Sign of... (CC and Other Books)

Expressions researched:
"sign of" |"signal of" |"signals of" |"signs of"

CC Preface and Introduction

CC Introduction:

The word caitanya means "living force," carita means "character," and amṛta means "immortal." As living entities we can move, but a table cannot because it does not possess living force. Movement and activity may be considered signs of the living force. Indeed, it may be said that there can be no activity without the living force. Although the living force is present in the material condition, this condition is not amṛta, immortal. The words Caitanya-caritāmṛta, then, may be translated as "the character of the living force in immortality."

But how is this living force displayed immortally? It is not displayed by man or any other creature in this material universe, for none of us are immortal in these bodies. We possess the living force, we perform activities, and we are immortal by our nature and constitution, but the material condition into which we have been put does not allow our immortality to be displayed. It is stated in the Kaṭha Upaniṣad that eternality and the living force belong to both ourselves and God. Although this is true in that both God and ourselves are immortal, there is a difference. As living entities, we perform many activities, but we have a tendency to fall down into material nature. God has no such tendency. Being all-powerful, He never comes under the control of material nature. Indeed, material nature is but one display of His inconceivable energies.

CC Adi-lila

CC Adi 4.129, Translation:

“There is certainly nothing greater than Her love. But Her love is devoid of pride. That is the sign of its greatness.

CC Adi 4.260, Translation:

“"Her eyes are enchanted by the beauty of Lord Kṛṣṇa, the enemy of Kaṁsa. Her body thrills in pleasure at His touch. Her ears are always attracted to His sweet voice, Her nostrils are enchanted by His fragrance, and Her tongue hankers for the nectar of His soft lips. She hangs down her lotuslike face, exercising self-control only by pretense, but She cannot help showing the external signs of Her spontaneous love for Lord Kṛṣṇa."

CC Adi 5.41, Purport:

"The Personality of Godhead is perfect and complete, and because He is completely perfect, all emanations from Him, such as this phenomenal world, are perfectly equipped as complete wholes. Whatever is produced of the complete whole is also complete by itself. Because He is the complete whole, even though so many complete units emanate from Him, He remains the complete balance." (Bṛhad-āraṇyaka Upaniṣad 5.1) It is most apparent that nondevotees violate the rules and regulations of devotional service to equate the whole cosmic manifestation, which is the external feature of Viṣṇu, with the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is the controller of māyā, or with His quadruple expansions. Equating māyā with spirit, or māyā with the Lord, is a sign of atheism. The cosmic creation, which manifests life in forms from Brahmā to the ant, is the external feature of the Supreme Lord. It comprises one fourth of the Lord's energy, as confirmed in the Bhagavad-gītā (ekāṁśena sthito jagat (BG 10.42)). The cosmic manifestation of the illusory energy is material nature, and everything within material nature is made of matter. Therefore, one should not try to compare the expansions of material nature to the catur-vyūha, the quadruple expansions of the Personality of Godhead, but unfortunately the Māyāvādī school unreasonably attempts to do this.

CC Adi 7.81, Purport:

"O Govinda! Feeling Your separation, I am considering a moment to be like twelve years or more. Tears are flowing from my eyes like torrents of rain, and I am feeling all vacant in the world in Your absence." It is the aspiration of a devotee that while he chants the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra his eyes will fill with tears, his voice falter and his heart throb. These are good signs in chanting the holy name of the Lord. In ecstasy, one should feel the entire world to be vacant without the presence of Govinda. This is a sign of separation from Govinda. In material life we are all separated from Govinda and are absorbed in material sense gratification. Therefore, when one comes to his senses on the spiritual platform he becomes so eager to meet Govinda that without Govinda the entire world becomes a vacant place.

CC Adi 8.22, Purport:

The prākṛta-sahajiyās who chant nitāi-gaura rādhe śyāma have very little knowledge of the Bhāgavata conclusion, and they hardly follow the Vaiṣṇava rules and regulations, and yet because they chant bhaja nitāi-gaura, their chanting immediately evokes tears and other signs of ecstasy. Although they do not know the principles of Vaiṣṇava philosophy and are not very much advanced in education, by these symptoms they attract many men to become their followers. Their ecstatic tears will of course help them in the long run, for as soon as they come in contact with a pure devotee their lives will become successful. Even in the beginning, however, because they are chanting the holy names of nitāi-gaura, their swift advancement on the path of love of Godhead is very prominently visible.

CC Adi 9.11, Purport:

Śrī Mādhavendra Purī, also known as Śrī Mādhava Purī, belonged to the disciplic succession from Madhvācārya and was a greatly celebrated sannyāsī. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu was the third disciplic descendant from Śrī Mādhavendra Purī. The process of worship in the disciplic succession of Madhvācārya was full of ritualistic ceremonies, with hardly a sign of love of Godhead. Śrī Mādhavendra Purī was the first person in that disciplic succession to exhibit the symptoms of love of Godhead and the first to write a poem beginning with the words ayi dīna-dayārdra nātha, "O supremely merciful Personality of Godhead." In that poem is the seed of Caitanya Mahāprabhu's cultivation of love of Godhead.

CC Adi 13.87, Translation:

In this way the pregnancy approached its thirteenth month, but still there was no sign of the delivery of the child. Thus Jagannātha Miśra became greatly apprehensive.

CC Adi 17.9, Translation:

In Gayā, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu was initiated by Īśvara Purī, and immediately afterwards He exhibited signs of love of Godhead. He again displayed such symptoms after returning home.

CC Madhya-lila

CC Madhya 2.47, Purport:

In this connection, Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura says that the lovable Supreme Lord is the supreme shelter. The Lord is the supreme subject, and the devotees are the object. The coming together of a subject and object is called ālambana. The object hears, and the subject plays the flute. That the object cannot see the moonlike face of Kṛṣṇa and has no eagerness to see Him is the sign of being without ālambana. Externally imagining such a thing simply satisfies one's lusty desires, and thus one lives without purpose.

CC Madhya 6.12, Translation:

Upon seeing the sign of sūddīpta-sāttvika, Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya could immediately understand the transcendental ecstatic transformation in the body of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Such a sign takes place only in the bodies of eternally liberated devotees.

CC Madhya 12.20, Translation and Purport:

Nityānanda Prabhu continued, "The King has decided to become a mendicant and accept the sign of a mendicant by wearing an ivory earring. He does not want to enjoy his kingdom without seeing the lotus feet of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu."

In India there is still a class of professional mendicants who are very much like the gypsies of Western countries. They know some magical art and mystical processes, and their business is to beg from door to door, sometimes pleading and sometimes threatening. Such mendicants are sometimes called yogīs and sometimes kāṇaphāṭā yogīs. The word kāṇaphāṭā refers to one who has put a hole in his ear to wear an earring made of ivory. Mahārāja Pratāparudra was so depressed by not getting to see Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu that he decided to become such a yogī. Ordinary men think that a yogī must have an ivory earring in his ear, but this is not the sign of a real yogī. Mahārāja Pratāparudra also thought that to become a mendicant yogī, one must wear such an earring.

CC Madhya 17.89, Purport:

Then He would take His lunch at Tapana Miśra's house. Near the Bindu Mādhava temple is a big banyan tree, and it is said that after eating, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu used to rest beneath the tree. That banyan tree is still known today as Caitanya-vaṭa. Gradually, due to changes in language, the name became Yatana-vaṭa. The local people still call that place Yatana-vaṭa.

