇa's attractive feature during this age: "My dear friend, just see how all of a sudden in the sky of Kṛṣṇa there is a powerful rising sun and how this rising sun is minimizing the rays of our chastity moon.
Our attraction for Kṛṣṇa is so intense that it is drying up the lotus flower of our discrimination, and we are losing our senses in deciding whether we shall continue as chaste women or be victimized by the beauty of Kṛṣṇa.
My dear friend, I think that we have lost all hope of life!" In the kaiśora age, beginning from the eleventh year and continuing up to the end of the fifteenth year, Kṛṣṇa's arms, legs and thighs became marked with three divisional lines.
At that time Kṛṣṇa's chest challenged a hill of marakata jewels.
His arms challenged the pillars of the indranīla jewel, the three lines of His waist challenged the waves of the River Yamunā, and His thighs challenged beautiful bananas.
One gopī said, "With all these exquisite features of His body, Kṛṣṇa is too extraordinarily beautiful, and therefore I am always thinking of Him to protect me because He is the killer of all demons." The idea expressed in this statement is that the gopīs were comparing their attraction for Kṛṣṇa to an attack by demons; and to counteract their attraction for the beauty of Kṛṣṇa, they were also turning to Kṛṣṇa hopefully, because He is the killer of all kinds of demons.
In other words they were perplexed, because on one hand they were attracted by the beauty of Kṛṣṇa, and on the other they needed Kṛṣṇa to drive away the demon of such attraction.
This kaiśora age can be translated as adolescence.
At the end of this period all the gopīs said, "Kṛṣṇa is the killer of the attraction of Cupid, and as such He disturbs the patience of all newly-married girls.
Kṛṣṇa's bodily features have become so exquisite-it is as if they are all manifesting an artistic sense of the highest sort.
His dancing eyes have dimmed the brilliance of the most expert dancer, and so there is no longer any comparison to the beauty of Kṛṣṇa." Learned scholars therefore describe the features of His body at this time as nava-yauvana, newly-invented youthfulness.
At this stage of Kṛṣṇa's bodily features, the conjugal love affairs with the gopīs and similar pastimes become very prominent.
There are six features of conjugal love affairs, called peacemaking, picking a quarrel, going to meet one's lover, sitting together, separation and support.
Lord Kṛṣṇa expanded an empire of these six features, of which He was the ruling prince.
Somewhere He was picking quarrels with the young girls, somewhere He was scratching them with the nails of parrots, somewhere He was busy going to visit the gopīs, and somewhere He was negotiating through cowherd friends to take shelter of the gopīs.
Some of the gopīs addressed Him thusly: "My dear Kṛṣṇa, because of Your adolescent age, You have just become the spiritual master of these young girls, and You are teaching them to whisper among themselves.
You are teaching them to offer solemn prayers, as well as training them to cheat their husbands and to join You in the gardens at night, without caring for the instructions of their superiors.
You are enthusing them by the vibration of Your enchanting flute; and, as their teacher, You are teaching them all the intricacies of loving affairs." It is said that even when Kṛṣṇa was a boy of five He manifested such youthful energies, but learned scholars do not explain them because of the absence of suitable age.
Kṛṣṇa was beautiful because every part of His body was perfectly arranged without any defect.
Such perfect bodily features of Kṛṣṇa are described as follows: "My dear enemy of Kaṁsa, Your broad eyes, Your rising chest, Your two pillar-like arms and the thin middle portion of Your body are always enchanting to every lotus-eyed beautiful girl." The ornaments on the body of Kṛṣṇa were not actually enhancing His beauty, but just the reverse-the ornaments were beautified by Kṛṣṇa.
A person is called mild when he cannot even bear the touch of the most soft thing.
It is described that every part of Kṛṣṇa's body was so soft that even at the touch of newly-grown leaves, the color of the touched part of His skin would change.
At this kaiśora age, Kṛṣṇa's endeavors were always bent toward arranging the rāsa dance, as well as toward killing the demons in the forest of Vṛndāvana.
While Kṛṣṇa was engaged in enjoyment with the boys and girls within the forest of Vṛndāvana, Kaṁsa used to send his associates to kill Him, and Kṛṣṇa would show His prowess by killing them.
Kṛṣṇa's Apparel and Garlands Generally, there are four kinds of garments on the body of Kṛṣṇa: His shirt, turban, belt and wearing garments.
In Vṛndāvana, He used to put on reddish garments, with a golden shirt on His body and an orange colored turban on His head.
The different kinds of belts, combined with His enchanting smile, used to always increase the transcendental bliss of His associates.
This dress of Kṛṣṇa is described as gorgeous.
As a baby elephant is sometimes dressed in colorful clothing, so Kṛṣṇa's gorgeousness was manifested by decoration with such colorful clothing on the different parts of His body.
Ākalpa refers to the texture of Kṛṣṇa's hair, His nicely dressed body anointed with sandalwood pulp and decorated with flower garlands, His tilaka and His chewing pan.
Kṛṣṇa was decorated constantly in this ākalpa process.
Kṛṣṇa's hair was sometimes decorated with flowers placed on the middle of His head, or else reaching down to His back.
In this way Kṛṣṇa dressed His hair differently at different times.
As for the ointment on His body, the pulp of sandalwood generally appeared to be white, and when it was mixed with saffron dye it appeared to be yellow.
Kṛṣṇa used to put a vaijayantī garland around His neck.
This vaijayantī garland is made of at least five differently colored flowers.
The length of such a garland was always touching Kṛṣṇa's knees or feet.
Besides this garland of flowers, there were other kinds of flower garlands too-sometimes decorating His head, sometimes hanging around His neck and chest.
Artistic painting with sandalwood pulp and colored sandalwood were also to be found on the body of Kṛṣṇa.
One gopī addressed her friend and began to praise the bodily features of Kṛṣṇa.
She praised His blackish complexion, the reddish color of chewing pan enhancing His beauty hundreds of times, the curling hair on His head, the kuṅkum* red spots on His body and the tilaka on His forehead.
His helmet, His earrings, His necklace, His four garments, the bangles on His head, the rings on His fingers, His ankle bells and His flute-these are the different features of Kṛṣṇa's ornaments.
Kṛṣṇa, the enemy of Agha, always looked beautiful with His incomparable helmet, His earrings made of diamonds, His necklace of pearls, His bangles, embroidered garments and the beautiful rings on His fingers.
Kṛṣṇa is sometimes called vanamālī.
Vana means forest, and mālī means gardener, so vanamālī refers to one who extensively uses flowers and garlands on different parts of His body.
Kṛṣṇa was dressed like this not only in Vṛndāvana but also on the battlefield of Kurukṣetra.
Seeing such colorful dress and the garlands of different flowers, some great sages prayed, "Lord Kṛṣṇa was going to the battlefield of Kurukṣetra not to fight, but to grace all of the devotees with His presence." Kṛṣṇa's Flute As far as His flute is concerned, it is said that the vibration of this wonderful instrument was able to break the meditation of the greatest sages, and Kṛṣṇa was thus challenging Cupid by advertising His transcendental glories all over the world.
There are three kinds of flutes used by Kṛṣṇa.
One is called veṇu, one is called muralī, and the third is called vaṁśī.
Veṇu is very small, not more than six inches long, with six holes for whistling.
Muralī is about eighteen inches long with a hole at the end and four holes on the body of the flute.
This kind of flute produces a very enchanting sound.
The vaṁśī flute is about fifteen inches long, with nine holes on its body.
Kṛṣṇa used to play on these three flutes occasionally when they were needed.
Kṛṣṇa has a longer vaṁśī, which is called mahānanda, or sanmohinī.
When it is still longer it is called ākarṣiṇī.
When it is even longer it is called ānandinī.
The ānandinī flute is very pleasing to the cowherd boys and is technically named vaṁsulī.
These flutes were sometimes bedecked with jewels.
Sometimes they were made of marble and sometimes of hollow bamboo.
When the flute is made of jewels it is called sanmohinī.
When made of gold, it is called ākarṣiṇī.
Kṛṣṇa's Buffalo Horn Kṛṣṇa used a buffalo horn as a bugling instrument.
This instrument was always highly polished and circled with gold bands, and on the middle there was a hole.
Regarding these instruments, there is a metaphorical statement about a gopī named Tārāvalī.
It is said that Tārāvalī was bitten by the most venomous snake of Kṛṣṇa's flute.
Then, in order to neutralize the poisonous effect, she drank the milk produced by the buffalo horn in the hand of Kṛṣṇa.
But instead of decreasing the poisonous effect, it increased it a thousand times.
The gopī was thus put into the most miserable poisoned condition.
The Attraction of Kṛṣṇa's Leg Bells A certain gopī once stated to her friend, "My dear friend, when I heard the sound of the leg bells of Śrī Kṛṣṇa, I immediately started to go out of the house to see Him.
But most regrettably, my superiors were present just before me at that time, and I could not go out." Kṛṣṇa's Conchshell Kṛṣṇa's conchshell is known as Pāñcajanya.
This Pāñcajanya conch is also mentioned in the Bhagavad-gītā.
Kṛṣṇa sounded it before the Battle of Kurukṣetra.
It is said that when Lord Kṛṣṇa blows on His transcendental conchshell, the wives of the demons become subject to abortions, and the wives of the demigods become blest with all auspiciousness.
In this way, the sound of Kṛṣṇa's conchshell used to vibrate and circulate all over the world.
Kṛṣṇa's Footprints It is stated in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam that when Akrūra, who drove Kṛṣṇa from Vṛndāvana to Mathurā, saw the footprints of Kṛṣṇa on the land of Vṛndāvana, his ecstatic love for Kṛṣṇa increased so much that the hairs on his body stood up.
His eyes became overflooded with tears, and in such ecstasy he jumped out of the chariot and fell down on the ground and began to chant, "How wonderful this is! How wonderful this is!" Similar feelings were expressed by the gopīs when they were going to the bank of the Yamunā and saw Kṛṣṇa's footprints in the dust.
When Kṛṣṇa walked on the ground of Vṛndāvana, the marks of His sole (flag, thunderbolt, fish, a rod for controlling elephants and lotus flower) would be imprinted upon the dust of the land.
The gopīs became overwhelmed simply at seeing those marks on the ground.
Kṛṣṇa's Places of Pastimes One devotee has exclaimed, "Oh, I have not as yet visited the wonderful places where the pastimes of the Lord were performed.
But simply by hearing the name of Mathurā I have become overwhelmed with joy!" Kṛṣṇa's Favorite Plant: Tulasi Lord Kṛṣṇa is very fond of tulasī leaves and buds.
Because tulasī buds are usually offered up to the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa, a devotee once prayed to the tulasī buds to give him some information about the lotus feet of the Lord.
The devotee expected that the tulasī buds would know something about the glories of Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa's lotus feet.
Kṛṣṇa's Devotees One may sometimes become overwhelmed with joy by seeing a devotee of the Lord.
When Dhruva Mahārāj saw two associates of Nārāyaṇa approaching him, he immediately stood up out of sincere respect and devotion and remained before them with folded hands; but because of his ecstatic love he could hardly offer them a proper reception.
There is a statement by a gopī who addressed Subala, a friend of Kṛṣṇa: "My dear Subala, I know that Kṛṣṇa is your friend and that you always enjoy smiling and joking with Him.
The other day I saw you both standing together, and you were keeping your hand upon Kṛṣṇa's shoulder, and both of you were joyfully smiling.
When I saw the two of you standing like that in the distance, my eyes at once became overflooded with tears." Special Days for Remembring Kṛṣṇa There are many statements about the festive days in connection with Kṛṣṇa's different activities.
One of these festive days is Janmāṣṭamī, the day of Kṛṣṇa's birth.
This Janmāṣṭamī Day is the most opulent festival day for the devotees, and it is still observed with great pomp in every Hindu house in India.
Sometimes even the devotees of other religious groups take advantage of this auspicious day and enjoy the performance of the ceremony of Janmāṣṭamī.
Ecstatic love for Kṛṣṇa is also aroused on the days of Ekādaśī, which are other festive days in connection with Kṛṣṇa.
Symptoms of Ecstatic Love
The bodily symptoms which are manifested by a devotee in expressing ecstatic love for Kṛṣṇa are called anubhāva.
Practical examples of anubhāva are as follows: dancing, rolling on the ground, singing very loudly, stretching the body, crying loudly, yawning, breathing very heavily, neglecting the presence of others, drooling, laughing like a madman, wheeling the head and belching.
When there is an extraordinary excess of ecstatic love, with all of these bodily symptoms manifested, one feels relieved transcendentally.
These symptoms are divided into two parts: one is called śīta, and the other is called kṣepaṇa.
When there is yawning, it is called śīta, and when there is dancing it is called kṣepaṇa.
Dancing
While watching the rāsa dance performed by Lord Kṛṣṇa and the gopīs, Lord Śiva beheld the beautiful face of Kṛṣṇa and immediately began to dance and beat upon his small ḍiṇḍima drum.
While Lord Śiva was dancing in ecstasy, his eldest son, Ganeśa, joined him.
Rolling on the Ground
In the Third Canto, 1st Chapter, 31st verse, of Śrīmad- Bhāgavatam, Vidura inquires from Uddhava, "My dear friend, is Akrūra in an auspicious condition? He is not only a learned scholar and sinless, but he is also a devotee of Lord Kṛṣṇa.
He has such ecstatic love for Kṛṣṇa that I have seen him rolling upon Kṛṣṇa's footprints in the dust as if bereft of all senses." Similarly, one gopī gave a message to Kṛṣṇa that Rādhārāṇī, because of Her separation from Him and because of Her enchantment with the flavor of His flower garlands, was rolling on the ground, thereby bruising Her soft body.
Singing Loudly
One gopī informed Kṛṣṇa that when Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī was singing about His glories, She enchanted all of Her friends in such a way that they became stonelike and dull.
At the same time, the nearby stones began to melt away in ecstatic love.
Stretching the Body
When there was stretching of the body of Nārada Muni from chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra, he chanted so loudly that it was apprehended that Lord Nṛsiṁha had appeared.
Thus all the demons began to flee in different directions.
It is also said that sometimes when Nārada, the carrier of the vīṇā, remembers his Lord Kṛṣṇa in great ecstasy, he begins to stretch his body so vigorously that his sacred thread gives way.
Crying Loudly
A gopī once said to Kṛṣṇa: "My dear son of Nanda Mahārāj, by the sound of Your flute Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī has become full of lamentation and fear, and thus, with a faltering voice, She is crying like a kurobi bird.
It is described that by hearing the vibration of Kṛṣṇa's flute Lord Śiva becomes very puzzled and begins to cry so loudly into space that the demons become vanquished and the devotees become overwhelmed with joy.
Yawning
It is said that when the full moon rises, the lotus petals become expanded.
Similarly, when Kṛṣṇa used to appear before Rādhārāṇī, Her face, which is compared with the lotus flower, would expand by Her yawning.
Breathing Heavily
As far as breathing heavily is concerned, it is stated: "Lalitā [one of the gopīs] is just like a cātakī bird, which only takes water falling directly from the rain cloud and not from any other source." In this statement Kṛṣṇa is compared to the dark cloud, and Lalitā is compared to the cātakī bird seeking only Kṛṣṇa's company.
