Nectar of Devotion
by His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
Chapter Twenty-seven
Symptoms of Ecstatic Love
The bodily symptoms manifested by a devotee in expressing ecstatic love for Krsna are called anubhava. Practical examples of anubhava 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 sita, and the other is called ksepana. When there is yawning, the symptoms are called sita, and when there is dancing they are called ksepana.
Dancing
While watching the rasa dance performed by Lord Krsna and the gopis, Lord Siva beheld the beautiful face of Krsna and immediately began to dance and beat upon his small dindima drum. While Lord Siva was dancing in ecstasy, his eldest son, Ganesa, joined him.
Rolling on the Ground
In the Third Canto, First Chapter, verse 32, of Srimad-Bhagavatam, Vidura inquires from Uddhava, “My dear friend, is Akrura in an auspicious condition? Not only is he a learned scholar and sinless, but he is also a devotee of Lord Krsna. He has such ecstatic love for Krsna that I have seen him rolling upon Krsna’s footprints in the dust as if bereft of all sense.” Similarly, one gopi gave a message to Krsna that Radharani, because of Her separation from Him and because of Her enchantment with the aroma of His flower garlands, was rolling on the ground, thereby bruising Her soft body.
Singing Loudly
One gopi informed Krsna that when Srimati Radharani 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.
When Narada Muni was chanting the Hare Krsna mantra, he chanted so loudly that it was apprehended that Lord Nrsimha had appeared. Thus all the demons began to flee in different directions.
Stretching the Body
It is said that sometimes when Narada, the carrier of the vina, remembers his Lord Krsna in great ecstasy, he begins to stretch his body so vigorously that his sacred thread gives way.
Crying Loudly
A gopi once said to Krsna, “My dear son of Nanda Maharaja, by the sound of Your flute Srimati Radharani has become full of lamentation and fear, and thus, with a faltering voice, She is crying like a kurari bird.”
It is described that by hearing the vibration of Krsna’s flute, Lord Siva 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 Krsna used to appear before Radharani, Her face, which is compared to the lotus flower, would expand by Her yawning.
Breathing Heavily
As far as breathing heavily is concerned, it is state d, “Lalita [one of the gopis] is just like a cataki bird, which only takes water falling directly from the rain cloud and not from any other source.” In this statement Krsna is compared to the dark cloud, and Lalita is compared to the cataki bird seeking only Krsna’s company. The metaphor continues to say, “As a heavy wind sometimes disperses a mighty cloud, so the heavy breath from Lalita’s nostrils caused her to miss Krsna, 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 brahmanas who were performing sacrifices at Vrndavana left home as soon as they heard that Krsna was nearby. They left their homes without caring for their learned husbands. The husbands began to discuss this among themselves: “How wonderful is the attraction for Krsna that it has made these women leave us without any care!” This is the influence of Krsna. Anyone who becomes attracted to Krsna 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 brahmanas.
In the Padyavali 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 Krsna, 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 Narada Muni was chanting the Hare Krsna 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 atta-hasa. 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-caritamrta devotional service to the Lord is also compared to a creeper which rises up to the lotus feet of Krsna in Goloka Vrndavana.
Wheeling of the Head
One gopi told her friend, “It appears that Lord Krsna, 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 gopis.”
Belching
Sometimes belching also becomes a symptom of ecstatic love for Krsna. There is evidence of this in Paurnamasi’s address to one crying associate of Radharani: “My dear daughter, don’t be worried because Srimati Radharani 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 Krsna. I shall arrange to cure this belching symptom immediately. Don’t be worried.” This statement by Paurnamasi is evidence that ecstatic love for Krsna 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 Krsna, but such symptoms are very rare, and therefore Srila Rupa Gosvami does not discuss any further on this point.