At present, beside a lane there is a tomb of Vallabhācārya, but there is no sign that Caitanya Mahāprabhu ever lived there. Vallabhācārya was also known as Mahāprabhu among his disciples. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu probably lived at Yatana-vaṭa, but there is no sign of Candraśekhara's or Tapana Miśra's house, nor is there any sign of the Māyāvādī sannyāsī Prakāśānanda Sarasvatī, with whom Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu discussed the Vedānta-sūtra. A little distance from Yatana-vaṭa is a temple of Gaura-Nityānanda established by Śaśibhūṣaṇa Niyogī Mahāśaya of Calcutta. During the time of Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī, this temple was managed by the mother-in-law of Śaśibhūṣaṇa and his brother-in-law Nārāyaṇa-candra Ghoṣa.

CC Madhya 23.18-19, Translation:

“"When the seed of ecstatic emotion for Kṛṣṇa fructifies, the following nine symptoms manifest in one"s behavior: forgiveness, concern that time should not be wasted, detachment, absence of false prestige, hope, eagerness, a taste for chanting the holy name of the Lord, attachment to descriptions of the transcendental qualities of the Lord, and affection for those places where the Lord resides—that is, a temple or a holy place like Vṛndāvana. These are all called anubhāva, subordinate signs of ecstatic emotion. They are visible in a person in whose heart the seed of love of God has begun to fructify.’

CC Madhya 23.25, Translation:

These are the signs of virakti (detachment) found in a person who has developed bhāva, the preliminary stage of love of Godhead. This verse is quoted from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (5.14.43).

CC Madhya 23.65, Translation and Purport:

“"My dear friend kurarī, it is now night, and Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa is sleeping. You yourself are not asleep or resting but are lamenting. Should I presume that you, like us, are affected by the smiling, liberal, playful glances of lotus-eyed Kṛṣṇa? If so, your heart is deeply pierced. Is that why you are showing these signs of sleepless lamentation?"

This verse from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (10.90.15) was spoken by Lord Kṛṣṇa's queens. Although they were with Kṛṣṇa, they were still thinking of losing His company.

CC Antya-lila

CC Antya 2.145, Translation:

In this way a complete year passed for Junior Haridāsa, but still there was not a sign of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu's mercy toward him.

CC Antya 3.19, Translation:

(Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu thought:) "This impudence is also a sign of pure love for Me. I have no other intimate friend like Dāmodara Paṇḍita."

Teachings of Lord Caitanya

Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter Intoduction:

The word caitanya means "living force," carita means "character," and amṛta means "immortal." As living entities we can move, but a table cannot because it does not possess living force. Movement and activity may be considered signs of the living force. Indeed, it may be said that there can be no activity without the living force. Although the living force is present in the material condition, this condition is not amṛta, immortal. The words caitanya-caritāmṛta, then, may be translated as "the character of the living force in immortality."

But how is this living force displayed immortally? It is not displayed by man or any other creature in this material universe, for none of us are immortal in these bodies. We possess the living force, we perform activities, and we are immortal by our nature and constitution, but the material condition into which we have been put does not allow our immortality to be displayed. It is stated in the Kaṭha Upaniṣad that eternality and the living force are characteristics of both ourselves and God. Although this is true in that both God and ourselves are immortal living beings, there is a difference. As living entities, we perform many activities, but we have a tendency to fall down into material nature. God has no such tendency. Being all-powerful, He never comes under the control of material nature. Indeed, material nature is but one display of His inconceivable energies.

Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter 18:

One who has achieved perfection in chanting this transcendental vibration does not have to separately learn the philosophy of the Vedānta-sūtra. According to the teachings of Caitanya Mahāprabhu, the bona fide spiritual master, those who do not understand that this transcendental vibration is nondifferent from the Supreme, yet who try to become Māyāvādī philosophers expert in the Vedānta-sūtra, are all fools. Studying the Vedānta-sūtra by one's own efforts (the ascending process of knowledge) is a sign of foolishness. On the other hand, he who has attained a taste for chanting this transcendental vibration has actually reached the conclusion of the Vedānta. In this connection, there are two verses in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam which are very instructive. The purport of the first is that if a person is chanting the transcendental vibration Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare, then even if he was born in the family of the lowest of human beings it is to be understood that in his previous lives he performed all types of renunciation, austerities and sacrifice and studied all the Brahma-sūtras. The purport of the second verse is that one who chants the two syllables ha-ri must be considered to have studied all the Vedas—the Ṛg Veda, Atharva Veda, Yajur Veda and Sāma Veda.

Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Chapter 20:

When he is again free of the covering of this material, inferior energy, he is called liberated. When he is liberated he has no false ego, but his real ego again comes into existence. Foolish mental speculators think that after liberation one's identity is lost, but that is not so. Because the living entity is eternally part and parcel of God, when he is liberated he revives his original, eternal, part-and-parcel identity. The realization of ahaṁ brahmāsmi ("I am spirit, not this body") does not mean that the living entity loses his identity. At the present moment a person may consider himself to be matter, but in his liberated state he will understand that he is not matter but spirit soul, part of the infinite. To become Kṛṣṇa conscious, or spiritually conscious, and to engage in the transcendental loving service of Kṛṣṇa are signs of the liberated stage.

Nectar of Devotion

Nectar of Devotion 3:

On account of his association with mahātmās, or great souls one hundred-percent in the devotional service of the Lord, one may attain a little bit of attraction for Śrī Kṛṣṇa. But at the same time one may remain very much attached to fruitive activities and material sense enjoyment and not be prepared to undergo the different types of renunciation. Such a person, if he has unflinching attraction to Kṛṣṇa, becomes an eligible candidate for discharging devotional service.

This attraction for Kṛṣṇa consciousness in association with pure devotees is the sign of great fortune. It is confirmed by Lord Caitanya that only the fortunate persons, by the mercy of both a bona fide spiritual master and Kṛṣṇa, will get the seed of devotional service. In this connection, Lord Kṛṣṇa says in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Eleventh Canto, Twentieth Chapter, verse 8, "My dear Uddhava, only by exceptional fortune does someone become attracted to Me. And even if one is not completely detached from fruitive activities, or is not completely attached to devotional service, such service is quickly effective."

Nectar of Devotion 6:

Without following the above-mentioned ten principles, one cannot properly elevate himself to the platform of sādhana-bhakti, or devotional service in practice. Altogether, Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī mentions twenty items, and all of them are very important. Out of the twenty, the first three—namely accepting the shelter of a bona fide spiritual master, taking initiation from him and serving him with respect and reverence—are the most important.