The metaphor continues to say, "As a heavy wind sometimes disperses a mighty cloud, so the heavy breath from Lalitā's nostrils caused her to miss Kṛṣṇa, who had disappeared by the time she recovered herself." Neglecting the Presence of Others As far as neglecting the presence of others is concerned, the wives of the brāhmaṇas who were performing sacrifices at Vṛndāvana left home as soon as they heard that Kṛṣṇa was nearby.
They left their homes without caring for their learned husbands.
The husbands began to discuss this amongst themselves: "How wonderful is the attraction for Kṛṣṇa, that it has made these women leave us without any care!" This is the influence of Kṛṣṇa.
Anyone who becomes attracted to Kṛṣṇa can be relieved from the bondage of birth and death, which can be compared to the locked-up homes that were neglected by the wives of the brāhmaṇas.
In the Padyāvalī there is a statement by some devotees: "We shall not care for any outsiders.
If they should deride us, we shall still not care for them.
We shall simply enjoy the transcendental mellow of chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa, and thus we shall roll on the ground and dance ecstatically.
In this way we shall eternally enjoy transcendental bliss." Drooling As an example of the running down of saliva from the mouth, it is stated that sometimes when Nārada Muni was chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra, he remained stunned for a while, and saliva oozed from his mouth.
Laughing like a Madman
When a devotee laughs very loudly like a madman, it is done out of an extraordinary agitation of ecstatic love within the heart.
Such mad laughing is an expression of the condition of the heart, which is technically called aṭṭa-hāsa.
When a devotee becomes affected with this mental condition, his love is expressed through the lips.
The laughing sounds, coming one after another, are compared to flowers falling from the creeper of devotion which grows within the heart of the devotee.
In the Caitanya-caritāmṛta devotional service to the Lord is also compared to a creeper which rises up to the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa in Goloka Vṛndāvana.
Wheeling of the Head
One gopī told her friend: "It appears that Lord Kṛṣṇa, the enemy of the demon Agha, has released from His mouth a whirlwind which is acting on your head and is gradually proceeding to do the same to the other lotus-eyed gopīs."
Belching
Sometimes belching also becomes a symptom of ecstatic love for Kṛṣṇa.
There is evidence of this in Paurṇamāsī's address to one crying associate of Rādhārāṇī: "My dear daughter, don't be worried because Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī is belching.
I am about to offer a remedial measure for this symptom.
Do not cry so loudly.
This belching is not due to indigestion; it is a sign of ecstatic love for Kṛṣṇa.
I shall arrange to cure this belching symptom immediately.
Don't be worried." This statement of Paurṇamāsī is evidence that ecstatic love for Kṛṣṇa is sometimes manifested through belching.
Sometimes trembling of the whole body and hemorrhaging from some part of the body are also manifested in response to ecstatic love for Kṛṣṇa, but such symptoms are very rare, and therefore Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī does not discuss any further on this point.
Other Ecstatic Symptoms Existential Ecstatic Love for Kṛṣṇa .
When a devotee is always intensely affected by love for Kṛṣṇa in a direct relationship with Him-or even a little apart from Him-his status is called existential ecstatic love.
The symptoms originating from such existential ecstatic love are divided into three headings-namely, moist, burnt and driedup.
Moist existential ecstatic love aroused in connection with Kṛṣṇa is divided into two: direct and indirect.
Rādhārāṇī was weaving a garland of kunda flowers, and, upon hearing the vibration of Kṛṣṇa's flute, She immediately stopped Her work.
This is an example of direct moistened existential ecstatic love.
Indirect moistened existential ecstatic love is described in the following statement: Kṛṣṇa, who is also called Puruṣottama, is to the eyes of Mother Yaśodā just like the cloud is to the eyes of the cātakī bird.
When Kṛṣṇa had been brought to Mathurā, Mother Yaśodā, being very anxious and angry, began to rebuke the King of Mathurā.
Burnt existential ecstatic love is divided into three, and one example is as follows: One day, Mother Yaśodā was dreaming that the gigantic demon, Pūtanā, was lying on the courtyard of her house, and she immediately became anxious to seek out Kṛṣṇa.
When there are manifestations of ecstatic symptoms in the body of a nondevotee, these are called dried-up symptoms of ecstatic love.
The nondevotees are actually materialistic, but in contact with some pure devotee, they sometimes may manifest some symptoms of ecstasy.
Devotional scholars call these dried- up symptoms.
There are eight symptoms of existential ecstatic love: becoming stunned, perspiring, standing of the hairs on the body, faltering of the voice, trembling of the body, changing bodily colors, shedding tears, and devastation.
The scientific explanation of these eight symptoms is given by Rūpa Gosvāmī as follows.
When the vital force of life is in contact with the earth, it is called stunning.
When the same force comes into contact with water, there is the shedding of tears.
When the same force comes into contact with fire, there is perspiration.
When the force comes into contact with the sky, there is complete devastation.
And when that force comes into contact with the air, there is trembling, failing of the voice and standing of the hairs on the body.
These symptoms are sometimes manifested internally and sometimes externally.
The pure devotee always feels such symptomatic expressions within himself, but being afraid of outsiders he does not generally manifest them externally.
Becoming Stunned The symptom of becoming stunned is caused by ecstatic tribulation, fearfulness, astonishment, lamentation and anger.
This symptom is exhibited by a stoppage of talking, a stoppage of movement, a feeling of voidness and an extreme feeling of separation.
When Uddhava was describing Kṛṣṇa's pastimes to Vidura, he said, "One day the gopīs became stunned when Kṛṣṇa, in the dress of a gardening maid, entered the greenhouse and enlivened them with joking and laughter.
Then when Kṛṣṇa left the greenhouse, the gopīs were seeing Kṛṣṇa so ecstatically that it was as though both their minds and eyes were following Him." These symptoms signify that although the gopīs' business was not finished, they had become stunned with ecstatic love.
Another example of being stunned took place when Kṛṣṇa was surrounded by various wrestlers in the sacrificial arena of Kaṁsa.
His mother, Devakī,* then became stunned, and her eyes dried up when she saw Kṛṣṇa amongst the wrestlers.
- Devakī was the "natural" mother of Kṛṣṇa, his father being Vasudeva.
In order to protect the divine baby from Devakī's brother Kaṁsa,delivered Kṛṣṇa to Nanda and Mother Yaśoda in vṛndāvana, and it was there that He There is also an example of the astonishment of Lord Brahmā.
It is explained in the Tenth Canto, 13th Chapter, 51st verse of ŚrīmadBhāgavatam that when Brahmā understood that this cowherd boy was the Supreme Personality of Godhead Himself, he became stunned.
All of his sensual activities became stopped upon seeing all the cowherd boys again, along with Kṛṣṇa.
Lord Brahmā was so stunned that he appeared to be a golden statue with four heads.
Also, when the residents of Braja found that Kṛṣṇa had lifted Govardhan Hill with His left hand, they became stunned.
Astonishment caused by lamentation is exemplified when Kṛṣṇa was entering into the belly of the Bakāsura demon and all the demigods from higher planets became stunned with lamentation.
A similar example of becoming stunned was visible in Arjuna when he saw that Aśvatthāmā was attempting to release his brahmāstra at Kṛṣṇa.
Perspiration An example of perspiring because of jubilation is described in ŚrīmadBhāgavatam.
One gopī addressed Rādhārāṇī thusly: "My dear Rādhārāṇī, You are rebuking the sunshine unnecessarily, but I can understand that You are perspiring only because of Your becoming too lusty at seeing Kṛṣṇa." Perspiration caused by fearfulness was exhibited by Raktak, one of the servants of Kṛṣṇa.
One day Kṛṣṇa dressed Himself just like Abhimanyu, the husband of Rādhārāṇī.
Abhimanyu did not like Rādhārāṇī's association with Kṛṣṇa, and therefore when Raktak saw Kṛṣṇa in the dress of Abhimanyu and thus mistook His identity, he began to strongly rebuke Him.
As soon as Raktak finally understood that it was Kṛṣṇa in the dress of Abhimanyu, he began perspiring.
This perspiration was caused by fearfulness.
Perspiration due to anger was exhibited by Garuḍa, the eagle who is the carrier of Viṣṇu.
Once the heavenly king, Indra, was sending exhibited His childhood pastimes.
At sixteen years of age He returned to Mathurā (where Devakī had given birth to him) and vanquished kaṁsa in the arena mentioned here.
See the author's Kṛṣṇa as well as his ŚrīmadBhāgavatam,for fuller details of the events.
The brahmāstra was a nuclear weapon controlled by mantra, or sound vibration.
torrents of rain over Vṛndāvana.
Garuḍa was observing the incident from above the clouds, and because of his anger, he began perspiring.
Standing of Hairs on the Body The standing up of hair on the body was manifested when Mother Yaśodā found within Kṛṣṇa's mouth all of the universal planetary systems.
She had asked Kṛṣṇa to open His mouth wide just to see whether He had eaten dirt.
But when Kṛṣṇa opened His mouth, she saw not only the entire earth, but also many other planets within His mouth.
This caused a standing up of the hair on her body.
The standing up of hair on the body resulting from jubilation is described in the Tenth Canto, 30th Chapter, 9th verse of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam in connection with the gopīs engaged in the rāsa dance.
During this rāsa dance Kṛṣṇa disappeared all of a sudden with Rādhārāṇī, and the gopīs began to search Him out.
At that time they addressed the earth and began to say, "My dear earthly planet, how many austerities and penances you must have undergone to have the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa always touching your surface.
I think that you must be very jubilant because the trees and plants, which are just like hairs on your body, are standing up so gloriously.
May we ask when did you first get these symptoms? Are you enjoying this jubilation since you were touched by the incarnation Vāmana or since you were delivered by the incarnation Varāha?" Kṛṣṇa would sometimes perform mock fighting along with the cowherd boys.
When Kṛṣṇa blew His horn in this mock fighting, Śrīdāmā, who was on the opposing side, felt his bodily hairs stand up.
Similarly, when Arjuna saw Kṛṣṇa in His gigantic universal form, there was a standing of the hairs on his body.
Faltering of the Voice When Kṛṣṇa was going to Mathurā on the chariot driven by Akrūra, Yaśodā and all the gopīs came to try to forbid Him to pass and to block His way.
At that time Rādhārāṇī was so perturbed that in a faltering voice, She requested Mother Yaśodā to please stop Akrūra.
Faltering of the voice resulting from wonder was exhibited by Brahmā.
It is said in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Tenth Canto, 13th Chapter, 59th verse that, after bowing down before Lord Kṛṣṇa, when Brahmā began to rise he prayed to the Lord in a faltering voice.
In the Tenth Canto, 29th Chapter, 27th verse, another example of faltering of the voice was exhibited by the gopīs when they came to Kṛṣṇa, desiring to dance with Him.
Kṛṣṇa asked them to go back to their husbands and homes.
The gopīs apparently became very angry and began to talk to Kṛṣṇa with faltering voices.
In the Tenth Canto, 39th Chapter, 48th verse, of Śrīmad- Bhāgavatam a faltering voice due to jubilation was exhibited by Akrūra when he was shown all of the Vaikuṇṭha planets resting within the River Yamunā.
When Akrūra understood that Kṛṣṇa was the Supreme Personality of Godhead, he bowed his head to Kṛṣṇa's lotus feet and with folded hands began to pray in a faltering voice.
There are also examples of faltering of the voice caused by fearfulness.
One of Kṛṣṇa's friends praised Him thusly: "My dear friend, Your flute was given to Your servant, Patrī, and when I asked him to return it he began speaking in a faltering voice, and his complexion became yellow." Trembling When Kṛṣṇa was trying to capture the demon Śaṅkha, Rādhārāṇī began trembling out of fearfulness.
Similar trembling of the body was exhibited in Sahadeva, the younger brother of Nakula.
When Śiśupāla was vehemently blaspheming the Lord, Sahadeva began to tremble out of anger.
Trembling of the body was also exhibited by Rādhārāṇī out of tribulation.
Rādhārāṇī trembled as She told one of the gopīs: "Don't joke with this disappointing boy! Please ask Him not to approach Me, because He is always the cause of all grief for us." Changing of Bodily Color Sometimes, due to great aggrievement caused by the dealings of Kṛṣṇa, the body changes color.
The gopīs therefore addressed the Lord thusly: "My dear Kṛṣṇa, due to separation from You, all of the denizens of Vṛndāvana have changed their color.
And because of this change of color even the great sage Nārada was thinking of Vṛndāvana as a white island in the ocean of milk." When Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma were present in the arena of Kaṁsa, Kaṁsa's body changed color.
Similarly, Indra's face changed color when he saw that Kṛṣṇa was protecting all the denizens of Braja by lifting Govardhan Hill.
If the color change takes place due to excessive jubilation, the hue turns red.
Because such a change of color is so rare, Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī does not further discuss this point.
Tears Out of jubilation, anger or separation there may be the pouring down of tears from the eyes.
When such tears are very cold they are due to jubilation, and when they are due to anger the tears become hot.
In all cases there is a severe movement of the eyes, and the eyes generally become reddish.
There is also an itching sensation which causes the sufferer to rub his eyes.
When the lotus-eyed Rukmiṇī, the first queen of Kṛṣṇa in Dvārakā, was shedding tears out of ecstatic jubilation, she did not like the tears.
There is a passage in the Hari- vaṁśa wherein Satyabhāmā begins to shed tears because of her great affection for Kṛṣṇa.
An example of shedding tears because of anger was exhibited by Bhīma when he saw that Śiśupāla was insulting Kṛṣṇa in the rāja-sūya arena of sacrifice.
Bhīma wanted to kill Śiśupāla immediately, but because Kṛṣṇa did not order him to do so, he became morose with anger.
It is described that there were hot tears covering his eyes, as a thin cloud sometimes covers the evening moon.
In the evening, when the moon is slightly covered by a thin cloud, it looks very nice, and when Bhīma was shedding tears on account of his anger, he also looked very nice.
In the Tenth Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Chapter 68, verse 23, there is a nice example of Rukmiṇī's shedding tears of lamentation.
When Kṛṣṇa and Rukmiṇī were talking, Rukmiṇī became frightened of separation from Kṛṣṇa, and therefore she began scratching the earth with her red, lotus-like nails.
Because she was shedding tears, the black ointment from her eyes was dripping, along with the tears, onto her breasts, which were covered with kuṅkum powder.
Rukmiṇī was so aggrieved that her voice was choked up.
Devastation When a person is confused by simultaneous happiness and tribulation and does not know what to do, this state of confusion is called pralaya, or devastation.
In this condition of pralaya one sometimes falls down on the ground, and all the symptoms of ecstatic love become manifest.
When the gopīs were searching after Kṛṣṇa and all of a sudden He came out from the bushes and creepers, all of them became stunned and almost senseless.
In this state the gopīs appeared very beautiful.
This is an example of pralaya, or devastation in happiness.
There are also instances of pralaya in distress.
One such example is described in the Tenth Canto, 39th Chapter, 14th verse of ŚrīmadBhāgavatam, where Śukadeva Gosvāmī tells King Parīkṣit: "My dear King, when the gopīs were missing Kṛṣṇa, they were so much absorbed in meditation upon Him that all of their senses stopped functioning, and they lost all bodily sense.
