“The many external ecstatic symptoms, or bodily transformations which indicate ecstatic emotions in the mind and which are also called udbhāsvara, are the anubhāvas, or subordinate ecstatic expressions of love.” Some of these symptoms are dancing, falling down and rolling on the ground, singing and crying very loudly, bodily contortions, loud vibrations, yawning, deep breathing, disregard for others, the frothing of saliva, mad laughter, spitting, hiccups and other, similar symptoms. All these symptoms are divided into two divisions—śīta and kṣepaṇa. Singing, yawning and so on are called śīta. Dancing and bodily contortions are called kṣepaṇa.
In his Anubhāṣya, Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura quotes the following verse from the Vedic literature describing udbhāsvara:
- udbhāsante sva-dhāmnīti proktā udbhāsvarā budhaiḥ
- nīvy-uttarīya-dhammilla-sraṁsanaṁ gātra-moṭanam
- jṛmbhā ghrāṇasya phullatvaṁ niśvāsādyāś ca te matāḥ
“The ecstatic symptoms manifest in the external body of a person in ecstatic love are called udbhāsvara by learned scholars. Some of these are a slackening of the belt and a dropping of clothes and hair. Others are bodily contortions, yawning, a trembling of the front portion of the nostrils, heavy breathing, hiccupping and falling down and rolling on the ground. These are the external manifestations of emotional love.” Stambha and other symptoms are described in Madhya-līlā 14.167.