The next important items are as follows: (1) One should decorate the body with tilaka, which is the sign of the Vaiṣṇavas. (The idea is that as soon as a person sees these marks on the body of the Vaiṣṇava, he will immediately remember Kṛṣṇa. Lord Caitanya said that a Vaiṣṇava is he who, when seen, reminds one of Kṛṣṇa. Therefore, it is essential that a Vaiṣṇava mark his body with tilaka to remind others of Kṛṣṇa.) (2) In marking such tilaka, sometimes one may write Hare Kṛṣṇa on the body. (3) One should accept flowers and garlands that have been offered to the Deity and the spiritual master and put them on one's body. (4) One should learn to dance before the Deity. (5) One should learn to bow down immediately upon seeing the Deity or the spiritual master. (6) As soon as one visits a temple of Lord Kṛṣṇa, one must stand up. (7) When the Deity is being borne for a stroll in the street, a devotee should immediately follow the procession. (In this connection it may be noted that in India, especially in Viṣṇu temples, the system is that apart from the big Deity who is permanently situated in the main area of the temple, there is a set of smaller Deities which are taken in procession in the evening. In some temples it is the custom to hold a big procession in the evening with a band playing and a nice big umbrella over the Deities, who sit on decorated thrones on the cart or palanquin, which is carried by devotees. The Deities come out onto the street and travel in the neighborhood while the people of the neighborhood come out to offer prasāda. The residents of the neighborhood all follow the procession, so it is a very nice scene.

Nectar of Devotion 21:

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 is 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, a thunderbolt, a fish, a rod for controlling elephants, and a lotus flower. Please observe how auspicious these signs are!"

Nectar of Devotion 21:

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, Kṛṣṇa's ninth incarnation, who appears 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.

Nectar of Devotion 27:

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 by 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.

Nectar of Devotion 29:

When there is emotion caused by seeing something detestable, one cries very loudly. When there is emotion caused by seeing fire, one tries to flee. 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 and show various signs of fear, 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, Twenty-third Chapter, verse 18, 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 very dear.

Nectar of Devotion 30:

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 mode 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 thought of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Therefore, in their complete absorption in thought of Kṛṣṇa, they do not sleep."

Nectar of Devotion 31:

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, but 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 produce 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 them very clearly. The heart of one who is highly elevated and grave is compared to gold. If one's heart is very soft and gentle, his heart is compared to 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.

Nectar of Devotion 33:

In such a transcendental angry mood sometimes sarcastic remarks, unfavorable glances and insulting words are exhibited. Sometimes there are other symptoms, like rubbing of the two hands, clacking of the teeth, clamping of the lips, moving of the eyebrows, scratching of the arms, lowering of the head, rapid breathing, uttering of strong words, nodding of the head, yellowishness at the corners of the eyes, and trembling lips. Sometimes the eyes turn red, and sometimes they fade. And there are sometimes chastisement and silence. All these symptoms of anger may be divided into two parts: constitutional and unconstitutional, or permanent and temporary symptoms. Sometimes great emotion, bewilderment, pride, frustration, illusion, impotence, jealousy, dexterity, negligence and signs of hard labor are also manifest as unconstitutional symptoms.

In all these humors of ecstatic love, the feeling of anger is accepted as the steady factor.

When Jarāsandha angrily attacked the city of Mathurā, he looked at Kṛṣṇa with sarcastic glances. At that time Baladeva took up His plow weapon and gazed upon Jarāsandha with colored eyes.

Nectar of Devotion 33:

Sometimes among contemporary personalities there are signs of ecstasy in anger because of love for Kṛṣṇa. An example of such anger was exhibited in a quarrel between Jaṭilā and Mukharā. Jaṭilā was the mother-in-law of Rādhārāṇī, and Mukharā was Her great-grandmother. Both of them were talking about Kṛṣṇa's unnecessary harassment of Rādhārāṇī when She was walking on the street. Jaṭilā said, "You cruel-faced Mukharā! By hearing your words my heart feels like it is burning in a fire!" And Mukharā replied, "You sinful Jaṭilā, by hearing your words, there is aching in my head! You cannot give any evidence that Kṛṣṇa has attacked Rādhārāṇī, the daughter of my granddaughter Kīrtidā."

Once, when Rādhārāṇī was taking off the necklace given to Her by Kṛṣṇa, Jaṭilā, her mother-in-law, told a friend, "My dear friend, just see the beautiful necklace that Kṛṣṇa has presented to Rādhārāṇī. She is now holding it, but still She wants to tell us that She has no connection with Kṛṣṇa. This girl's activities have disgraced our whole family!"

Natural jealousy of Kṛṣṇa by persons like Śiśupāla cannot be accepted as ecstatic love in anger with Kṛṣṇa.

Nectar of Devotion 33:

When the Keśī demon was causing disturbances in Vṛndāvana by assuming a large horse's body that was so big that he could jump over the trees, mother Yaśodā told her husband, Nanda Mahārāja, "Our child is very restless, so we had better keep Him locked up within the house. I have been very worried about the recent disturbances of the Keśī demon, who has been assuming the form of a giant horse." When it was learned that the demon was entering Gokula in an angry mood, mother Yaśodā became so anxious to protect her child that her face dried up and there were tears in her eyes. These are some of the signs of the ecstasy of dread in devotional service, caused by seeing and hearing something that is dangerous to Kṛṣṇa.

After the Pūtanā witch had been killed, some friends of mother Yaśodā inquired from her about the incident. Mother Yaśodā at once requested her friends, "Please stop! Please stop! Don't bring up the incident of Pūtanā. I become distressed just by remembering this incident. The Pūtanā witch came to devour my son, and she deceived me into letting her take the child on her lap. After that, she died and made a tumultuous sound with her gigantic body."

Nectar of Devotion 37:

In Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Tenth Canto, Eighty-fifth Chapter, verse 38, Śukadeva Gosvāmī tells Mahārāja Parīkṣit that after surrendering everything unto the lotus feet of Vāmanadeva, Bali Mahārāja immediately caught hold of the lotus feet of the Lord and pressed them to his heart. Being overwhelmed with joy, he manifested all the symptoms of ecstatic love, with tears in his eyes and a faltering voice.

In such expressions of ecstatic love there are many other subsidiary symptoms, such as jubilation, withering, silence, disappointment, moroseness, reverence, thoughtfulness, remembrance, doubtfulness, confidence, eagerness, indifference, restlessness, impudence, shyness, inertness, illusion, madness, ghastliness, contemplation, dreaming, disease and signs of death. When a devotee meets Kṛṣṇa, there are symptoms of jubilation, pride and perseverance, and when he is feeling great separation from Kṛṣṇa, the symptoms of ghastliness, disease and signs of death become prominent.

It is stated in the First Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Eleventh Chapter, verse 5, that when Lord Kṛṣṇa returned from the Battlefield of Kurukṣetra to His home at Dvārakā, all the residents of Dvārakā began to talk with Him, as a child talks lovingly to his father after the father's return from foreign countries. This is an example of jubilation.

When Bahulāśva, the King of Mithilā, saw Kṛṣṇa at his palace, he decided to offer his respects by bowing down before Him at least a hundred times, but he was so overcome by feelings of love that after bowing down only once, he forgot his position and could not rise again.

Nectar of Devotion 38:

In the Hari-bhakti-sudhodaya it is stated that when Prahlāda Mahārāja was thinking himself unfit to approach the Supreme Personality of Godhead, he immersed himself in great distress, in an ocean of unhappiness. As such, he used to shed tears and lie down on the floor as though unconscious.

The students of a great devotee once talked among themselves in this way: "My dear Godbrothers, our spiritual master, after seeing the lotus feet of the Lord, has thrown himself into the fire of lamentation, and because of this fire the water of his life has almost dried away. Let us now pour the nectar of the holy name through his ears, and by our doing so the swan of his life may again show signs of life."