It was as though they had become liberated from all material conditions." Out of the many ecstatic symptoms of the body, the symptom of being stunned is especially significant.
According to the degree of being stunned, the vital force within the body becomes agitated, and due to such a state, the other ecstatic loving symptoms sometimes become altered.
These transcendental ecstatic symptoms gradually develop, and in the course of such development, they are sometimes called smoky, sometimes called blazing, and sometimes called shining.
These three degrees are experienced for many, many years and extend to different parts of the body.
Unlike the shedding of tears and faltering of the voice, the condition of being stunned is spread all over the body.
The shedding of tears and faltering of the voice are simply localized symptoms.
The shedding of tears, however, sometimes makes the eyes become swollen and whitish, and sometimes the lenses of the eyes become differently focused.
Faltering of the voice may sometimes cause choking in the throat and extreme anxiety.
As the different symptoms of these ecstatic manifestations are localized, they are accompanied by different local reactions; e.g., when the throat is choked up because of a faltering voice, there may be a sound like "ghra." Such sounds choke up the voice, and with extreme mental anxiety they may manifest in different ways.
All these symptoms are listed under the dried-up existential condition known as smoky, and they are exhibited in different ways.
Sometimes, while participating in ceremonies celebrating Kṛṣṇa's pastimes, or in the society of devotees, there is dancing ecstasy.
Such sentiments are called blazing.
None of the above symptoms can be manifested without the basic principle of strong attachment for Kṛṣṇa.
In the smoky condition of such ecstatic expressions, the symptoms could otherwise be hidden.
This type of symptom was experienced by Priest Gargamuni, who was performing some ritualistic ceremony in the house of Nanda Mahārāj.
When he heard about Kṛṣṇa's killing of the Aghāsura demon, there were some tears visible in his eyes, his throat was trembling, and perspiration covered his whole body.
In this way Priest Gargamuni's beautiful face assumed a nice condition.
When several such ecstatic symptoms are visible, the condition is called blazing.
For example, some of Kṛṣṇa's friends told Him, "My dear friend, as soon as I heard the sound of Your flute from within the forest, my hands became almost motionless and my eyes became full of tears.
So much so, in fact, that I could not recognize Your peacock feather.
My thighs became almost completely stunned so that I could not move even an inch.
Therefore, my dear friend, I must acknowledge the wonderful vibration of Your transcendental flute." Similarly, one gopī said to another, "My dear friend, when I heard the sound of Kṛṣṇa's flute, I tried to hide myself from the reaction of the vibrations.
But still I could not check the trembling of my body, and therefore all of my friends in the house could detect my attachment for Kṛṣṇa without any doubt." When the ecstatic symptoms cannot be checked, and they simultaneously appear in four or five different categories, this stage of ecstatic love is called shining.
The example is cited, in this connection, that when the sage Nārada saw Lord Kṛṣṇa standing before him, his body became so stunned that he stopped playing on his vīṇā.
Because of his faltering voice he could not offer any prayers to Kṛṣṇa, and his eyes became filled with tears.
Thus, Nārada's ability to see Kṛṣṇa was also obstructed.
When similar symptoms were manifest in the body of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī, some of Her friends criticized Her: "My dear friend, You are blaming the flavor of the flowers for the tears in Your eyes.
You are rebuking the air for the standing of the hairs on Your body.
And You are cursing Your walking in the forest for Your thighs being stunned.
But Your faltering voice reveals the cause to be different: it is just Your attachment for Kṛṣṇa!" Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī remarks that when various symptoms become manifest very prominently, the devotee's condition can be called the brightest.
For example, a friend of Kṛṣṇa addressed Him as follows: "My dear Pītāmbara, because of separation from You all the residents of Goloka Vṛndāvana are perspiring.
They are lamenting with different words, and their eyes have become moistened with tears.
Actually, all of them are in great confusion." There is a supreme symptom of ecstatic love which is called mahābhāva.
This mahābhāva expression was possible only in Rādhārāṇī, but later on when Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya appeared to feel the mode of love of Rādhārāṇī, He also expressed all of the symptoms of mahābhāva.
Śrī Rūpa Gosvāmī says in this connection that when the symptoms of ecstatic love become the most bright, that stage is accepted as mahābhāva.
Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī further analyzes the ecstatic loving expression into four divisions which are called sāttvābhāsā.
Sometimes impersonalists who are not actually in devotional service may also exhibit such symptoms of ecstatic love, but this is not accepted as actual ecstasy.
It is a reflection only.
For example, sometimes in Vārāṇasī, a holy city for impersonalist scholars, there may be seen a sannyāsī crying from hearing the glories of the Lord.
Impersonalists also sometimes chant the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra and dance, but their aim is not to serve the Lord.
It is to become one with the Lord and merge into His existence.
Rūpa Gosvāmī therefore says that even if the reactions to chanting are manifested in the impersonalist's body, they should not be considered to be symptoms of actual attachment, but reflections only, just like the sun reflected in a dark room through some polished glass.
The chanting of Hare Kṛṣṇa, however, is so nice and transcendental that it will eventually melt even the hearts of persons who are impersonalists.
Rūpa Gosvāmī says that the impersonalists' symptoms are simply reflections of ecstatic love, not the real thing.
Sometimes it is found that when staunch logicians, without any trace of devotional service and without actually understanding the transcendental glories of the Lord, sit down to hear the glories of the Lord, they appear to be melting and shedding tears.
In this connection there is a statement by a devotee who is addressing the Lord thusly: "My dear Mukunda, I cannot properly express the glories of Your pastimes.
Even when the nondevotees hear of Your glorious pastimes they become affected and shed tears and start to tremble." Such nondevotees are not actually melted; they are hardhearted.
But the influence of the glories of the Lord is so great that even the nondevotees sometimes shed tears.
Sometimes it is found that a nondevotee who has practically no taste for Kṛṣṇa and who follows no rules or regulations can, by practice, make a show of devotional symptoms, even crying in an assembly of devotees.
This shedding of tears is not actually an ecstatic loving expression, however.
It is done simply by practice.
Although there is no need to describe these reflections of ecstatic love, Rūpa Gosvāmī gives some instances where there is no actual devotional service and such expressions are manifested.
Expressions of Love for Kṛṣṇa
There are some bodily symptoms which express overwhelming ecstatic love.
They are counted at thirty-one as follows: disappointment, lamentation, humility, guilt, fatigue, intoxication, pride, doubt, apprehension, intense emotion, madness, forgetfulness, disease, confusion, death, laziness, inertness, bashfulness, concealment, remembering, argumentativeness, anxiety, thoughtfulness, endurance, happiness, eagerness, haughtiness, envy, impudence, dizziness and alertness.
Disappointment When one is forced to act in a way which is forbidden, or to refrain from acting in a way which is proper, he becomes regretful and thinks himself dishonored.
At that time there is a sense of disappointment.
In this kind of disappointment one becomes full of anxiety, sheds tears, changes bodily color, feels humility and breathes heavily.
When Kṛṣṇa, in punishing the Kāliya serpent, appeared to have drowned Himself in the poisonous water of the Yamunā, Nanda Mahārāj addressed Yaśodā devī thusly: "My dear wife, Kṛṣṇa has gone deep into the water, and so there is no longer any need to maintain our bodies, which are so full of sinful activities! Let us also enter into the poisonous water of the Yamunā and compensate for the sinful activities of our lives!" This is an instance of severe shock, where the devotee becomes greatly disappointed.
When Kṛṣṇa left Vṛndāvana, Subala, His intimate friend, decided to leave also.
While leaving, Subala was contemplating that without Kṛṣṇa there was no longer any pleasure to be found in Vṛndāvana.
The analogy is given that, as the bees go away from a flower that has no honey, so Subala left Vṛndāvana when he found there was no longer any relishable transcendental pleasure there.
In Dāna-keli-kaumudī Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī addresses one of Her friends in this manner: "My dear friend, if I cannot hear of the glorious activities of Kṛṣṇa, it is better for Me to become deaf.
And because I am now unable to see Him, it would be good for Me to be a blind woman." This is another instance of disappointment due to separation from Kṛṣṇa.
There is a statement in the Hari-vaṁśa wherein Satyabhāmā, one of the queens of Kṛṣṇa in Dvārakā, tells her husband: "My dear Kṛṣṇa, since I heard Nārada glorifying Rukmiṇī before You, I can understand that there is no need of any talking about myself." This is an instance of disappointment caused by envy.
Rukmiṇī and Satyabhāmā were co-wives, and because Kṛṣṇa was husband of both, there naturally was some feminine envy between them.
So when Satyabhāmā heard the glories of Rukmiṇī, she was envious of her and thus became disappointed.
In the Tenth Canto, 51st Chapter, 29th verse of Śrīmad- Bhāgavatam there is this statement: "My dear Kṛṣṇa, I cannot say that it is only other people who are implicated in material existence, because I too am much entangled with the bodily concept of life.
I am always too anxious about my family, home, wife, wealth, land and kingdom.
And because I have been so maddened by this material atmosphere, I am thinking now that my life has been simply spoiled." This statement is an instance of disappointment caused by lamentation.
According to Bharata Muni, this disappointment is inauspicious.
But there are other learned scholars who have accepted such disappointment as being in the mood of neutrality and as being a preservative for ecstatic love.
Lamentation When one is unsuccessful in achieving his desired goal of life, when one finds no fulfillment in his present occupation, when one finds himself in reversed conditions and when one feels guilt-at such a time one is said to be in a state of lamentation.
In this condition of lamentation one becomes questioning, thoughtful, tearful, regretful and heavy-breathed.
His bodily color changes, and his mouth becomes dry.
One aged devotee of Kṛṣṇa addressed Him in this way: "My dear Kṛṣṇa, O killer of the demon Agha, my body is now invalid due to old age.
I cannot speak very fluently, my voice is faltering, my mind is not strong, and I am often attacked by forgetfulness.
But, my dear Lord, You are just like the moonlight, and my only real regret is that for want of any taste for Your pleasant shining I did not advance myself in Kṛṣṇa consciousness." This statement is an instance of lamentation due to one's being unable to achieve his desired goal.
One devotee said, "This night I was dreaming of collecting various flowers from the garden, and I was thinking of making a garland to offer to Kṛṣṇa.
But I am so unfortunate that all of a sudden my dream was over, and I could not achieve my desired goal!" This statement is an instance of lamentation resulting from nonfulfillment of one's duties.
When Nanda Mahārāj saw his foster son, Kṛṣṇa, embarrassed in the sacrificial arena of Kaṁsa, he said, "How unfortunate I am that I did not keep my son bolted within a room.
Unfortunately, I have brought Him to Mathurā, and now I see that He's embarrassed by this giant elephant named Kuvalaya.
It is as though the moon of Kṛṣṇa is eclipsed by the shadow of the earth." This is an instance of lamentation caused by reversed conditions.
In the Tenth Canto, 14th Chapter, 9th verse of Śrīmad- Bhāgavatam there is a statement by Brahmā: "My dear Lord, just see my impudence! You are the unlimited, the original Personality of Godhead, the supersoul-and You rule over the most perfect illusory energies! And just see my impudence! I wanted to supersede You by my own personal power, and I was very puffed up with this tiny power of mine.
Just as a simple spark from a fire cannot do any harm to the fire, so my bewildering potency was completely unsuccessful in thwarting Your superior illusory power.
Therefore I find myself to be most insignificant and think of myself as a most useless person." This statement by Brahmā is an instance of lamentation caused by committing an offense.
Humility A sense of weakness caused by distress, fear or offensiveness is called humility.
In such a humble condition one becomes talkative, small in heart, dirty in mind, full of anxiety and inactive.
In the Tenth Canto, 51st Chapter, 39th verse of Śrīmad- Bhāgavatam there is the following statement by King Mucukunda: "My dear Lord, because of my bad deeds in the past I am everlastingly aggrieved.
I am always suffering from my desires, but still my senses are never satisfied with material enjoyments.
Somehow or other I am, by Your grace, now in a peaceful condition because I have taken shelter of Your lotus feet, which are always free from all lamentation, fear and death.
O supreme protector, O supreme soul! O supreme controller! Kindly give me Your protection.
I am so much embarrassed." This statement by Mucukunda is an instance of humility resulting from a severely miserable condition of material existence.
When Uttarā was attacked by the brahmāstra of Aśvatthāmā, she became afraid of losing her child, Mahārāj Parīkṣit, who was still within the womb.
She immediately surrendered to Kṛṣṇa and said, "My dear Lord, kindly save my child! I do not mind if I myself must be killed by the brahmāstra of Aśvatthāmā." This is an instance of humility caused by fear.
In the Tenth Canto, 14th Chapter, 10th verse of Śrīmad- Bhāgavatam, Lord Brahmā says, "O infallible one! I am born in the modes of passion, and therefore I have been falsely proud of being the creator of this material world.
My false pride was just like dense darkness, and in this darkness I had become blind.
In my blindness I was considering myself a competitor to You, the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
But, my dear Lord, even though I am accepted as the creator of this universe, I am eternally Your servant.
Therefore, kindly always be compassionate toward me and excuse me in that way." This statement by Brahmā is another instance of humility resulting from committing an offense.
Sometimes there is humility due to shyness.
For example, when Kṛṣṇa stole all of the garments from the gopīs while they were bathing in the river, all of them begged Kṛṣṇa not to commit this injustice upon them.
The gopīs addressed Him thus: "My dear Kṛṣṇa, we know that You are the son of Nanda Mahārāj and that You are the most beloved of all Vṛndāvana.
And You are very much loved by us also! But why are You giving us this trouble? Kindly return our garments.
Just see how we are trembling from the severe cold!" This humility was due to their shyness from being naked before Kṛṣṇa.
Guilt When a person blames himself for committing an inappropriate action, his feeling is called guilt.
One day Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī was churning curd for Kṛṣṇa.
At that time the jeweled bangles on Her hands were circling around, and She was also chanting the holy name of Kṛṣṇa.
All of a sudden She thought, "I am chanting the holy name of Kṛṣṇa, and My superiors-My mother-in-law and My sister-in-law- may hear Me!" By this thought Rādhārāṇī became overanxious.
This is an instance of feeling guilty because of devotion to Kṛṣṇa.
One day the beautiful-eyed Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī entered into the forest to collect some flowers to prepare a garland for Kṛṣṇa.
While collecting the flowers, She became afraid that someone might see Her, and She felt some fatigue and weakness.
This is an instance of guilty feelings caused by labor for Kṛṣṇa.
There is a statement in Rasa-sudhākara that after passing the night with Kṛṣṇa, Rādhārāṇī became so weak that She was unable to get up from bed.
When Kṛṣṇa took Her hand to help Her, Rādhārāṇī felt guilty about having passed the night with Him.
Fatigue Fatigue after walking a long distance, after dancing and after sex activity.
In this kind of fatigue there is dizziness, perspiration, inactivity of the limbs, yawning and very heavy breathing.
One day Yaśodā was chasing Kṛṣṇa in the yard after He had offended her.
After a while Yaśodā became very fatigued, and therefore she was perspiring, and her bunched hair became loosened.
This is an instance of becoming fatigued because of working too much.