When Lord Kṛṣṇa went to the city of Śoṇitapura to fight with Bali's son Bāṇa and to cut off all his hands, Uddhava, being separated from Kṛṣṇa and thinking of His fight, was almost completely stunned into unconsciousness.

When a devotee is fully in love with the Supreme Personality of Godhead, there may be the following symptoms due to his feelings of separation from the Lord: a feverish condition of the body, withering of the body, lack of sleep, nonattachment, inertness, appearing diseased, madness, unconsciousness and sometimes death.

As far as the feverish condition of the body is concerned, Uddhava once told Nārada, "My dear great sage, the lotus flower that is a friend of the sun may be a cause of distress for us, the fire in the ocean may cause us some burning sensation, and Indīvara, the friend of a demon, may distress us in various ways—we do not mind. But the most regrettable factor is that all of them remind us of Kṛṣṇa, and this is giving us too much distress!" This is an instance of the feverish condition which is due to being separated from Kṛṣṇa.

Nectar of Devotion 40:

When Cupid came on one occasion to visit Lord Kṛṣṇa, some devotee addressed him thus: "My dear Cupid, because you have been so fortunate as to have placed your eyesight on the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa, the drops of perspiration on your body have become frozen, and they resemble kaṇṭakī fruits (a kind of small fruit found in thorny bushes)." These are signs of ecstasy and veneration for the Supreme Personality of Godhead. When the princes of the Yadu dynasty heard the vibration of Kṛṣṇa's Pāñcajanya conchshell, the hairs on their bodies immediately stood up in ecstatic jubilation. It seemed at that time that all the hairs on the bodies of the princes were dancing in ecstasy.

In addition to jubilation, there are sometimes symptoms of disappointment. Pradyumna once addressed Sāmba with these words: "My dear Sāmba, you are such a glorified personality! I have seen that once when you were playing on the ground, your body became covered with dust; yet our father, Lord Kṛṣṇa, still took you up on His lap. But I am so unfortunate that I could never get such love from our father!" This statement is an example of disappointment in love.

To regard Kṛṣṇa as one's superior is called reverential feeling, and when, in addition to this, a devotee feels that Kṛṣṇa is his protector, his transcendental love for Kṛṣṇa is increased, and his combined feelings are called reverential devotion. When this steady reverential devotion increases further, it is called love of Godhead in reverential devotion. Attraction and affection are two prominent symptoms of this stage. In this reverential devotional attitude, Pradyumna never talked to his father in a loud voice. In fact, he never so much as unlocked the lips of his mouth, nor did he ever show his face filled with tears. He would always glance only at the lotus feet of his father.

Nectar of Devotion 40:

He said, "Since my father has left Dvārakā, I do not take much pleasure in practicing fighting, nor am I interested in any kind of sporting pastimes. And what need is there to speak of these things? I do not even wish to stay at Dvārakā in the absence of my father."

When Pradyumna came back home after killing Śambarāsura and saw his father, Kṛṣṇa, before him, he at once became so overjoyed that he himself could not understand his joy on that occasion. This is an instance of success in separation. A similar satisfaction was observed when Kṛṣṇa returned from the Battlefield of Kurukṣetra to His home at Dvārakā. All of His sons were so overjoyed that out of ecstasy they repeatedly made many mistakes. These mistakes were a sign of complete satisfaction.

Every day Pradyumna looked over Kṛṣṇa's lotus feet with tears in his eyes. These signs of reverential devotion on the part of Pradyumna may be described in the same way they have been described in the cases of other devotees.

Nectar of Devotion 42:

They were sometimes lying down on the ground, sometimes rolling in the dust, sometimes laughing and sometimes running very swiftly. All of these symptoms gave them the appearance of madmen. One friend of Kṛṣṇa's criticized Him by saying, "My dear Lord, You have become the King of Mathurā after killing Kaṁsa, and that is very good news for us. But at Vṛndāvana all the residents have become blind from their continuous crying over Your absence. They are full only of anxieties and are not cheered at all by Your becoming the King of Mathurā."

Sometimes there were also signs of death caused by separation from Kṛṣṇa. Once Kṛṣṇa was told, "My dear enemy of Kaṁsa, because of their separation from You, the cowherd boys are suffering too much, and they are now lying down in the valleys, breathing only slightly. In order to sympathize with the boys' regrettable condition, even the forest friends, the deer, are shedding tears."

In the Mathurā-khaṇḍa chapter of the Skanda Purāṇa, there is a description of Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma, surrounded by all the cowherd boys, always engaged in taking care of the cows and calves. When Kṛṣṇa was met by Arjuna at a potter's shop in the city of Drupada-nagara, because of the similarity of their bodily features they made intimate friendship. This is an instance of friendship caused by the attraction of similar bodies.

Nectar of Devotion 43:

Childhood age, childish dress, movements by the child, sweet words spoken by the child, nice smiling and various forms of childish play are considered provocations for increasing parental love for Kṛṣṇa. The childhood ages of Kṛṣṇa are divided into three periods: the beginning of kaumāra age, the middle of kaumāra age and the end of kaumāra age. During the beginning and middle of the kaumāra age, Kṛṣṇa's thighs are fatty, and the inner part of His eyes are whitish. There are signs of teeth coming out, and He is very mild and gentle. He is described as follows: "When Kṛṣṇa had only three or four teeth coming out of His gums, His thighs were fatty, His body was very, very short, and He began to enhance the parental love of Nanda Mahārāja and mother Yaśodā with the activities of His childish body. He was sometimes stepping with His legs again and again, sometimes crying, sometimes smiling, sometimes sucking His thumb and sometimes lying down flat. These are some of the different activities of the child Kṛṣṇa. When Kṛṣṇa was lying down flat, sometimes sucking the toes of His feet, sometimes throwing His legs upward, sometimes crying and sometimes smiling, mother Yaśodā, seeing her son in such pastimes, did not show any sign of restricting Him, but rather began to watch her child with eagerness, enjoying these childhood pastimes." In the beginning of Kṛṣṇa's kaumāra age, the nails of tigers were set in a golden necklace about His neck. There was protective tilaka on His forehead, black mascara around His eyes and silk thread around His waist. These are the descriptions of Kṛṣṇa's dress at the beginning of the kaumāra age.

Nectar of Devotion 43:

Such activities are in maternal ecstatic love. An important point to be observed in this connection is that the childish propensity of stealing is there even in the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and therefore this propensity is not artificial. However, in the spiritual relationship there is no inebriety to this stealing propensity, as there is in the material world.

In Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Tenth Canto, Thirteenth Chapter, verse 33, Śukadeva Gosvāmī tells King Parīkṣit, "My dear King, as soon as the elderly gopīs saw their sons coming, there was an inexpressible sign of parental love, and all of them became absorbed in affection. At first they were planning to chastise their sons for stealing butter, but as soon as the sons came before their eyes, they lost all of their angry attitudes and became overwhelmed with affection. They began to embrace their sons and smell their heads. While doing this, they became almost mad after their children." In their childhood pastimes, all these cowherd boys joined with Kṛṣṇa in stealing butter. But rather than become angry, mother Yaśodā became wet from the milk flowing out of her breasts. Out of her affection for Kṛṣṇa, she began to smell His head repeatedly.