Sometimes all of the cowherd friends of Kṛṣṇa, along with Balarāma, danced together in some ceremony.
At these times the garlands on Their necks would move, and They would begin to perspire.
Their whole bodies became wet from Their ecstatic dancing.
This is an instance of fatigue caused by dancing.
In the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Tenth Canto, 33rd Chapter, 20th verse it is said that after enjoying love affairs with Kṛṣṇa by dancing, embracing and kissing, the gopīs would sometimes become very tired, and Kṛṣṇa, out of His causeless mercy and compassion, would smear their faces with His lotus hands.
This is an example of fatigue caused by laboring in the rāsa dance.
Intoxication When one becomes arrogant with false prestige due to drinking intoxicants or being too lustful, the voice becomes faulty, the eyes become swollen, and there are symptoms of redness on the body.
There is a statement in the Lalita-mādhava that Lord Baladeva, intoxicated from drinking excessive quantities of honey, once began to address the ants: "O you kings of the ants! Why are you hiding yourselves in these holes?" At the same time He also addressed the King of heaven, "O King Indra! You plaything of Śacī! Why are you laughing? I am now prepared to smash the whole universe, and I know that Kṛṣṇa will not be angry with Me."* Then He addressed Kṛṣṇa: "My dear Kṛṣṇa, tell Me immediately why the whole world is trembling, and why the moon has become elongated! And O you members of the Yadu dynasty, why are you laughing at Me? Please give Me back My liquors made of honey from the kadamba flower!" Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī prays that Lord Balarāma will be pleased with all of us while He is thus talking just like an intoxicated person.
In this state of intoxication, Balarāma felt tired and lay down for * Baladeva, or Balarāma, is the older brother of Kṛṣṇa, an expansion of the Godhead Himself, an therefore to be considered an incarnation of God, as is explained in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.
rest.
Generally, those who are exalted personalities lie down when they feel intoxicated, whereas those who are mediocre laugh and sing during intoxication, and those who are lowly use vulgar language and sometimes cry.
Such intoxication is manifested according to different ages and mentalities.
Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī does not describe further in this direction because there is no necessity for such a discussion.
There is another description of the symptoms of intoxication in the person of Śrī Rādhārāṇī after She saw Kṛṣṇa: sometimes She was walking hither and thither, sometimes She was laughing, sometimes She was covering Her face, sometimes She was talking without any meaning, and sometimes She was praying to Her associate gopīs.
Seeing these symptoms in Rādhārāṇī, the gopīs began to talk among themselves: "Just see how Rādhārāṇī has become intoxicated simply by seeing Kṛṣṇa before Her!" This is an instance of ecstatic love in intoxication.
Pride Expressions of ecstatic love in pride may be the result of excessive wealth, exquisite beauty, a first-class residence, or the attainment of one's ideal goal.
One is also considered to be proud when he does not care about the neglect of others.
Bilvamaṅgala Thākur said, "My dear Kṛṣṇa, You are leaving me, forcibly getting out of my clutches.
But I shall be impressed by Your strength only when You can go forcibly from the core of my heart." This is an instance of feeling pride in ecstatic love for Kṛṣṇa.
Once during the rāsa dance, when Rādhārāṇī left the arena, and Kṛṣṇa went to seek Her out, one of the dear friends of Rādhārāṇī addressed Kṛṣṇa thusly: "My dear Kṛṣṇa, You have been very much obliging in serving the form of our Śrī Rādhārāṇī, and now You have left all the other gopīs to search for Her.
Please allow me to inquire how You want Her to treat You." This is an instance of feeling pride on account of exquisite beauty.
Sometimes Rādhārāṇī felt pride within Herself and said, "Although the cowherd boys prepare nice flower garlands for Kṛṣṇa, when I present My garland to Him, He becomes struck with wonder and immediately accepts it and puts it on His heart." Similarly, in the Tenth Canto, 2nd Chapter, 27th verse of ŚrīmadBhāgavatam, Lord Brahmā says: "My dear Madhusūdana, persons who are pure devotees of Your Lordship actually feel Your ecstatic friendship, and as such they are never vanquished by enemies.
They know they are always protected by You, and so they can matter-of-factly pass over the heads of their enemies without any care." In other words, one who has taken complete shelter under the lotus feet of the Lord is always proud of being able to conquer all enemies.
One weaver at Mathurā addressed Kṛṣṇa in this way: "My dear King of Vṛndāvana, I have become so proud of Your causeless mercy upon me that I do not even count upon the mercy of the Lord of Vaikuṇṭha, which is sought after by many great sages in deep meditation." In other words, although the yogīs and great sages sit in meditation upon Lord Viṣṇu, who is residing in Vaikuṇṭha, a devotee of Kṛṣṇa is so proud that he does not consider such meditation to be very valuable.
This feeling of pride is due to one's having achieved the highest goal of life-Kṛṣṇa.
Doubt After Lord Brahmā had stolen all of the calves, cows and cowherd boys from Kṛṣṇa, he was trying to go away.
But all of a sudden he became doubtful about his stealing affairs and began to watch on all sides with his eight eyes.
Lord Brahmā has four heads, and therefore he has eight eyes.
This is an instance of ecstatic love in doubtfulness, caused by stealing.
Similarly, just to please Kṛṣṇa, Akrūra stole the Syamantaka-maṇi, a stone which can produce unlimited quantities of gold, but later on he repented his stealing.
This is another instance of ecstatic love for Kṛṣṇa in doubt caused by stealing.
The King of heaven, Indra, was advised to surrender himself at the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa when he was causing torrents of rain to fall on the land of Braja.
At that time Indra's face became very darkened out of doubtfulness.
Apprehension When a person becomes disturbed in his heart by seeing lightning in the sky, by seeing a ferocious animal, or by hearing a tumultuous sound, his state of mind is called apprehensive.
In such a state of apprehension, one tries to take shelter of something which provides safety.
There may be standing of the hairs on the body, trembling of the body and sometimes the committing of mistakes.
And sometimes the body may become stunned.
In the Padyāvalī there is the following statement: "My dear friend, Kṛṣṇa's residence in the demonic circle at Mathurā, under the supremacy of the King of demons, Kaṁsa, is causing me much worry." This is one instance of apprehending some danger to Kṛṣṇa in ecstatic love for Him.
When Vṛṣāsura appeared in Vṛndāvana as a bull, all of the gopīs became greatly affected with fear.
Being perturbed in that way, they began to embrace the tāmala trees.
This is an instance of fearfulness caused by a ferocious animal and of the search for shelter while remembering Kṛṣṇa in ecstatic love.
Upon hearing the jackals crying in the forest of Vṛndāvana, Mother Yaśodā sometimes became very careful about keeping Kṛṣṇa under her vigilance, fearing that Kṛṣṇa might be attacked by them.
This is an instance of ecstatic love for Kṛṣṇa in fearfulness caused by a tumultuous sound.
This kind of fearfulness is a little different from being actually afraid.
When one is afraid of something, he can still think of past and future.
But when there is this kind of ecstatic apprehension, there is no scope for such thinking.
Intense Emotion Emotion is caused by something very dear, by something very detestable, by fire, strong wind, strong rainfall, by some natural disturbance, the sight of a big elephant, or the sight of an enemy.
When there is emotion caused by seeing something very dear, one can speak very swiftly and use kind words.
When there is emotion caused by seeing something detestable, one cries very loudly.
When there is emotion caused by seeing fire, one tries to fly away.
There may also be trembling of the body, closing of the eyes and tears in the eyes.
When one becomes emotional on account of a strong wind, one tries to run very swiftly and rubs his eyes.
When one is emotional because of rainfall, one takes an umbrella, and there is tension in his body.
When there is emotion due to a sudden disturbance, one's face becomes discolored, one becomes struck with wonder, and there is trembling of the body.
If there is emotion from seeing an elephant, one may jump, show various signs of fearfulness, and sometimes one may keep looking behind him.
When there is emotion due to the presence of an enemy, one looks for a fatal weapon and tries to escape.
When Kṛṣṇa returned from the forest of Vṛndāvana, Mother Yaśodā was so emotional from seeing her son that milk began to flow from her breasts.
This is an instance of emotion caused by seeing a dear object.
In the Tenth Canto, 23rd Chapter, 13th verse of Śrīmad- Bhāgavatam, Śukadeva Gosvāmī informs King Parīkṣit: "My dear King, the wives of the brāhmaṇas were usually very much attached to the glorification of Kṛṣṇa, and they were always anxious to get an opportunity to see Him.
Because of this, when they heard that Kṛṣṇa was nearby, they became very anxious to see Him and immediately left their homes." This is an instance of emotional activity caused by the presence of someone who is very dear.
When Pūtanā, the demoniac witch, was struck down and killed by Kṛṣṇa, Mother Yaśodā was struck with wonder and began to cry emotionally, "Oh, what is this? What is this?" When she saw that her dear baby Kṛṣṇa was playing on the chest of the dead demonic woman, Mother Yaśodā, at a loss what to do, began to walk this way and that.
This is an instance of being emotional on account of seeing something ghastly.
When Kṛṣṇa uprooted the two arjuna trees and Yaśodā heard the sound of the trees crashing down, she became overcome with emotion and simply stared upwards, being too bewildered to know what else to do.
This is an instance of being emotional from hearing a tumultuous sound.
When there was a forest fire in Vṛndāvana, all the cowherd men assembled together and desperately appealed to Kṛṣṇa for protection.
This is an instance of emotion caused by fire.
The whirlwind demon known as Tṛṇāvarta once carried Kṛṣṇa off from the ground and blew Him around, along with some very big trees.
At that time, Mother Yaśodā could not see her son, and she was so disturbed that she began to walk this way and that.
This is an instance of emotion caused by severe wind.
In the Tenth Canto, 25th Chapter, 11th verse of Śrīmad- Bhāgavatam, there is a description of Indra's causing severe torrents of rain at Vṛndāvana.
All the cows and cowherd boys became so afflicted by the wind and cold that they all gathered together to take shelter under the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa.
This is an instance of emotion caused by severe rainfall.
There were severe torrents of hail when Kṛṣṇa was staying in the forest of Vṛndāvana, and the elderly persons bade Him: "Kṛṣṇa, don't You move now! Even persons who are stronger and older than You cannot move, and You are just a little boy.
So please stay still!" This is an instance of emotion caused by heavy hailing.
When Kṛṣṇa was chastising Kāliya in the poisonous water of the Yamunā, Mother Yaśodā began to speak emotionally: "Oh, see how the earth appears to be trembling! There appears to be an earth tremor, and in the sky tears are flying here and there! My dear son has entered into the poisonous water of the Yamunā.
What shall I do now?" This is an instance of emotion resulting from a natural disturbance.
In the arena of Kaṁsa, when Kṛṣṇa was attacked by big elephants, all of the ladies present began to address Him in this way: "My dear boy-please leave this place immediately! Please leave this place immediately! Don't You see the big elephants coming to attack You? Your innocent gazing upon them is causing us too much perturbation!" Kṛṣṇa then told Mother Yaśodā, "My dear Mother, don't be perturbed by the appearance of the elephants and the horses that are so forcibly coming and raising dust, causing blindness to these lotus-eyed women.
Let even the Keśī demon come before Me; My arms will still be adequate for victory.
So please don't be perturbed." In the Lalita-mādhava, a friend tells Mother Yaśodā, "How wonderful it is that when the Śaṅkhacūḍa demon-vast and strong as a great hill-attacked your Cupid-like beautiful son, there was no one present in Vṛndāvana to help.
And yet the demon was killed by your little son.
It appears to be due to the result of severe penances and austerities in your past lives that your son was saved in this way." In the same Lalita-mādhava there is an account of Kṛṣṇa's kidnapping Rukmiṇī at her royal marriage ceremony.
At that time all of the princes present began to converse amongst themselves, saying, "We have our elephants, horses, chariots, bows, arrows and swords, so why should we be afraid of Kṛṣṇa? Let us attack Him! He is nothing but a lusty cowherd boy! He cannot take away the Princess in this way! Let us all attack Him!" This is an instance of emotion caused by the presence of enemies.
Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī is trying to prove by the above examples that in relationship with Kṛṣṇa there is no question of impersonalism.
All personal activities are there in relationship with Kṛṣṇa.
Modness Śrīla Bilvamaṅgala Thākur prays in his book as follows: "Let Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī purify the whole world, because She has surrendered Herself completely unto Kṛṣṇa.
Out of Her ecstatic love for Him, She sometimes acted just like an addled person and attempted to churn curd, although there was no curd in the pot.
And seeing this, Kṛṣṇa became so enchanted by Rādhārāṇī that He began to milk a bull instead of a cow." These are some of the instances of insanity or madness in connection with the love affairs of Rādhā and Kṛṣṇa.
In the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam it is said that when Kṛṣṇa entered the poisonous waters of the Yamunā, Śrīmatī Yaśodā Devī went insane.
Instead of searching for curative herbs, she began to speak to the trees as if they were snake chanters.
With folded hands she began to bow down to the trees, asking them, "What is the medicinal herb which can check Kṛṣṇa's dying from this poisonous water?" This is an instance of insanity caused by some great danger.
How a devotee can be in a state of insanity because of ecstatic love is described in the Tenth Canto, 30th Chapter, 4th verse of ŚrīmadBhāgavatam, where the gopīs were searching for Kṛṣṇa in the forests of Vṛndāvana.
The gopīs were loudly singing the glories of Kṛṣṇa and wandering from one forest to another in search of Him.
They knew that Kṛṣṇa is not localized, but all-pervading.
He is in the sky, He is in the water, He is in the air, and He is the supersoul in everyone's heart.
Thus the gopīs began to inquire from all kinds of trees and plants about the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
This is an instance of ecstatic madness on the part of devotees.
Similarly, there are symptoms of diseases caused by ecstatic love.
This condition is credited by learned scholars as mahābhāva.
This highly elevated condition is also called divyonmāda, or transcendental madness.
Forgetfulness When Kṛṣṇa was absent from Vṛndāvana and was staying in Mathurā, Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī sent news to Him that His mother, the Queen of Braja, was feeling such separation from Him that there was foam coming from her mouth, like the foam on the shore of the ocean.
And sometimes she was raising her arms like the waves of the ocean, and because of her intense feelings of separation, she was rolling on the ground and creating a tumultuous roaring sound.
And sometimes she was remaining completely silent, like a calm sea.
These symptoms of separation from Kṛṣṇa are called apasmāra, or forgetfulness.
One completely forgets his position when he manifests these symptoms in ecstatic love.
Another message was once sent to Kṛṣṇa informing Him that after He had killed Kaṁsa, one of Kaṁsa's demon friends had gone insane.
This demon was foaming at the mouth, waving his arms and rolling on the ground.
This demonic demonstration is in relationship with Kṛṣṇa in a ghastly humor.
This mellow or flavor is one of the indirect relationships with Kṛṣṇa.
The first five kinds of relationships are called direct, and the other seven are called indirect.
Some way or other, the demon must have had some relationship with Kṛṣṇa, because these symptoms developed when he heard that Kṛṣṇa had already killed Kaṁsa.
Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī remarks that there is also transcendental excellence in this kind of symptom.