Nectar of Devotion 43:

When Akrūra was present in Vṛndāvana and was narrating the activities of Kṛṣṇa in Dvārakā, mother Yaśodā was informed that Kṛṣṇa had married so many queens and was very busy there in His householder affairs. Hearing this, mother Yaśodā lamented how unfortunate she was that she could not get her son married just after He passed His kaiśora age and that she therefore could not receive both her son and daughter-in-law at her home. She exclaimed, "My dear Akrūra, you are simply throwing thunderbolts on my head!" These are signs of lamentation on the part of mother Yaśodā in separation from Kṛṣṇa.

Similarly, mother Yaśodā felt frustration when she thought, "Although I have millions of cows, the milk of these cows could not satisfy Kṛṣṇa. Therefore let a curse be on this milk! And I also am condemned, because although I am so opulent in material prosperity, I am now unable to smell the head of my child and feed Him with my breast milk as I used to do when He was here in Vṛndāvana." This is a sign of frustration on the part of mother Yaśodā in separation from Kṛṣṇa.

One friend of Kṛṣṇa's addressed Him thus: "My dear lotus-eyed one, when You were living in Gokula You were always bearing a stick in Your hand. That stick is now lying idle in the house of mother Yaśodā, and whenever she sees it she becomes motionless just like the stick." This is a sign of becoming stunned in separation from Kṛṣṇa. In separation from Kṛṣṇa, mother Yaśodā became so humble that she prayed to the creator of the universe, Lord Brahmā, with tears in her eyes, "My dear creator, won't you kindly bring my dear son Kṛṣṇa back to me so that I can see Him at least for a moment?" Sometimes, in restlessness like a madwoman, mother Yaśodā used to accuse Nanda Mahārāja, "What are you doing in the palace? You shameless man! Why do people call you the King of Vraja? It is very astonishing that while being separated from your dear son Kṛṣṇa, you are still living within Vṛndāvana as a hardhearted father!"

Nectar of Devotion 43:

There is a similar statement in the Lalita-mādhava: "How wonderful it is that Yaśodā, the wife of King Nanda, out of her parental affection for Kṛṣṇa, mixed her tears and the milk from her breasts and thus bathed her dear son Kṛṣṇa." In Vidagdha-mādhava, a devotee addresses Lord Kṛṣṇa as follows: "My dear Mukunda, just after seeing Your face, which was full with the scent of the lotus flower, mother Yaśodā, being attracted by the moonlight of Your face, became so overjoyed in her affection that immediately from the nipples of her waterpotlike breasts, milk began to flow." She was thus constantly engaged in supplying milk to Kṛṣṇa after wetting the covering cloth over the jug.

These are some of the signs of parental love for Kṛṣṇa by His mother, His father and elderly persons. Symptoms of ecstatic love in parental affection are expressed when Kṛṣṇa is accepted as the son. These constant transcendental emotions for Kṛṣṇa are called steady ecstasy in parental love.

Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī states herein that according to some learned scholars, the three kinds of transcendental mellow so far described—namely servitude, fraternity and parental affection—are sometimes mixed. For example, the fraternal feelings of Balarāma are mixed with servitude and parental affection. Similarly, King Yudhiṣṭhira's attraction for Kṛṣṇa is also mixed with parental affection and servitude. Similarly, the transcendental mellow of Ugrasena, Kṛṣṇa's grandfather, is mixed with servitude and parental affection. The affection of all the elderly gopīs in Vṛndāvana is a mixture of parental love, servitude and fraternity. The affection of the sons of Mādrī-Nakula and Sahadeva—as well as the affection of the sage Nārada, is a mixture of friendship and servitude. The affection of Lord Śiva, Garuḍa and Uddhava is a mixture of servitude and fraternity.

Nectar of Devotion 44:

Their only thought is to go out in search of Kṛṣṇa. When the gopīs meet Kṛṣṇa, the display of their exchanging glances as well as their joking and laughing behavior is called anubhāva, or subecstasy in conjugal love.

In the Lalita-mādhava, Rūpa Gosvāmī explains that the movements of Kṛṣṇa's eyebrows are just like the Yamunā and that the smiling of Rādhārāṇī is just like the moonshine. When the Yamunā and the moonshine come in contact on the bank of the river, the water tastes just like nectar, and drinking it gives great satisfaction. It is as cooling as piles of snow. Similarly, in the Padyāvalī, one constant companion of Rādhārāṇī says, "My dear moon-faced Rādhārāṇī, Your whole body appears very content, yet there are signs of tears in Your eyes. Your speech is faltering, and Your chest is also heaving. By all these signs I can understand that You must have heard the blowing of Kṛṣṇa's flute, and as a result of this, Your heart is now melting."

In the same Padyāvalī there is the following description, which is taken as a sign of frustration in conjugal love. Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī said, "Dear Mr. Cupid, please do not excite Me by throwing your arrows at My body. Dear Mr. Air, please do not arouse Me with the fragrance of flowers. I am now bereft of Kṛṣṇa's loving attitude, and so, under the circumstances, what is the use of My sustaining this useless body? There is no need for such a body by any living entity." This is a sign of frustration in ecstatic love for Kṛṣṇa.

Easy Journey to Other Planets

Easy Journey to Other Planets 1:

We believe that no nation on earth can describe socialism as well as the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. Living beings other than humans can be treated as brothers and children only when one has a full conception of the creator and the actual constitution of the living being.

Man's desire to be deathless is realized only in the spiritual world. As stated at the beginning of this essay, a desire for eternal life is a sign of dormant spiritual life. The aim of human civilization should be targeted to that end. It is possible for every human being to transfer himself to that spiritual realm by the process of bhakti-yoga, as described herein. It is a great science, and India has produced many scientific literatures by which the perfection of life may be realized.

Bhakti-yoga is the eternal religion of man. At a time when material science predominates all subjects—including the tenets of religion—it would be enlivening to see the principles of the eternal religion of man from the viewpoint of the modern scientist.

Even Dr. S. Radhakrishnan admitted at a world religion conference that religion will not be accepted in modern civilization if it is not accepted from a scientific point of view. In reply, we are glad to announce to the lovers of the truth that bhakti-yoga is the eternal religion of the world and is intended for all living beings, who are all eternally related with the Supreme Lord.

Krsna, The Supreme Personality of Godhead

Krsna Book 3:

This star is considered to be very auspicious and is under the direct supervision of Brahmā. According to the astrological conclusion, besides the proper situation of the stars, there are auspicious and inauspicious moments due to the different situations of the different planetary systems. At the time of Kṛṣṇa's birth, the planetary systems were automatically adjusted so that everything became auspicious.