Disease When Kṛṣṇa was absent from Vṛndāvana and was staying at Mathurā, some of His friends informed Him, "Dear Kṛṣṇa, because of their separation from You, the inhabitants of Braja are so afflicted that they appear to be diseased.
Their bodies are feverish, and they cannot move properly.
They are simply lying down on the ground and breathing heavily." In the Tenth Canto, 12th Chapter, 41st verse of Śrīmad- Bhāgavatam, Mahārāj Parīkṣit asked about Lord Ananta, and upon hearing this question, Śukadeva Gosvāmī began to show symptoms of collapsing.
Yet he checked himself and answered King Parīkṣit's question in a mild voice.
This collapsing condition is described as a feverish state resulting from ecstatic pleasure.
There is another statement in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam telling of the damsels of Braja meeting Kṛṣṇa at the sacred place of Kurukṣetra, many years after their childhood pastimes.
When they met in that sacred place, all the gopīs became stunned by the occurrence of a solar eclipse.
Their breathing, blinking of the eyes and all similar activities stopped, and they stood before Kṛṣṇa just like statues.
This is another instance of a diseased condition resulting from exuberant transcendental pleasure.
Further Features of Ecstatic Love for Kṛṣṇa
Confusion There is the following statement in the Haṁsadūta: "One day when Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī was feeling much affliction because of Her separation from Kṛṣṇa, She went to the bank of the Yamunā with some of Her friends.
There Rādhārāṇī saw a cottage wherein She and Kṛṣṇa had experienced many loving pleasures, and by remembering those incidents She immediately became overcome with dizziness.
This dizziness was very prominently visible." This is an instance of confusion caused by separation.
Similarly, there is a statement describing confusion caused by fearfulness.
These symptoms were exhibited by Arjuna when he saw Kṛṣṇa's universal form on the battlefield of Kurukṣetra.
His confusion was so strong that his bow and arrows fell from his hand, and he could not perceive anything clearly.
Death Once the Bakāsura demon assumed the shape of a very big duck and opened his mouth in order to swallow Kṛṣṇa and all the cowherd boys.
When Kṛṣṇa was entering into the demon's mouth, Balarāma and the other cowherd boys almost fainted and appeared as though they had no life.
Even if they are illusioned by some ghastly scene or by any accidental occurrence, devotees never forget Kṛṣṇa.
Even in the greatest danger they can remember Kṛṣṇa.
This is the benefit of Kṛṣṇa consciousness: even at the time of death, when all the functions of the body become dislocated, the devotee can remember Kṛṣṇa in his innermost consciousness, and this saves him from falling down into material existence.
In this way Kṛṣṇa consciousness immediately takes one from the material platform to the spiritual world.
In this connection there is a statement about persons who died at Mathurā: "These persons had a slight breathing exhilaration, their eyes were wide open, the colors of their bodies were changed, and they began to utter the holy name of Kṛṣṇa.
In this condition they gave up their material bodies." These symptoms are prior manifestations of death.
Laziness When, because of self-satisfaction or dislike of excessive labor, a person does not perform his duty in spite of having the energy, he is called lazy.
This laziness also is manifested in ecstatic love of Kṛṣṇa.
For example, when some brāhmaṇas were requested by Nanda Mahārāj to circumambulate Govardhan Hill, they told him that they were more interested in offering benedictions than in circumambulating Govardhan Hill.
This is an instance of laziness caused by self-satisfaction.
Once when Kṛṣṇa, along with His cowherd boyfriends, was having a mock battle, Subala showed the symptoms of fatigue.
Kṛṣṇa immediately told His other friends, "Subala is feeling too fatigued from mock-fighting with Me.
So please do not disturb him any more by inviting him to fight." This is an instance of laziness caused by dislike of excessive labor.
Inertness In the Tenth Canto, 21st Chapter, 13th verse of Śrīmad- Bhāgavatam there is an appreciation by the gopīs of the inertia of the cows in Vṛndāvana.
The gopīs saw that the cows were hearing the sweet songs vibrated by Kṛṣṇa's flute and were appearing to be drinking the nectar of these transcendental sounds.
The calves were stunned, and they forgot to drink the milk from the milk bags.
Their eyes seemed to be embracing Kṛṣṇa, and there were tears in their eyes.
This is an instance of inertia resulting from hearing the transcendental vibrations of Kṛṣṇa's flute.
When Lakṣmaṇa became disturbed upon hearing words against Kṛṣṇa, she remained inert and did not move her eyelids.
This is another example of inertia caused by hearing.
In the Tenth Canto, 71st Chapter, 35th verse of the Śrīmad- Bhāgavatam, there is an account of King Yudhiṣṭhira's bewilderment after his bringing Kṛṣṇa into his home with the greatest respect.
King Yudhiṣṭhira was very much bewildered because of his transcendental pleasure at having Kṛṣṇa present in his house.
In fact, while receiving Kṛṣṇa, King Yudhiṣṭhira forgot himself.
This is an instance of inertia resulting from the ecstasy of seeing Kṛṣṇa.
There is another instance in the Tenth Canto, 39th Chapter, 34th verse of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.
When Kṛṣṇa was going to Mathurā, all of the gopīs were standing behind Kṛṣṇa, and upon seeing the chariot leaving, they stood there stunned and did not move.
They remained like that until the flag of the chariot and the dust thrown up by its wheels became invisible.
Kṛṣṇa was once addressed by His friend thus: "My dear Mukunda [Kṛṣṇa], due to their being separated from You, the cowherd boys are standing just like neglected Deities in the house of a professional brāhmaṇa." There is a class of professional brāhmaṇas who take to Deity worship as a means of earning their livelihood.
Brāhmaṇas in this class are not very interested in the Deity; they are interested mainly in the money they can earn as holy men.
So the Deities worshiped by such professional brāhmaṇas are not properly decorated, Their dress is not changed, and Their bodies are not cleaned.
They look dirty and are not very attractive.
Actually, Deity worship should be done very carefully: the dress should be changed daily, and as far as possible there should be ornaments.
Everything should be so clean that the Deity is attractive to all visitors.
Here the example is given of the Deities in the house of a professional brāhmaṇa because such Deities are not at all attractive.
The friends of Kṛṣṇa, in the absence of Kṛṣṇa, were appearing like such neglected Deities.
Bashfulness When Rādhārāṇī was first introduced to Kṛṣṇa, She felt very bashful.
One of Her friends addressed Her in this way: "My dear friend, You have already sold Yourself and all Your beauty to Govinda.
Now You should not be bashful.
Please look upon Him cheerfully.
One who has sold an elephant to another person should not make a miserly quarrel about selling the trident which controls the elephant." This kind of bashfulness is due to a new introduction in ecstatic love with Kṛṣṇa.
The heavenly King, Indra, upon being defeated in his fight with Kṛṣṇa for possession of the pārijāta flower, became very bashful because of his defeat.
He was standing before Kṛṣṇa, bowing down his head, when Kṛṣṇa said, "All right, Indra, you can take this pārijāta flower.
Otherwise, you will not be able to show your face before your wife, Śacīdevī." Indra's bashfulness was due to defeat.
In another instance, Kṛṣṇa began to praise Uddhava for his various high qualifications.
Upon being praised by Kṛṣṇa, Uddhava also bowed down his head bashfully.
In Hari-vaṁśa, Satyabhāmā, feeling slighted by Rukmiṇī's high position, said, "My dear Kṛṣṇa, the Raivataka Mountain is always full of spring flowers, but when I have become persona non grata to You, what is the use of my observing them?" This is an instance of bashfulness resulting from being defeated.
Concealment There is a symptom of ecstatic love known as concealment, or trying to hide one's real mental condition by externally showing another attitude.
In this state of mind one tries to hide his mind by looking away in different directions, by unnecessarily trying for something which is impossible, or by using words which cover one's real thoughts.
According to ācāryas expert in the study of psychological activities, these attempts at hiding one's real affections are another part of ecstatic feeling for Kṛṣṇa.
In the Tenth Canto, 32nd Chapter, 14th verse of Śrīmad- Bhāgavatam, Śukadeva Gosvāmī states, "My dear King, the gopīs were always beautiful and decorated with confidential smiles and alluring garments.
In their movements, intended to give impetus to lusty feelings, they would sometimes press Kṛṣṇa's hand on their laps, and sometimes they would keep His lotus feet on their breasts.
After doing this, they would talk with Kṛṣṇa as if they were very angry with Him." There is another instance of this concealment in ecstatic love.
When Kṛṣṇa, the supreme joker, planted the pārijāta tree in the courtyard of Satyabhāmā, Rukmiṇī, the daughter of King Vīrabhadra, became very angry, but due to her natural gentle behavior, she did not express anything.
No one could understand Rukmiṇī's real mental condition.
This is an instance of competitive concealment.
There is another instance in the First Canto, 11th Chapter, 28th verse of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.
After entering Dvārakā, Kṛṣṇa was received in different ways by different members of His family.
Upon seeing their husband from a distance, the queens of Dvārakā immediately embraced Him within their minds and slowly glanced over Him.
As Kṛṣṇa came nearer, they pushed their sons forward to embrace Him.
Others were trying, out of shyness, not to shed tears, but they still could not keep the tears from gliding down.
This is an instance of concealment caused by shyness.
On another occasion, when Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī thought that Kṛṣṇa was involved with another woman, She addressed Her friend in this manner: "My dear friend, as soon as I think of Kṛṣṇa the cowherd boy attached to some other woman, I become stricken with fearfulness and the hairs on My body stand up.
I must be very careful that Kṛṣṇa will not see Me at such times." This is an instance of concealment caused by shyness and diplomatic behavior.
It has been stated: "Although Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī developed a deep loving affection for Kṛṣṇa, She hid Her attitude in the core of Her heart so that others could not detect Her actual condition." This is an instance of concealment caused by gentleness.
Once when Kṛṣṇa and His cowherd friends were enjoying friendly conversation, Kṛṣṇa began to address His associates in casual language.
At that time Kṛṣṇa's servant, Patrī, was also enjoying the conversation.
But then, remembering his position of servitude, Patrī bowed down before his master, and with great respect and control, he stifled his smiling.
This subdued smiling is an instance of concealment caused by a respectful attitude.
Remembering There are many symptoms of ecstatic love caused by remembering Kṛṣṇa.
For example, one friend of Kṛṣṇa informed Him, "My dear Mukunda, just after observing a bluish cloud in the sky, the lotus-eyed Rādhārāṇī immediately began to remember You.
And simply by observing this cloud She became lusty for Your association." This is an instance of remembering Kṛṣṇa in ecstatic love because of seeing something resembling Him.
Kṛṣṇa's bodily complexion is very similar to the bluish hue of a cloud, so simply by observing a bluish cloud, Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī remembered Him.
One devotee said that even when he was not very attentive he would sometimes, seemingly out of madness, remember the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa within his heart.
This is an instance of remembrance resulting from constant practice.
In other words, devotees who are constantly thinking of the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa, even if they are momentarily inattentive, will see the figure of Lord Kṛṣṇa appearing within their hearts.
Argumentativeness Madhumaṅgala was an intimate friend of Kṛṣṇa coming from the brāhmaṇa community.
Kṛṣṇa's friends were mostly cowherd boys belonging to the vaiśya community, but there were others who belonged to the brāhmaṇa community.
Actually, in Vṛndāvana the vaiśya community and the brāhmaṇa community are considered prominent.
This Madhumaṅgala one day addressed Kṛṣṇa in this fashion: "My dear friend, I can see that You are not aware of the peacock feathers that are falling on the ground, and at the same time You are unmindful of the flower garlands which are offered to You.
I think I can guess the reason for Your absent-mindedness when I see Your two eyes flying over to the eyes of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī, just like black drones flying to lotus flowers." This is an instance of an argumentative suggestion in ecstatic love.
Once while Kṛṣṇa was out walking, one of the associates of Rādhārāṇī told Her: "My dear friend, do You think that this walking personality is a tāmala tree?* If He is a tāmala tree, then how is it possible for Him to walk and be so beautiful? Then, this personality might be a cloud.
But if He's a cloud, then where is the beautiful moon within? Under the circumstances, I think it may be granted that this person is the same enchanting Personality of Godhead by whose flute vibration the three worlds are captivated.
He must be the same Mukunda who is standing before Govardhan Hill." This is another instance of an argumentative presentation of ecstatic love.
Anxiety In the Tenth Canto, 29th Chapter, 26th verse of Śrīmad- Bhāgavatam, when Kṛṣṇa asked all the gopīs to go back to their homes, they did not like it.
Because of their grief at this, they were sighing heavily, and their beautiful faces appeared to be drying up.
In this condition they remained, without making a sound.
They began to draw lines on the ground with their toes, and with their tears they washed the black ointment from their eyes onto their breasts, which were covered with red kuṅkuma powder.
This is an instance of anxiety in ecstatic love.
One of the friends of Kṛṣṇa once informed Him, "My dear killer of the demon Mura, Your kind and gentle mother is very anxious because You have not returned home, and with great difficulty she has passed the evening constantly sitting on the corridor platform of Your home.
It is certainly astonishing how You could forget Your mother while You are off somewhere engaged in Your playful activities!" This is another instance of deep anxiety in ecstatic love.
When Mother Yaśodā was very anxiously waiting for Kṛṣṇa to return from Mathurā, Mahārāj Nanda gave her this solace: "My dear * The tāmala tree is always described as being the same color as Kṛṣṇa.
Yaśodā, please don't be worried.
Please dry your beautiful lotus-like face.
There is no need for you to breathe so hotly.
I will go immediately with Akrūra to the palace of Kaṁsa and get your son back for you." Here is an instance of anxiety in ecstatic love caused by Kṛṣṇa's awkward position.
Thoughtfulness In the Vaiśākha-māhātmya section of the Padma Purāṇa a devotee states that though in some of the eighteen Purāṇas the process of glorifying Lord Viṣṇu is not mentioned, and the glorifying of some demigod is offered, such glorification must be continued for millions of years.
For when one studies the Purāṇas very scrutinizingly, he can see that, ultimately, Lord Viṣṇu is the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
This is an instance of ecstatic love developed out of thoughtfulness.
In the Tenth Canto, 68th Chapter, 30th verse of Śrīmad- Bhāgavatam, there is an account of Rukmiṇīdevī's writing a letter to Kṛṣṇa requesting Him to kidnap her before her marriage to another person.
At that time the specific attachment of Rukmiṇī for Kṛṣṇa was expressed by Rukmiṇī as follows: "My dear Lord Kṛṣṇa, Your transcendental glories are chanted by great sages who are free from material contamination, and in exchange for such glorification You are so kind that You freely distribute Yourself to such devotees.
As one can elevate oneself simply by Your grace, so also by Your direction alone one may be lost to all benedictions under the influence of eternal time.
Therefore I have selected Your Lordship as my husband, brushing aside personalities like Brahmā and Indra-not to mention others." Rukmiṇī enhanced her love for Kṛṣṇa simply by thinking of Him.
This is an instance of thoughtfulness in ecstatic love.
Endurance When a person is fully satisfied due to attaining knowledge, transcending all distress, or achieving his desired goal of life in transcendental devotional service to God-at that time his state of endurance or steady mind is called dhṛti.
At this stage one is not perturbed by any amount of loss, nor does anything appear to be unachieved by him.
According to the opinion of Bhartṛhari, the learned scholar, when a person is elevated to this state of endurance, he thinks as follows: "I do not wish to be a highly posted government servant.
I shall be satisfied even if I have to eat food collected by begging.
I shall prefer to remain naked, without proper dress of garments.
I shall prefer to lie down on the ground without any mattress.
And despite all these disadvantages, I shall refuse to serve anyone, not even the government." In other words, when one is in ecstatic love with the Personality of Godhead, he can endure any kind of disadvantages calculated under the material concept of life.
Nanda Mahārāj, the father of Kṛṣṇa, used to think: "In my pasturing ground the goddess of fortune is personally present, and I possess more than ten hundred thousand cows which loiter here and there.
And above all, I have a son like Kṛṣṇa, who is such a powerful, wonderful worker.
Therefore, even though I am a householder, I am feeling so satisfied!" This is an instance of mental endurance resulting from the absence of all distress.
In another instance a devotee says, "I am always swimming in the nectarean ocean of the pastimes of the Personality of Godhead, and as such I have no more attraction for religious rituals, economic development, sense gratification, or even the ultimate salvation of merging into the existence of Brahman." This is an instance of the mind's endurance due to achieving the best thing in the world.
The best thing in the world is absorption in Kṛṣṇa consciousness.
Happiness It is described in the Viṣṇu Purāṇa that when Akrūra came to take Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma to Mathurā, just by seeing Their faces he became so cheerful that all over his body there were symptoms of ecstatic love.
This state is called happiness.
It is stated in the Tenth Canto, 33rd Chapter, 12th verse of ŚrīmadBhāgavatam: "Upon seeing that Kṛṣṇa's arm was placed on her shoulder, one of the gopīs engaged in the rāsa dance became so ecstatically happy that she kissed Kṛṣṇa on His cheek." This is an instance of feeling happiness because of achieving a desired goal.
Eagerness In the Tenth Canto, 71st Chapter, 29th verse of Śrīmad- Bhāgavatam, it is said: "When Kṛṣṇa first came from His kingdom, Dvārakā, to Indraprastha,* the young females of the city became so eager to see Him that even at night, when they were lying down with their husbands, they could not restrain their eagerness.
Even though they were not properly dressed and although their hair was loose and there were many household duties to perform, they still gave up everything and immediately went into the street to see Kṛṣṇa." This is an instance of eagerness of ecstatic love.
In his book Stavāvalī, Śrī Rūpa Gosvāmī has prayed for the mercy of Rādhārāṇī, who was so captivated by the flute vibrations of Kṛṣṇa that She immediately asked information of His whereabouts from residents in the Vṛndāvana forest.
Upon first seeing Kṛṣṇa, She was filled with such ecstatic love and pleasure that She began to scratch Her ears.
The damsels of Braja and Rādhārāṇī were very expert in talking cunningly, so as soon as they saw Kṛṣṇa they began their talkings; and Kṛṣṇa, pretending to go for some flowers for them, immediately left that place and entered into a mountain cave.
This is another instance of eager loving exchanges on the parts of both the gopīs and Kṛṣṇa.
When Kṛṣṇa was fighting with the Kāliya snake by dancing on his heads, Kāliya bit Kṛṣṇa on the leg.
At that time Garuḍa became infuriated and began to murmur: "Kṛṣṇa is so powerful that simply by His thundering voice the wives of Kāliya have had miscarriages.
Because my Lord has been insulted by this snake, I wish to immediately devour him, but I cannot do so in the presence of my Lord, because He may become angry with me." This is an instance of eagerness to act in ecstatic love as a result of dishonor to Kṛṣṇa.
- Indraprastha is the present-day Delhi.
When Śiśupāla objected to the worship of Kṛṣṇa in the rāja-sūya arena at a sacrifice organized by Mahārāj Yudhiṣṭhira, Nakula, the younger brother of Arjuna, said, "A person who cannot tolerate the worship of Kṛṣṇa is my enemy and is possessed of a demonic nature.
Therefore I wish to strike my left foot upon his broad head, just to punish him more strongly than the wand of Yamarāja!" Then Nakula began to lament like this: "Oh, all auspiciousness to Lord Kṛṣṇa! I am so surprised to see that the condemned descendants of the Kuru dynasty, who so unlawfully occupied the throne of the Kuru kingdom, are at the same time criticizing Kṛṣṇa with diplomatic devices.
Oh, this is intolerable!" This is another instance of eagerness caused by dishonor to Kṛṣṇa.
Haughtiness, Resultng in Dishonorable Words In the Vidagdha-mādhava, Kuṭilā, a sister-in-law of Rādhārāṇī, began to criticize Kṛṣṇa in this way: "Kṛṣṇa, You are standing here, and Rādhārāṇī, who has just been married to my brother, is also standing here.
Now I know both of You very well, so why should I not be very anxious to protect my sister-in-law from Your dancing eyes?" This is an instance of dishonorable words used to indirectly criticize Kṛṣṇa.
Similarly, some of the gopīs once began to address Kṛṣṇa with these dishonorable words: "My dear Kṛṣṇa, You are a first-class thief.
So please leave this place immediately.
We know You love Candrāvalī more than us, but there is no use in praising her in our presence! Kindly do not contaminate the name of Rādhārāṇī in this place!" This is another instance of dishonorable words cast upon Kṛṣṇa in ecstatic love.
There is another statement in the Tenth Canto, 31st Chapter, 16th verse of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.
When all the gopīs came out of their homes to meet Kṛṣṇa in the Vṛndāvana forest, Kṛṣṇa refused to accept them and asked them to go home, giving them some moral instruction.
At that time the gopīs began to speak as follows: "My dear Kṛṣṇa, there is extreme distress in being out of Your presence, and there is extreme happiness simply in seeing You.
Therefore we have all left our husbands, relatives, brothers and friends and have simply come to You, being captivated by the sound of Your transcendental flute.
O infallible one, You had better know what is the reason for our coming here.
In plain words, we are here simply because we have been captivated by the sweet sound of Your flute.
We are all beautiful girls, and You are so foolish that You are rejecting our association.
We do not know anyone, other than Yourself, who would miss this opportunity to associate with young girls in the dead of night!" This is another instance of indirect insults used against Kṛṣṇa in ecstatic love.
In the Padyāvalī, one of the friends of Rādhārāṇī once addressed Her thusly: "My dear friend, please do not be too puffed up because Kṛṣṇa has decorated Your forehead with His own hand.
It may be that Kṛṣṇa is yet attracted by some other beautiful girl.
I see that the decoration on Your forehead is very nicely made, and so it appears that Kṛṣṇa was not too disturbed in painting it.
Otherwise, He could not have painted such exact lines!" This is an instance of indirect dishonor caused by Rādhā's good fortune.
In the Tenth Canto, 30th Chapter, 26th verse of Śrīmad- Bhāgavatam there is the following statement: "When the gopīs were searching for Kṛṣṇa and Rādhā after the rāsa dance, they thus began to speak amongst themselves: 'We have seen the footprints of Kṛṣṇa and Rādhā on the ground of Vṛndāvana, and they are giving us great pain, because Kṛṣṇa is everything to us.
But that girl is so cunning that She has taken Him away alone and is enjoying His kissing without sharing Him with us!' " This is another instance of casting dishonoable words against Kṛṣṇa and Rādhā, pouting over the good fortune of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī.
Envy Sometimes when the cowherd boys used to play in the forests of Vṛndāvana, Kṛṣṇa would play on one side, and Balarāma would play on another.
There would be competition and mock fighting between the two parties, and when Kṛṣṇa's party was defeated by Balarāma, the boys would say, "If Balarāma's party remains victorious, then who in the world can be weaker than ourselves?" This is an instance of envy in ecstatic love.
Impudence In the Tenth Canto, 52nd Chapter, 33rd verse of the Śrīmad- Bhāgavatam, Rukmiṇī addresses a letter to Kṛṣṇa as follows: "My dear unconquerable Kṛṣṇa, my marriage day is fixed for tomorrow.
I request that You come to the city of Vidarbha without advertising Yourself.
Then have Your soldiers and commanders suddenly surround and defeat all the strength of the King of Magadha and by thus adopting the methods of the demons, please kidnap and marry me." According to the Vedic system there are eight kinds of marriages, out of which one is called rākṣasa-vivāha.
Rākṣasa-vivāha refers to kidnapping a girl and marrying her by force and is considered to be a demonic method.
When Rukmiṇī was going to be married to Śiśupāla by the choice of her elder brother, she wrote the above letter to Kṛṣṇa requesting Him to kidnap her.
This is an instance of impudence in ecstatic love for Kṛṣṇa.
One of the gopīs said, "May Kṛṣṇa's sweet flute be washed away by the waves of the Yamunā, and let it fall into the ocean! The sweet sound of that flute is so impudent that it makes us lose all composure before our superiors." Dizziness Every evening at sunset Kṛṣṇa used to return from the pasturing ground where He herded cows.
Sometimes when Mother Yaśodā could not hear the sweet vibration of His flute she would become very anxious, and because of this she would feel dizzy.
Thus, dizziness caused by anxiety in ecstatic love for Kṛṣṇa is also possible.
When Yaśodā had tied Kṛṣṇa up one time, she began to think, "Kṛṣṇa's body is so soft and delicate, how could I have tied Him with rope?" Thinking this, her brain became puzzled, and she felt dizziness.
The gopīs were advised by their superiors to bolt the doors at night, but they were so carefree that they did not carry out this order very rigidly.
Sometimes, by thinking of Kṛṣṇa, they became so confident of being out of all danger that they would lie down at night in the courtyards of their houses.
This is an instance of dizziness in ecstatic love due to natural affection for Kṛṣṇa.
It may be questioned why devotees of Kṛṣṇa should be attacked by dizziness, which is usually considered a sign of the modes of ignorance.
To answer this question, Śrī Jīva Gosvāmī has said that the devotees of Lord Kṛṣṇa are always transcendental to all the modes of material nature; when they feel dizziness or go to sleep, they are not considered to be sleeping under the modes of nature, but are accepted as being in a trance of devotional service.
There is an authoritative statement in the Garuḍa Purāṇa about mystic yogīs who are under the direct shelter of the Supreme Personality of Godhead: "In all three stages of their consciousness-namely, wakefulness, dreaming and deep sleep- the devotees are absorbed in the thought of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
Therefore, in their complete absorption in the thought of Kṛṣṇa, they do not sleep." Alertness A devotee once stated, "I have already conquered the modes of ignorance, and I am now on the platform of transcendental knowledge.
Therefore I shall be engaged only in searching after the Supreme Personality of Godhead." This is an instance of alertness in ecstatic love.
Transcendental alertness is possible when the illusory condition is completely overcome.
At that stage, when in contact with any reaction of material elements, such as sound, smell, touch or taste, the devotee realizes the transcendental presence of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
In this condition the ecstatic symptoms (i.e.
standing of the hair on the body, rolling of the eyeballs and getting up from sleep) are persistently visible.
When Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī first saw Kṛṣṇa, She suddenly became conscious of all transcendental happiness, and the functions of Her different limbs were stunned.
When Lalitā, Her constant companion, whispered into Her ear the holy name of Kṛṣṇa, Rādhārāṇī immediately opened Her eyes wide.
This is an instance of alertness caused by hearing the sound of Kṛṣṇa's name.
One day, in a joking mood, Kṛṣṇa informed Rādhārāṇī, "My dear Rādhārāṇī, I am going to give up Your company." Upon saying this, He immediately disappeared, and because of this Rādhārāṇī became so afflicted that the hue of Her body changed, and She immediately fell down upon the ground of Vṛndāvana.
She had practically stopped breathing, but when She smelled the flavor of the flowers on the ground, She awoke in ecstasy and got up.
This is an instance of transcendental alertness caused by smelling.
When Kṛṣṇa was touching the body of one gopī, the gopī began to address her companion thus: "My dear friend, whose hand is this touching my body? I had become very afraid after seeing the darkened forest on the bank of the Yamunā, but suddenly the touch of this hand has saved me from hysterical fits." This is an instance of alertness caused by touching.
One of the gopīs informed Kṛṣṇa, "My dear Kṛṣṇa, when You disappeared from the arena of the rāsa dance, our most dear friend, Rādhārāṇī, immediately fell on the ground and lost consciousness.
But after this, when I offered Her some of Your chewed betel nut remnants, She immediately returned to consciousness with jubilant symptoms in Her body." This is an instance of alertness caused by tasting.
One night Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī was talking in a dream.
"My dear Kṛṣṇa," She said.
"Please do not play any more jokes on Me! Please stop! And please don't touch My garments either.
Otherwise I shall inform the elderly persons, and I shall disclose all of Your naughty behavior." While She was talking like this in a dream, She suddenly awoke and saw some of Her superiors standing before Her.
Thus Rādhārāṇī became ashamed and bowed Her head.
This is an instance of alertness after awakening from sleep.
There is another instance of this.
A messenger from Kṛṣṇa came to Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī while She was sleeping, and Rādhārāṇī immediately awakened.
Similarly, when Kṛṣṇa began to blow on His flute in the night, all of the gopīs, the beautiful daughters of the cowherd men, immediately got up from their sleep.
There is a very beautiful comparison made in this connection: "The lotus flower is sometimes surrounded by white swans, and sometimes it is surrounded by black wasps who are collecting its honey.
When there is a thundering in the sky, the swans go away, but the black wasps stay to enjoy the lotus flowers." The gopīs' sleeping condition is compared to the white swans, and the sound of Kṛṣṇa's flute is compared to a black wasp.
When Kṛṣṇa's flute sounded, the white swans, which represent the sleeping condition of the gopīs, were immediately vanquished, and the black wasp sound of the flute began to enjoy the lotus flower of the gopīs' beauty.
Additional Symptoms
All the above-mentioned thirty-one symptoms of ecstatic love are called vyabhicārī, or disturbing.
All these symptoms refer to apparently disturbed conditions, but even in such disturbed conditions there is acute ecstatic love for Kṛṣṇa.
These symptoms, however, can be divided into three groups: first class, second class and third.
There are many disturbing symptoms in ecstatic love, such as envy, anxiety, pride, jealousy, conclusion, cowardliness, forgiveness, impatience, hankering, regret, doubtfulness and impudence.
These are included in all the thirty-one conditions of ecstatic love.
Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī has very nicely analyzed the different kinds of disturbing symptoms, and although it is very difficult to find the exact English equivalents for many Sanskrit words used here, his analysis will now be presented.
When one becomes malicious upon seeing another's advancement of life, his state of mind is generally called envy.
When one becomes frightened at seeing a lightning bolt in the sky, that fearfulness brings on anxiety.
Therefore, fearfulness and anxiety can be taken as one.
When someone wants to hide his real mentality, it is called avahittha, or concealment.
When a person wants to exhibit superiority, it is called pride.
Both of these can be classified under pretension.
In a pretentious attitude both avahittha and pride are to be found.
When one cannot tolerate an offense committed by another, it is called amarṣa, and when one cannot tolerate the opulence of another it is called jealousy.
Jealousy and amarṣa are both caused by intolerance.
When one is able to establish the correct import of a word, it can be called conclusiveness.
And before such a conclusive determination of import, there must be thoughtful consideration.