At that time, in all directions—east, west, south, north, everywhere—there was an atmosphere of peace and prosperity. There were auspicious stars visible in the sky, and on the surface in all towns and villages and pasturing grounds and within the minds of everyone there were signs of good fortune. The rivers were flowing full of waters, and lakes were beautifully decorated with lotus flowers. The forests were full with beautiful birds and peacocks. All the birds within the forests began to sing with sweet voices, and the peacocks began to dance along with their consorts. The wind blew very pleasantly, carrying the aroma of different flowers, and the sensation of bodily touch was very pleasing. At home, the brāhmaṇas, who were accustomed to offering sacrifices in the fire, found their homes very pleasant for offerings. Due to disturbances created by the demoniac kings, the sacrificial fire had been almost stopped in the houses of brāhmaṇas, but now they could find the opportunity to start the fire peacefully. Being forbidden to offer sacrifices, the brāhmaṇas had been very much distressed in mind, intelligence and activities, but just on the point of Kṛṣṇa's appearance, automatically their minds became full of joy because they could hear transcendental vibrations in the sky proclaiming the appearance of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

Krsna Book 3:

Due to the extraordinary features of the child, Vasudeva was struck with wonder. How could a newly born child be so decorated? Vasudeva could therefore understand that Lord Kṛṣṇa had now appeared, and he became overpowered by the occasion. Vasudeva very humbly wondered that although he was an ordinary living entity conditioned by material nature and was externally imprisoned by Kaṁsa, the all-pervading Personality of Godhead, Viṣṇu, or Kṛṣṇa, was appearing as a child in his home, exactly in His original position. No earthly child is born with four hands, decorated with ornaments and nice clothing, fully equipped with all the signs of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Over and over again Vasudeva glanced at his child, and he considered how to celebrate this auspicious moment: "Generally, when a male child is born," he thought, "people observe the occasion with jubilant celebrations, and in my home, although I am imprisoned, the Supreme Personality of Godhead has taken birth. How many millions and millions of times should I be prepared to observe this auspicious ceremony!"

When Vasudeva, who is also called Ānakadundubhi, was looking at his newborn baby, he was so happy that he wanted to give many thousands of cows in charity to the brāhmaṇas. According to the Vedic system, whenever there is an auspicious ceremony in the kṣatriya king's palace, out of joy the king gives many things in charity. Cows decorated with golden ornaments are delivered to the brāhmaṇas and sages. Vasudeva wanted to perform a charitable ceremony to celebrate Kṛṣṇa's appearance, but because he was shackled within the walls of Kaṁsa's prison, this was not possible. Instead, within his mind he gave thousands of cows to the brāhmaṇas.

Krsna Book 38:

Akrūra then thought, "When Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma are pleased with my behavior, certainly They will take my hand, receive me within Their home and offer me all kinds of respectable hospitalities, and They will surely ask me about the activities of Kaṁsa and his friends."

In this way, Akrūra, the son of Śvaphalka, meditated on Śrī Kṛṣṇa on his journey from Mathurā. He reached Vṛndāvana by the end of the day. Akrūra passed the whole journey without knowing how long it took. When he reached Vṛndāvana, the sun was setting. As soon as he entered the boundary of Vṛndāvana, he saw the hoofprints of the cows and Lord Kṛṣṇa's footprints, impressed with the signs of His soles—the flag, trident, thunderbolt and lotus flower. These symbols on the soles of the Lord's transcendental lotus feet are worshiped by all the demigods and other great personalities throughout the three worlds. Upon seeing the footprints of Kṛṣṇa, Akrūra immediately jumped down from the chariot out of respect. He became overwhelmed with all the symptoms of ecstasy; he wept, and his body trembled. Out of extreme jubilation upon seeing the dust touched by the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa, Akrūra fell flat on his face and began to roll on the ground.

Krsna Book 39:

His hips were broad and big, resembling those of a woman, and His thighs resembled the trunks of elephants. The other parts of His legs, the joints and lower extremities, were all very beautiful, the nails of His feet were dazzling, and His toes were as beautiful as the petals of the lotus flower. His helmet was decorated with very valuable jewels. There was a nice belt around His waist, and He wore a sacred thread across His broad chest. Bangles were on His hands, and armlets on the upper portion of His arms. He wore bells on His ankles. He possessed dazzling beauty, and His palms were like lotus flowers. He was further beautified by the different emblems of the viṣṇu-mūrti—the conchshell, club, disc and lotus flower—which He held in His four hands. His chest was marked with the particular signs of Viṣṇu, and He wore fresh flower garlands. All in all, He was very beautiful to look at. Akrūra also saw His Lordship surrounded by intimate associates like the four Kumāras—Sanaka, Sanātana, Sananda and Sanat-kumāra—and other associates like Sunanda and Nanda, as well as demigods like Brahmā and Lord Śiva. The nine great learned sages were there, and also devotees like Prahlāda and Nārada and the eight Vasus. All were engaged in offering prayers to the Lord with clean hearts and pure words. After seeing the transcendental Personality of Godhead, Akrūra immediately became overwhelmed with joy and great devotion, and all over his body there was transcendental shivering. Although for the moment he was bewildered, he retained his clear consciousness and bowed down his head before the Lord. With folded hands and faltering voice, he began to offer prayers to the Lord.

Krsna Book 42:

When he looked in the mirror he could not see his head, although the head was actually present. He saw the luminaries in the sky in double, although there was only one set factually. He began to see holes in his shadow, and he heard a high buzzing sound within his ears. All the trees before him appeared to be made of gold, and he could not see his own footprints in dust or muddy clay. In dreams he saw various kinds of ghosts being carried in a carriage drawn by donkeys. He also dreamed that someone gave him poison and he was drinking it. He dreamed also that he was going naked with a garland of flowers and was smearing oil all over his body. Thus, as Kaṁsa saw various signs of death while both awake and sleeping, he could understand that death was certain, and thus in great anxiety he could not rest that night. Just after the night expired, he busily arranged for the wrestling match.

The wrestling arena was nicely cleansed and decorated with flags, festoons and flowers, and the match was announced by the beating of kettledrums. The platform appeared very beautiful due to streamers and flags. Different types of galleries were arranged for respectable persons—kings, brāhmaṇas and kṣatriyas. The various kings had reserved thrones, and others had arranged seats also. Kaṁsa finally arrived, accompanied by various ministers and secretaries, and he sat on the raised platform especially meant for him. Unfortunately, although he was sitting in the center of all his governing executive heads, his heart was palpitating in fear of death. Cruel death evidently does not care even for a person as powerful as Kaṁsa. When death comes, it does not care for anyone's exalted position.

Krsna Book 47:

We are already doomed, like the black-spotted she-deer in the forest who are enchanted by the sweet musical vibration of the hunter. In the same way, we have been enchanted by the sweet words of Kṛṣṇa, and by thinking of the rays of His toenails again and again, we are becoming more and more lusty for His association. Therefore, I request you not to talk of Kṛṣṇa anymore.”

These talks of Rādhārāṇī with the bumblebee messenger, including Her accusing Kṛṣṇa in so many ways and at the same time expressing Her inability to give up talking about Him, are signs of the topmost transcendental ecstasy, called mahā-bhāva. The ecstatic mahā-bhāva manifestation is possible only in the persons of Rādhārāṇī and Her associates. Great ācāryas like Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī and Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura have analyzed these mahā-bhāva speeches of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī and described their different varieties, such as udghūrṇā, or bewilderment, and jalpa-pratijalpa, or talking in different ways. These are the signs of ujjvala-rasa, or the brightest jewel of love of God.

While Rādhārāṇī was talking with the bee and the bee was flying hither and thither, it all of a sudden disappeared from Her sight. She was in full mourning due to separation from Kṛṣṇa and felt ecstasy by talking with the bee. But as soon as the bee disappeared, She became almost mad, thinking that the messenger-bee might have returned to Kṛṣṇa to inform Him all about Her talking against Him. "Kṛṣṇa must be very sorry to hear it," She thought. In this way She was overwhelmed by another type of ecstasy.