Therefore, the act of consideration is present during the establishment of a conclusion.
When one presents himself as ignorant, it is called humility, and when there is absence of enthusiasm it is called cowardice.
Therefore, in humility, there is cowardice also.
When the mind is steadfast it is called enduring, and when one can tolerate others' offenses, that is also called endurance.
Therefore, forgiveness and endurance can be synonymous.
When one is anxiousness for time to pass, that is called impatience, and when one sees something wonderful one is said to be struck with wonder.
Impatience may be caused by being struck with wonder, and so impatience and being struck with wonder can be synonymous.
When anxiety is in its dormant stage it is called hankering.
Therefore, anxiety and hankering can also be synonymous.
When one becomes regretful for some offense, his feeling is called bashfulness.
In this way, bashfulness and regret can be synonymous.
Doubtfulness is one of the aspects of argument.
After exhibiting impudence one becomes restless.
Therefore restlessness and impudence can be synonymous.
When all such symptoms are included in ecstatic love, they are called añcārī, or continuously existing ecstatic symptoms.
All of these symptoms are transcendental, and they are exhibited in different ways, acting and interacting under different conditions.
They are like the reciprocation of love between the lover and beloved.
When a person is envious or defamed, there may be a change in the color of the body.
This may be classified as vibhāva, or sub-ecstasy.
Sometimes illusion, collapse and strong anxiety are also considered to be vibhāva.
When there are many such symptoms, they can simply be grouped together under ecstatic love.
Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī says that fright, sleep, fatigue, laziness and the madness of intoxication are sometimes grouped under continuous symptoms of ecstatic love, and they are due to a strong attraction.
False argument, determination, steadiness, remembrance, joyfulness, ignorance, humility and unconsciousness are also different symptoms of ecstatic love.
Dependence is also grouped under ecstatic love, and this can be divided into superior dependence and inferior dependence.
The direct differentiations between superior and inferior dependence are ascertained by Rūpa Gosvāmī and will be presented in due course.
One devotee exclaimed, "Oh, I cannot see the district of Mathurā! Even though by simply hearing the name of Mathurā the hairs of my body are standing up, I cannot see the place.
So of what use are my eyes?" This statement reveals a strong anxiety to see the district of Mathurā resulting from a strong attachment to Kṛṣṇa.
There is another instance of this strong attachment for Kṛṣṇa expressed by Bhīma when he began to murmur, "My arms are just like thunderbolts, but despite these arms I could not smash Śiśupāla while he was blaspheming Kṛṣṇa.
Therefore, of what use are these strong arms?" In this instance Bhīma became angry, and, being influenced by such anger, his hopelessness became a cause for strong attachment to Kṛṣṇa.
This instance can be described as strong attachment for Kṛṣṇa in anger.
When Arjuna witnessed the universal form of Kṛṣṇa, whose dazzling teeth were practically devouring the very existence of the universe, Arjuna's mouth became dried up.
At that time Arjuna forgot himself and could not understand that he was Arjuna, Kṛṣṇa's friend, although he was always dependent upon Kṛṣṇa's mercy.
This incident is an example of inferior dependence.
Sometimes ghastly activities also support strong ecstatic love for Kṛṣṇa.
This state of mind is called ecstatic fearfulness under illusion.
In the Tenth Canto, 23rd Chapter, 32nd verse of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam there is the following statement by the brāhmaṇas who were performing sacrifices: "We have all been born into three advantageous conditions: we are in high brāhmaṇa families, we have ceremoniously received the sacred thread, and we are also properly initiated by a spiritual master.
But, alas, in spite of all these advantages, we are condemned.
Even our observance of brahmacarya [ celibacy ] is condemned.' The brāhmaṇas thus began to condemn their own activities.
They realized that in spite of being so elevated by birth, education and culture, they still were under the spell of the illusory energy.
They also admitted that even great yogīs who are not devotees of the Lord are covered by the influence of material energy.
This kind of hopelessness felt by the brāhmaṇas who were performing ritualistic ceremonies shows practically no attachment for Kṛṣṇa.
There is another hopelessness, however, which shows attachment for Kṛṣṇa.
When the bull demon attacked the damsels of Braja, they began to cry out, "My dear Kṛṣṇa-please save us! We are now gone!" This is hopelessness with attachment for Kṛṣṇa.
When the Keśī demon was assassinated by Kṛṣṇa, Kaṁsa became hopeless.
He said, "Keśīdaitya was as dear to me as my own life, but he has been killed by some cowherd boy who is crude, uneducated and ignorant of fighting.
Even though I have defeated the King of heaven without difficulty, still I do not know the value of life." Because this hopelessness has a slight touch of attraction for Kṛṣṇa, it is considered to be a reflection of ecstatic love in hopelessness.
Kaṁsa once rebuked Akrūra by saying, "You are such a fool that you are accepting the Supreme Personality of Godhead to be a cowherd boy, simply because He has defeated some harmless water snake! The boy may have lifted one pebble called Govardhan Hill, but what is more surprising than that is your statement that this boy is the Personality of Godhead!" This is an instance of a maliciously opposing element, caused by hopelessness in ecstatic love for Kṛṣṇa.
One devotee tried to console a kadamba tree when the tree was lamenting because Kṛṣṇa had not touched even its shadow.
The devotee said, "My dear kadamba tree, do not be worried.
Just after defeating the Kāliya snake in the Yamunā River, Kṛṣṇa will come and satisfy your desire." This is an instance of inappropriate hopelessness in ecstatic love for Kṛṣṇa.
Garuḍa, the eagle, the carrier of Viṣṇu, once said, "Who can be more pure than I? Where is there a second bird like me, so able and competent? Kṛṣṇa may not like me; He may not wish to join my party, but still He has to take advantage of my wings!" This is an instance of hopelessness in the neutral mood of ecstatic love.
The symptoms of ecstatic love are sometimes grouped under four headings-namely, generation, conjunction, aggregation and satisfaction.
Kṛṣṇa once told Rādhārāṇī, "My dear friend, when You tried to meet Me alone in the morning, Your friend Mekhalā remained hungry with envy.
Just look at her!" When Kṛṣṇa was joking with Rādhārāṇī in this way, Rādhārāṇī moved Her beautiful eyebrows crossly.
Rūpa Gosvāmī prays that everyone may become blessed by this movement of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī's eyebrows.
This is an instance of the generation of malice in ecstatic love of Kṛṣṇa.
One night, after the Pūtanā demon had been killed, baby Kṛṣṇa could be seen playing upon her breast.
Upon seeing this, Yaśodā became stunned for some time.
This is an example of a conjunction of various symptoms of ecstatic love.
The conjunction can be auspicious or inauspicious.
That the Pūtanā demon had been killed was auspicious, but that Kṛṣṇa was playing on her breast in the dead of night, with no one to help Him in case of trouble, was inauspicious.
Yaśodā was caught between auspiciousness and inauspiciousness.
After Kṛṣṇa had just learned to walk, He was going in and out of the house very frequently.
Yaśodā became surprised and said, "This child is too restless and cannot be controlled! He is incessantly going about the neighborhood of Gokula [Vṛndāvana], and then He is coming back inside the house.
I see that the child is very fearless, but in spite of His fearlessness, I am becoming more and more afraid of His falling into some danger." This again is an instance of the conjunction of two opposing elements: the child was very fearless, but at the same time Yaśodā was becoming fearful of some danger.
Here danger is the cause, and Yaśodā's feelings are in conjunction of two opposing symptoms.
In other words, Yaśodā was feeling both happiness and doubt, or growing fear.
When Devakī, the mother of Kṛṣṇa, saw her son very jubilant in the presence of the wrestlers in Kaṁsa's arena, two kinds of tears were simultaneously gliding down her cheeks: sometimes her tears were warm, and sometimes they were cold.
This is an instance of a conjunction of jubilation and lamentation due to different causes of ecstatic love.
Once when Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī was standing on the bank of the Yamunā River in the forest of Vṛndāvana, She was attacked by Kṛṣṇa, who was stronger than She.
Although She externally expressed a disturbed mood from this incident, within Herself She was smiling and feeling great satisfaction.
Externally She moved Her eyebrows and made a show of rejecting Kṛṣṇa.
In this mood Rādhārāṇī looked very beautiful, and Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī glorified Her beauty.
This is an instance of exhibiting varying feelings in ecstatic love, although the cause is one only-Kṛṣṇa.
Sometimes there were great festivals in the house of Nanda Mahārāj, and all of the inhabitants of Vṛndāvana would assemble for these festivals.
During one such festival, Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī was seen wearing a golden necklace given Her by Kṛṣṇa.
This was immediately detected by Mother Yaśodā as well as by Rādhārāṇī's mother, because the necklace was too long for Rādhārāṇī's neck.
At the same time Rādhārāṇī could see Kṛṣṇa nearby, as well as Her own husband, Abhimanyu.
So all of these things combined to make Rādhārāṇī feel very much ashamed, and with Her face shrivelled She began to look very beautiful.
In this case there was a combination of bashfulness, anger, jubilation and lamentation.
This is an instance of an aggregate of symptoms of ecstatic love.
Kaṁsa once said, "What harm can this boy do to me? He has no power." The next moment Kaṁsa was informed that all of his friends had been killed by the boy.
Then Kaṁsa began to think in perplexity, "Shall I go immediately and surrender unto Him? But how can a great warrior do this?" The next moment he thought, "Why should I be afraid of Him? There are still so many wrestlers standing to support me." But the next moment he began to consider: "The boy is certainly not common, because He has lifted Govardhan Hill with His left hand.
So what can I do in this connection? Let me go to Vṛndāvana and inflict pains on all the residents there.
But still I cannot even go out, because my heart is trembling from fear of this boy!" This condition of Kaṁsa's mind reveals an instance of pride, lamentation, humility, determination, remembrance, doubtfulness, anger and fear.
Actually eight different symptoms comprised the mental condition of Kaṁsa.
This is another instance of an aggregate of symptoms in hopeless ecstatic love.
One householder devotee once said, "My Lord, I am so wretched that these two eyes are never desiring to see the glorious city of Mathurā.
Therefore, my eyes are actually condemned.
I am nicely educated, but my education has simply been used in government service.
I have not considered formidable time, stronger than anything else, which creates and annihilates everything.
To whom shall I leave all of my wealth and fortune? I am becoming older and older.
What shall I do? Shall I execute devotional service from here at home? This I cannot do, because my mind is being attracted by the transcendental land of Vṛndāvana." This is an instance of hopelessness, pride, doubtfulness, patience, lamentation, determination and eagerness-an aggregation of seven different symptoms in ecstatic love for Kṛṣṇa.
There is a proverb in Sanskrit which says, "Disappointment gives rise to the greatest satisfaction." In other words, when one's sentiment or ambition becomes too great and is not fulfilled until after seemingly hopeless tribulation, that is taken as the greatest satisfaction.
Once the cowherd boys in Vṛndāvana were vainly searching after Kṛṣṇa for a long time, and for that reason their faces became blackened, and their complexions appeared faded.
Just then they could hear on the hill a faint vibration from Kṛṣṇa's flute.
Immediately all of them became very much gladdened.
This is an instance of satisfaction in the midst of disappointment.
Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī says that although he has no expert knowledge about the sounds and meanings and mellows of the symptoms of ecstatic love, he has tried to give some examples of different varieties of love of Kṛṣṇa.
He further states that the thirty-one disturbing symptoms of ecstatic love, plus nine other symptoms, all taken together equal forty primary symptoms of ecstatic love.
These symptoms create transformations of bodily activities as well as movements of the senses.
All of them can be accepted as different feelings of the heart.
Sometimes some of the feelings are quite natural.
Sometimes some of the feelings are just temporary appearances.
Those symptoms which are very natural always remain, both within and without the devotee.
As one can detect the color of dye a cloth was soaked in by looking at the cloth, so, simply by understanding the different signs of these symptomatic features, one can understand the actual position.
In other words, attachment for Kṛṣṇa is one, nevertheless, because there exist different kinds of devotees, such attachment is manifested in many varieties.
As clothing tinged red appears red, so the temporary appearance of a certain type of feeling can be detected or observed by the specific ecstatic symptom.
In fact, all the different humors and mellows of the devotees possess various specific feelings within the mind.
And, according to these differences, the symptoms of ecstatic love appear in different forms and degrees.
If one's heart is highly elevated, grave and magnanimous, or if one's heart is rough and crude, different symptoms of ecstatic love will appear, influenced by the condition of the heart.
Actually, people cannot generally understand such different qualities of mentality, but when one's heart is very soft or gentle, these symptoms become very easily visible, and one can understand very clearly.
The heart of one who is highly elevated and grave is compared with gold.
If one's heart is very soft and gentle, his heart is compared with a cotton swab.
When there is an ecstatic sensation within the mind, the golden heart or grave heart is not agitated, but the soft heart immediately becomes agitated.
To offer another example, a grave, magnanimous heart is compared to a great city, and a soft heart to an insignificant cottage.
There may be many lights, or even great elephants in the big city, but no one will take particular notice of them.
But when such lights or elephants are seen near a small cottage, everyone can distinctly point them out.
Hardness of the heart is compared to a lightning bolt, with gold and with shellac.
The lightning bolt is very strong and never becomes soft.
Similarly, the hearts of those who are engaged in severe austerities and penances do not become very easily softened.
The golden heart becomes melted at high temperature, as in ecstatic love.
And the shellac heart is very easily melted in slight temperature.
Softness of the heart is compared with honey, with butter and with nectar.
And the condition of the mind is compared with sunshine.
As honey and butter become melted even in slight sunshine, so softhearted persons become easily melted.
Nectar, however, is by its nature always liquid.
And the hearts of those who are in pure ecstatic love with Kṛṣṇa are by nature always liquified, just like nectar.
A pure devotee of Kṛṣṇa is always specifically qualified with nectarean qualifications and sometimes with the qualifications of butter and honey.
On the whole, all the different conditions of the heart mentioned above can be melted under certain circumstances, just as a hard diamond sometimes is melted by a combination of certain chemicals.
In the Dāna-keli-kaumudī it is stated, "When love develops in the heart of a devotee, he cannot check the transformation of his sentiments.
It is just like at the rising of the moon, when the ebb tide of the ocean cannot be checked: immediately there must be movement of high waves." Although in its natural state, the ocean is always very grave and unfathomable, when the moon rises, nothing can check the ocean's agitation.
Similarly, those who are pure devotees cannot on any account check the movements of their feelings within.
Symptoms of Continuous Ecstasy
The continuous ecstasy of love can remain like a powerful king, subduing all temporary manifestations of love as well as any opposing elements of anger.
It can be exhibited directly or indirectly, and thus ecstatic love can be described as direct or indirect.
These symptoms of ecstatic love are possible only when one is fully situated in a transcendental position.
Direct ecstatic love can be divided into two groups-namely, selfish and selfless.
When noncontradictory symptoms of ecstatic love are distinctly manifest, any contradictory symptoms create a sense of abomination.
Contradictory ecstatic love is called selfish.
That ecstatic love which can adjust all contradictory or noncontradictory symptoms is called direct selfless love.
These selfless symptoms can again be divided into five groups: neutrality, servitude, fraternity, parenthood and conjugal love.