Krsna Book 77:

Within a few moments, a mysterious, unknown man came before Lord Kṛṣṇa. Crying loudly, he bowed down at the Lord's lotus feet and said to Him, "Since You are the most beloved son of Your father, Vasudeva, Your mother, Devakī, has sent me to inform You of the unfortunate news that Śālva has arrested Your father and taken him away by force, just as a butcher mercilessly takes away an animal." When Lord Kṛṣṇa heard this unfortunate news from the unknown man, He at first became most perturbed, just like an ordinary human being. His face showed signs of grief, and He began to cry in a piteous tone, "How could that happen? My brother, Lord Balarāma, is there, and it is impossible for anyone to conquer Balarāmajī. He is in charge of Dvārakā City, and I know He is always alert. How could Śālva possibly enter the city and arrest My father in that way? Whatever Śālva may be, his power is limited, so how could it be possible that he has conquered the strength of Balarāmajī and taken away My father, arresting him as described by this man? Alas! Destiny is, after all, very powerful."

While Śrī Kṛṣṇa was thinking like this, Śālva brought before Him in custody a man exactly resembling Vasudeva, His father. These were all creations of the mystic power of Śālva.

Krsna Book 80:

The result of perfect knowledge is that one becomes detached from the materialistic way of life. This detachment means complete control of the senses, which are always attracted by material enjoyment. The senses of the devotee become purified, and in that stage the senses are engaged in the service of the Lord. That is the complete field of devotional service.

Although the brāhmaṇa friend of Lord Kṛṣṇa was a householder, he was not busy accumulating wealth for very comfortable living; therefore he was satisfied by the income which automatically came to him according to his destiny. This is the sign of perfect knowledge. A man in perfect knowledge knows that one cannot be happier than he is destined to be. In this material world, everyone is destined to suffer a certain amount of distress and enjoy a certain amount of happiness. The amount of happiness and distress is already predestined for every living entity. No one can increase or decrease the happiness of the materialistic way of life. The brāhmaṇa, therefore, did not exert himself for more material happiness; instead, he used his time for advancement of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Externally he appeared very poor because he had no rich clothes and could not provide rich clothes for his wife. Because their material condition was not very opulent, they were not even eating sufficiently, and thus both he and his wife appeared very thin. The wife was not anxious for her personal comfort, but she felt concerned for her husband, who was such a pious brāhmaṇa. She trembled due to her weak health, and although she did not like to dictate to her husband, she spoke as follows.

Krsna Book 88:

Therefore a devotee is called akāma, free of desire, and a nondevotee is called sarva-kāma, or desirous of everything. On the seventh day, the demon Vṛkāsura decided that he should cut off his head and offer it to satisfy Lord Śiva. Thus he took a bath in a nearby lake, and without drying his body and hair, he prepared to cut off his head. According to the Vedic system, an animal to be offered as a sacrifice has to be bathed first, and while the animal is wet it is sacrificed. When the demon was thus preparing to cut off his head, Lord Śiva became very compassionate. This compassion is a symptom of the quality of goodness. Lord Śiva is called tri-liṅga, "a mixture of the three material qualities." Therefore his manifestation of the nature of compassion is a sign of the quality of goodness. This compassion, however, is present in every living entity. The compassion of Lord Śiva was aroused not because the demon was offering his flesh into the sacrificial fire but because he was about to commit suicide. This is natural compassion. Even if a common man sees someone preparing to commit suicide, he will try to save him. He does so automatically. There is no need to appeal to him. Therefore when Lord Śiva appeared from the fire to check the demon from suicide, it was not done as a very great favor to him.

Renunciation Through Wisdom

Renunciation Through Wisdom 2.6:

For one who always remembers Me without deviation, I am easy to obtain, O son of Pṛthā, because of his constant engagement in devotional service.

Undeviating concentration on the Supreme Lord is the first sign of pure devotion. In other words, a pure devotee is one who wards off all desires and thoughts not related to unflinching devotional service to the Supreme Lord. Many spiritual stalwarts have commented upon pure devotional service. For example, Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī, the foremost of the great spiritual preceptors in the time of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, wrote in his Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu (Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.1.11):

anyābhilāṣitā-śūnyaṁ

jñāna-karmādy-anāvṛtam

ānukūlyena kṛṣṇānu-

śīlanaṁ bhaktir uttama

(CC Madhya 19.167)

One should render transcendental loving service to the Supreme Lord Kṛṣṇa favorably and without desire for material profit or gain through fruitive activities or philosophical speculation. That is called pure devotional service.

Renunciation Through Wisdom 5.1:

The saintly, pure devotees, the guru, and the scriptures all represent the same Absolute Truth. The pure devotees are in fact all gurus because they never swerve from the spiritual principles enunciated in the scriptures: they see only through the lens of the scriptures. Spiritual practices are impossible to execute without the authority of these three ruling principles—the saintly devotees, the guru, and the scriptures. One must vehemently denounce the Western mentality of defying spiritual tradition and the scriptures. Such a mentality reveres mundane philosophies based on speculation and concocted logic, considering these practices signs of superior intelligence. The only weapon the proponents of such philosophies have is mundane argument, but often they exhibit a lack of mastery even of this art. Recent trends show that without probing deeply into a subject, these Westerners uselessly debate direct and indirect meanings ad infinitum. Each of these sophists surely realizes that he must one day accept defeat in the hands of a greater sophist, for there is always someone more intelligent. Therefore the process of debate leads nowhere.

There is a wide gulf between superficial dabbling in philosophy to impress people with a few stock phrases, and a sincere search for knowledge of the Absolute. Through the speculative process it is impossible to fathom the inconceivable topics concerning the Absolute Truth, for they can be understood only through the science of devotion. As Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī writes in his Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu, quoting from the Mahābhārata:

Message of Godhead

Message of Godhead 1:

We modern men have no time to get into the details of the philosophy of Bhagavad-gītā, even in the midst of our much more ordinary daily duties. But just to teach us, Marshal Arjuna tried to understand the philosophy of Bhagavad-gītā at a time when a moment was virtually impossible to spare. All this he did for the sake of people like us, and he fought the battle with full vigor once he had understood the philosophy of Bhagavad-gītā.

Affinity for family relations, which Marshal Arjuna displayed overwhelmingly in the manner of the typical modern man, is the sign of our lack of transcendental knowledge. But attaining transcendental knowledge does not necessarily mean renouncing the duties of our ordinary life. After Arjuna had understood the spirit of the philosophy of Bhagavad-gītā, the Personality of Godhead, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, never advised him to give up his seemingly ordinary duties. On the contrary, Arjuna fought the battle with even greater energy and vigor after he had obtained the transcendental knowledge imparted by Śrī Kṛṣṇa. The real spirit we attain through transcendental knowledge is self-negation and the determination to render transcendental service unto the Personality of Godhead. The purport of Bhagavad-gītā is this and nothing else.

When Marshal Arjuna was unable to solve the problem posed to him by the impending battle of Kurukṣetra, he surrendered himself as a disciple to Śrī Kṛṣṇa in all submissiveness to hear his problem's solution. At the outset, the Personality of Godhead talked with Arjuna just as a friend talks with a friend. But such friendly discussions generally end in friendly—and fruitless—debate. Thus, Marshal Arjuna surrendered himself as the disciple of Śrī Kṛṣṇa, for a disciple cannot disobey the orders of his spiritual master. That is the relationship between a disciple and his master.