Such ecstatic love assumes a particular mode in contact with different objects of love.
Neutrality can be further subdivided into general, transparent and peaceful.
An attraction for Kṛṣṇa by the people in general or by children cannot take any specific or satisfactory position.
It can be manifest sometimes in trembling of the body and changing of the color of the eyes (to red, white, etc.), although there is no symptom of any particular affection.
One old man was told by a young man: "Just see how this child-only three years old-is so jubilant! Simply by seeing Kṛṣṇa he is running so swiftly, making a tumultuous sound.
Just see!" This is an instance of neutral ecstatic love in the heart of a child, without any specific subdivision.
Due to the different types of attraction for Kṛṣṇa, there are different varieties of devotees.
Their symptoms are manifested transparently, just like jewels.
It is said that a great devotee brāhmaṇa would sometimes address the Supreme Personality of Godhead as master, and sometimes he would joke with the Lord, using different kinds of familiar words; sometimes he would protect the Lord with a filial affection, and sometimes he would cry out to the Lord, addressing Him as his beloved; and sometimes he would meditate on the Lord as the supersoul.
This means that the brāhmaṇa expressed his ecstatic loving symptoms in different ways at different times.
But in each instance, because of ecstatic love, the brāhmaṇa merged himself in the ocean of happiness and became situated in pure love.
Thus he was a transparent medium, like a jewel that shows reality in varying colors according to its own nature.
When the great sage Nārada was glorifying the pastimes of the Lord with his vīṇā, the four Kumāras, headed by Sanaka, although merged in the impersonal conception of Brahman, were trembling all over.
Another devotee once exclaimed, "Although I can achieve liberation simply by serving the devotees, my mind is still very much anxious to see the Supreme Personality of Godhead, whose bodily complexion is just like a dark cloud." When a devotee is so anxious to contact the Supreme Personality of Godhead, that can also be accepted as a symptom of neutral love.
Generally, a devotee of Lord Kṛṣṇa can be placed into one of three groups.
One group consists of those who are completely dependent on the merciful affection of the Supreme Personality of Godhead; another group consists of devotees who are dealing with Kṛṣṇa on friendly terms; and the third group consists of those who are dealing with Kṛṣṇa as His superior, with parental affection.
These three classes of devotees gradually develop different relationships of transcendental mellow with the Personality of Godhead.
When the attraction for Kṛṣṇa is based on only one particular humor, that is called kevala, or pure state.
One in this pure state of devotional service gradually develops the desire to follow in the footsteps of an eternal associate of Kṛṣṇa, e.g., to follow in the footsteps of Rasāla, the personal attendant of Kṛṣṇa in Goloka Vṛndāvana, or to follow Kṛṣṇa's friends, like Śrīdāmā and Sudāmā, or to follow Nanda and Yaśodā, devotees in parenthood.
Ecstatic love for Kṛṣṇa is never manifested directly with Kṛṣṇa Himself.
The devotee has to follow in the footsteps of the eternal associates of Kṛṣṇa in Goloka Vṛndāvana.
When transcendental humors in relationship with Kṛṣṇa become mixed (e.g., when the relationships with Kṛṣṇa in friendship, servitorship and parental love become mixed together), the result is called mixed humor or flavor.
Such mixed transcendental flavors are manifested by such devotees as Uddhava, Bhīma and Mukharā, the personal attendant of Mother Yaśodā.
Although devotional humors are sometimes found in mixtures, a particular humor is always found to be a prominent and constant factor.
That prominent humor is to be accepted as the devotee's main relationship with Kṛṣṇa.
For example, Uddhava is in relationship with Kṛṣṇa as a friend, but in Uddhava's character a trace of servitude to Kṛṣṇa is also visible.
Such friendship is called friendship in reverence.
The friendship typified by Śrīdāmā and Sudāmā, however, is the standard of friendship without any tinge of reverence.
Subordinate Ecstatic Love The devotees who always think of Kṛṣṇa as a superior are in subordinate ecstatic love.
To such a devotee the concept of inferiority to the Lord is very prominent, and he rarely takes interest in any other kind of transcendental loving humor with the Lord.
In the Mukunda-mālā-stotra compiled by King Kulaśekhara, one of the prayers says, "My dear Lord, You are the deliverer of living entities from the hellish condition of materialistic life, but that does not matter to me.
Whether I am elevated to the heavenly platform or remain on this earthly planet or am dispatched to some hellish planet, that does not matter at all to me.
My only prayer is that at the time of my death I may simply remember Your two beautiful feet, which are just like lotus flowers fructifying during the autumn season." Friendship As far as friendship is concerned, those high-grade devotees who are almost like Kṛṣṇa are considered to be great authorities in the modes of friendly relations with the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
On that friendly platform there are different kinds of laughing and joking conversations.
An example of such a friendly relationship with Kṛṣṇa is described in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam when Kṛṣṇa was once thinking, "Today, while I was engaged in tending the cows in the pasturing ground of Vṛndāvana, I went to collect some flowers in a beautiful garden.
At that time My friends, the cowherd boys, were unhappy even to tolerate a two-minute separation from Me.
And, when they found Me, there was competition between us as to who would touch the other first with the flowers we had in hand." One friend criticized Kṛṣṇa thus: "My dear Dāmodara, although You have been defeated by Śrīdāmā and have become sufficiently minimized in strength, by a false expression of strength You have somehow covered Your shameful condition of defeat." Parenthood, or Superiority When Mother Yaśodā heard that Kṛṣṇa's cows were being forcibly moved by the strong servants of Kaṁsa and that the tender cowherd boys were trying to protect their cows, she began to think, "How can I protect these poor boys from the invasion of Kaṁsa's servants?" This is an instance of a superior attitude in a devotee.
As soon as Mother Yaśodā found her son Kṛṣṇa returning from the pasturing ground, she immediately began to pat Him, touching her fingers to the cheeks of the Lord.
Conjugal Affection
Above even the humor of love between Kṛṣṇa and His parents is the relationship of conjugal love.
This is exhibited between the Lord and the young gopīs in different ways-glancing, moving the eyebrows, speaking very sweet words, and exchanging smiles.
There is a statement in Govinda-vilāsa to this effect: "Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī was looking for Kṛṣṇa very anxiously and almost disappointedly." When there is such indirect expression of conjugal love, there is smiling, astonishment, enthusiasm, lamentation, anger, dread and sometimes ghastliness.
These seven exchanges of conjugal love form another state of ecstatic love.
In a direct relationship of conjugal love, there is laughter, astonishment, chivalry, lamentation, anger and dread, but there is no ghastliness.
These expressions are considered to be the great reservoirs of pleasure.
When these seven kinds of ecstatic loving exchanges are manifested, they attain the status of steadiness by which the taste of conjugal love expands.
Laughter After He had stolen some curd from the pots of two gopīs, Kṛṣṇa told one of His gopī friends: "My dear beautiful friend, I can take oath that I have not stolen even a drop of curd from your pot! But still, your friend, Rādhārāṇī, is very shamelessly smelling the flavor of My mouth.
Kindly forbid Her from this devious policy of putting Her face near Mine." When Kṛṣṇa was speaking like this, the friends of Rādhārāṇī could not check their laughter.
This is an instance of ecstasy in conjugal love.
Astonishment Once Brahmā was watching all the cows and the cowherd boys dressed in yellow garments and decorated with valuable jewels.
The boys were expanding their four arms and were being worshiped by many hundreds of other Brahmās.
All the cowherd boys began to express their joyfulness for being with Kṛṣṇa, the supreme Brahman.
At that time, Brahmā showed his astonishment by exclaiming, "What am I seeing here?" This is an instance of astonishment in ecstatic love.
Chivalry On the bank of the Yamunā once there was the crackling sound of dry leaves, giggling from the cowherd boys, and thundering from the sky.
Śrīdāmā was tightening his belt to fight with Kṛṣṇa, the conqueror of the demon Agha.
This is an instance of chivalry in ecstatic love.
Lamentation In the Tenth Canto, 7th Chapter, 22nd verse of Śrīmad- Bhāgavatam there is a description of Kṛṣṇa's being taken away by the whirlwind demon Tṛṇāvarta.
As Kṛṣṇa was being thus carried up into the sky, all the gopīs began to cry aloud.
They approached Mother Yaśodā, stating that they could not find the son of Nanda.
He had been taken awayby a whirlwind.
This is an instance of lamentation in ecstatic love.
When Kṛṣṇa was fighting with Kāliya, Mother Yaśodā exclaimed, "Kṛṣṇa is now entrapped within the hoods of the Kāliya snake, and yet I am not tattered to pieces! So I must admit how wonderful is the preserving power of this material body!" This is another instance of lamentation in ecstatic love.
Anger When Kuṭilā, the sister of Abhimanyu, saw Kṛṣṇa wearing a necklace, she could understand that the jeweled ornament had been given to Him by Rādhārāṇī.
She therefore became absorbed in anger and began to move her eyebrows, expressing her anger in ecstatic love.
Ghastliness There is a statement by Yāmunācārya to this effect: "Since I have begun to enjoy these transcendental exchanges of love, which are always newer and newer, whenever I remember the pleasure of past sex life, my lips curl and I wish to spit on the idea." This is an instance of ecstatic love in ghastliness.
Dread One old devotee said, "My dear Lord, when we are away from You we become so anxious to see You again, and there is great misery in our lives.
But then, when we do see You, there immediately comes the fear of separation.
Under the circumstances, both when we see You and when we do not see You, we are subjected to different kinds of tribulation." This is an instance of a contradictory mixture of ecstatic love for Kṛṣṇa.
Such ecstatic love is palatable, and expert critics have compared such ecstatic love with a mixture of curd, sugar candy and a little black pepper.
The combined taste is very palatable.
The Nectar of Devotion
The particular type of ecstatic loving sentiment that develops within the heart of a particular devotee is considered to be vibhāva.
And the resultant manifestations such as moving the eyebrows, fear, astonishment and smiling, which have been explained hereinbefore, are called anubhāva.
The different causes for developing anubhāva and vibhāva are called steady ecstasy, or saṣcāri- bhāva.
Whenever there is a recitation of poetry or a dramatic play on the different pastimes of Kṛṣṇa, the audience develops different kinds of transcendental loving service for the Lord.
They enjoy different types of vibhāva, anubhāva and saṣcāri- bhāva.
No one, while remaining on the material platform, should discuss these different descriptions of bhāva and anubhāva by quoting different statements of transcendental literatures.
Such manifestations are displays of the transcendental pleasure potency of the Lord.
One should simply try to understand that on the spiritual platform, there are many varieties of reciprocal love.
Such loving exchanges should never be considered to be material.
In the Mahābhārata Udyama-parva it is warned that things which are inconceivable should not be subjected to arguments.
Actually, the transactions of the spiritual world are inconceivable to us in our present state of life.
Great liberated souls like Rūpa Gosvāmī and others have tried to give us some hints of transcendental activities in the spiritual world, but on the whole these transactions will remain inconceivable to us at the present moment.
Understanding the exchanges of transcendental loving service with Kṛṣṇa is possible only when one is actually in touch with the pleasure potency of the Supreme Lord.
In this connection Śrī Rūpa Gosvāmī gives an example of the clouds in the sky: the clouds in the sky arise from the ocean, and when the clouds become water again and fall to the ground, they glide back to the ocean.
Similarly, the pleasure potency of Kṛṣṇa is compared with the ocean.
The pure devotee is the pleasure-possessing cloud, and when he is filled with transcendental loving service, then he can bestow his mercy as a downpour of rain-and the pleasure potency returns to the ocean of Kṛṣṇa.
Direct and Indirect Attraction for Kṛṣṇa Transcendental pleasure derived from devotional service can be divided into two groups: direct devotional service and indirect devotional service.
Direct devotional service is divided into five transcendental humors or flavors, and indirect devotional service is divided into seven transcendental humors.
Direct devotional services are as follows: neutrality, servitude, fraternity, paternity and conjugal love.
Indirect devotional service is divided into laughter, compassion, anger, chivalry, dread, astonishment and ghastliness.
Devotional service can therefore be divided into twelve types, each of which has a different color.
The colors are white, multicolored, orange, red, light green, gray, yellow, off-whitish, smoky, pink, black and cloudy.
The twelve different kinds of transcendental humors are controlled by different incarnations of God, such as Kapila, Mādhava, Upendra, Nṛsiṁha, Nandanandana, Balarāma, Kūrma, Kalki, Rāghava, Bhārgava, Varāha and Matsya.
Sustenance, manifestation, expansion, reflection and lamentation are the five visible symptoms in exchanges of ecstatic love.
The test of devotional service can therefore be made in terms of these five symptoms.
In the devotional service of neutrality there is sustenance; there is expansion in chivalrous devotional service; there is reflection in compassionate devotional service; in angry devotional service there is lamentation, and so on.
An apparently pitiable condition in devotional service may appear to be distressing to the inexperienced student, but the feelings of the devotee in this pitiable condition are considered to be ecstatic by expert devotees.
For example, the subject matter of the Rāmāyaṇa is sometimes considered to be pitiable and distressing to the heart, but actually that is not the fact.
The Rāmāyaṇa narrates how Lord Rāma was sent to the forest by His father just when He was going to be enthroned.
After Lord Rāma's departure, Mahārāj Daśaratha, His father, died.
In the forest His wife, Sītādevī, was kidnapped by Rāvaṇa, and there was a great war.
When Sītādevī was finally delivered from the clutches of Rāvaṇa, Rāvaṇa's whole family and kingdom, and Rāvaṇa himself, were vanquished.
When Sītādevī came home she was tried by fire, and after some days she was again banished to the forest.
All of these subjects in the Rāmāyaṇa seem very pitiable, and they may appear to be very distressing to the reciter, but actually this is not so.
Otherwise, why would Hanumān, the great devotee of Lord Rāmacandra, read daily about the activities of Lord Rāmacandra, as described in the Rāmāyaṇa itself? The fact is that in any of the above-mentioned twelve transcendental humors of devotional service, everything is transcendentally pleasing.
Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī mourns in this connection for persons who are in the fire of false renunciation, the dry speculative habit, and who neglect devotional service.
Persons who are attached to the ritualistic ceremonies recommended in the Vedas and to the impersonal Brahman cannot relish the transcendental pleasure of devotional service.
Śrī Rūpa Gosvāmī advises, therefore, that devotees who have already tasted the nectar of devotion should be very careful to protect devotional service from such dry speculators, formal ritualistic elevationists and impersonal salvationists.
Devotees should protect their valuable jewel of spiritual love from the clutches of thieves and burglars.
In other words, a pure devotee should not describe devotional service and its different analytical aspects to dry speculators and false renouncers.
Those who are not devotees can never achieve the benefits of devotional service.
For them the subject of devotional service is always very difficult to understand.
Only persons who have dedicated their lives unto the lotus feet of the Supreme Personality of Godhead can relish the real nectar of devotion.
When one transcends the status of ecstatic love and thus becomes situated on the highest platform of pure goodness, one is understood to have cleansed the heart of all material contamination.
In that pure stage of life, one can taste this nectar, and this tasting capacity is technically called rasa, or transcendental mood.
Thus ends the Bhaktivedanta summary study of the second division of Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu, in the matter of general devotional service.