Message of Godhead 2:

The Lord is therefore called "Govinda," or the prime cause of all causes and the reservoir of all blessings. And the people in general can attain to perfect peace and tranquillity when they come to know Him by the gradual process of work with transcendental results.

Those who do everything for the transcendental service of the Personality of Godhead, Śrī Kṛṣṇa, have no need to perform any sacrifice, penance, or meditation that is unrelated to the service of Godhead. We have already discussed hereinbefore that the mundane qualities of goodness that are the signs of the brahmaṇa are included and coexisting within the qualities of the transcendentalist. In the same manner, the dexterity and sacrifice of the devoted worker, the knowledge of the sannyāsī (renunciant), the stillness and profound love for Godhead of the mystic—all these qualities are included and coexisting within the qualities of the transcendental worker, the karma-yogī. Therefore, in Bhagavad-gītā (6.1), the Personality of Godhead says, "One who performs his duty for duty's sake, without seeking the fruitive results of such work, is the true renunciant and mystic—not he who has discarded all his duties and relieved himself of his responsibilities."

Light of the Bhagavata

Light of the Bhagavata 48, Purport:

Besides that, no ordinary man is allowed to enter that planet. Even those admitted there after death must have performed the prescribed duties to satisfy the pitās and devas. Yet even they are sent back to earth after a fixed duration of life—on the moon.

Men with developed consciousness, therefore, do not waste time making excursions, real or imaginary, to the moon. Such intelligent persons do not endeavor to achieve temporary sense enjoyment. Rather, they apply their conserved energy for the sake of spiritual cultivation. They discharge religious duties for the satisfaction of the Supreme Lord, and not for personal sense enjoyment. The signs of such exceptional devotees of the Lord are that they are unattached to material enjoyment, contented, pure in heart, attached to devotional service, free from affection for temporary things, and devoid of false ego. According to Vedic injunctions, such great personalities ultimately attain the place where the Supreme Personality of Godhead predominates and where there is no death, no birth, no old age, and no disease. On the way to these spiritual planets, such personalities pass through the sun line called arcir-mārga. And on the way they can see all the planets between here and the spiritual world.

Sri Isopanisad

Sri Isopanisad 11, Purport:

The activities of the material senses are perverted reflections of the activities of the original, spiritual senses. In his diseased condition, the spirit soul engages in material activities under the material covering. Real sense enjoyment is possible only when the disease of materialism is removed. In our pure spiritual form, free from all material contamination, real enjoyment of the senses is possible. A patient must regain his health before he can truly enjoy sense pleasure again. Thus the aim of human life should not be to enjoy perverted sense enjoyment but to cure the material disease. Aggravation of the material disease is no sign of knowledge, but a sign of avidyā, ignorance. For good health, a person should not increase his fever from 105 degrees to 107 degrees but should reduce his temperature to the normal 98.6. That should be the aim of human life. The modern trend of material civilization is to increase the temperature of the feverish material condition, which has reached the point of 107 degrees in the form of atomic energy. Meanwhile, the foolish politicians are crying that at any moment the world may go to hell. That is the result of the advancement of material knowledge and the neglect of the most important part of life, the culture of spiritual knowledge. Śrī Īśopaniṣad herein warns that we must not follow this dangerous path leading to death. On the contrary, we must develop the culture of spiritual knowledge so that we may become completely free from the cruel hands of death.

Sri Isopanisad 13, Purport:

The Lord's inner direction cleanses the devotee's heart of all contamination produced by the material modes of passion and ignorance. Nondevotees are under the sway of passion and ignorance. One who is in passion cannot become detached from material hankering, and one who is in ignorance cannot know what he is or what the Lord is. Thus when one is in passion or ignorance, there is no chance for self-realization, however much one may play the part of a religionist. For a devotee, the modes of passion and ignorance are removed by the grace of the Lord. In this way the devotee becomes situated in the quality of goodness, the sign of a perfect brāhmaṇa. Anyone can qualify as a brāhmaṇa if he follows the path of devotional service under the guidance of a bona fide spiritual master. Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (2.4.18) also says:

kirāta-hūṇāndhra-pulinda-pulkaśā

ābhīra-śumbhā yavanāḥ khasādayaḥ

ye 'nye ca pāpā yad-apāśrayāśrayāḥ

śudhyanti tasmai prabhaviṣṇave namaḥ

Any lowborn person can be purified by the guidance of a pure devotee of the Lord, for the Lord is extraordinarily powerful.

Mukunda-mala-stotra (mantras 1 to 6 only)

Mukunda-mala-stotra mantra 2, Purport:

The situation is similar to how one uses electricity. The same electricity can be used for both heating and cooling. Such contradictory results are due to the expert handling of a technician. In the same way, by His supreme will the Lord employs His one internal potency to accomplish many different purposes. That is the information we get from the śrutis (Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad 6.8): parāsya śaktir vividhaiva śrūyate (Cc. Madhya 13.65, purport).

The present verse of the Mukunda-mālā-stotra states that the color of the Lord's body is blackish, like that of a new cloud. Also, His body is very soft. Softness of the body is a sign of a great personality. The śāstras state that the following bodily features indicate a great personality: a reddish luster in seven places—the eyes, the palms, the soles, the palate, the lips, the tongue, and the nails; broadness in three places—the waist, the forehead, and the chest; shortness in three places—the neck, the thighs, and the genitals; deepness in three places—the voice, the intelligence, and the navel; highness in five places—the nose, the arms, the ears, the forehead, and the thighs; and fineness in five places—the skin, the hair on the head, the bodily hair, the teeth, and the fingertips. All these features are present in the body of the Lord.

The Brahma-saṁhitā confirms that the color the Lord's body is blackish, like that of a new cloud. But this blackish color is so beautiful that it surpasses the beauty of millions of Cupids. So this blackish color does not correspond to any blackish color in the material world.

Narada-bhakti-sutra (sutras 1 to 8 only)

Narada Bhakti Sutra 6, Purport:

"A person engaged in the devotional service of the Lord in full Kṛṣṇa consciousness automatically becomes carried away by ecstasy when he chants and hears the holy name of Kṛṣṇa. His heart becomes slackened while chanting the holy name, he becomes almost like a madman, and he does not care for any outward social conventions. Thus sometimes he laughs, sometimes he weeps, sometimes he cries out very loudly, sometimes he sings, and sometimes he dances and forgets himself." These are the signs of becoming intoxicated in devotional service. This stage, called the ātmārāma stage, is possible when the Lord bestows His mercy upon a devotee for his advanced devotional activity. It is the highest perfectional stage because one cannot reach it unless one has attained pure love of God.

Neither formal religious rituals, economic development, sense gratification, nor liberation can compare with this sweet stage of perfection of love of Kṛṣṇa, love of the Supreme Lord. The Caitanya-caritāmṛta (Ādi-līlā 7.97) describes this stage of ecstasy and intoxication as being far above the ecstasy of realizing oneself as Brahman, or the supreme spirit. Lord Caitanya says that the ecstasy of bhakti (love of Godhead) is so vast that it is like an ocean compared to the drop of pleasure derived from understanding oneself as one with Brahman. In all Vedic literature, the highest perfectional stage is said to be the state of intoxication of devotional service. It is not achieved by ordinary persons, the nondevotees.