He also kept Lord Vāsudeva constantly within his heart. After finishing his kingly duties, he divided his kingdom among his five sons. He then left home and went to the place of Pulaha known as Pulahāśrama. There he ate forest vegetables and fruits, and worshiped Lord Vāsudeva with everything available. Thus he increased his devotion toward Vāsudeva, and he automatically began to realize further his transcendental, blissful life. Due to his highly advanced spiritual position, there were sometimes visible in his body the aṣṭa-sāttvika transformations, such as ecstatic crying and bodily trembling, which are symptoms of love of Godhead. It is understood that Mahārāja Bharata worshiped the Supreme Lord with the mantras mentioned in the Ṛg Veda, generally known as Gāyatrī mantra, which aim at the Supreme Nārāyaṇa situated within the sun.
Ecstatic (BG & SB)
Bhagavad-gita As It Is
BG Chapters 1 - 6
When Lord Caitanya was asked by a great Vedic scholar, Prakāśānanda Sarasvatī, why He, the Lord, was chanting the holy name of the Lord like a sentimentalist instead of studying Vedānta philosophy, the Lord replied that His spiritual master had found Him to be a great fool and thus asked Him to chant the holy name of Lord Kṛṣṇa. He did so, and became ecstatic like a madman. In this Age of Kali, most of the population is foolish and not adequately educated to understand Vedānta philosophy; the best purpose of Vedānta philosophy is served by inoffensively chanting the holy name of the Lord. Vedānta is the last word in Vedic wisdom, and the author and knower of the Vedānta philosophy is Lord Kṛṣṇa; and the highest Vedāntist is the great soul who takes pleasure in chanting the holy name of the Lord. That is the ultimate purpose of all Vedic mysticism.
BG Chapters 7 - 12
Here Arjuna was inspired by the relationship of wonder, and in that wonder, although he was by nature very sober, calm and quiet, he became ecstatic, his hair stood up, and he began to offer his obeisances unto the Supreme Lord with folded hands. He was not, of course, afraid. He was affected by the wonders of the Supreme Lord. The immediate context is wonder; his natural loving friendship was overwhelmed by wonder, and thus he reacted in this way.
Srimad-Bhagavatam
SB Canto 1
Only by making such inquiries in this world can one be successful and perfectly cognizant, for such inquiries invoke transcendental ecstatic love unto the Personality of Godhead, who is the proprietor of all the universes, and guarantee cent-percent immunity from the dreadful repetition of birth and death.
The citizens arrived before the Lord with their respective presentations, offering them to the fully satisfied and self-sufficient one, who, by His own potency, incessantly supplies others. These presentations were like the lamp offered during worship of the sun. Yet the citizens began to speak in ecstatic language to receive the Lord, just as wards welcome their guardian and father.
SB Canto 2
Sometimes all the above eight symptoms of ecstasy are imitated by the mundane devotees (prākṛta-sahajiyās), but the pseudo symptoms are at once detected when one sees the pseudodevotee addicted to so many forbidden things. Even though decorated with the signs of a devotee, a person addicted to smoking, drinking or illegitimate sex with women cannot have all the above-mentioned ecstatic symptoms. But it is seen that sometimes these symptoms are willfully imitated, and for this reason Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī accuses the imitators of being stonehearted men. They are sometimes even affected by the reflection of such transcendental symptoms, yet if they still do not give up the forbidden habits, then they are hopeless cases for transcendental realization.
SB Canto 3
The symptoms of the highest order of devotional life were observed by Vidura, an experienced devotee of the Lord, and he confirmed Uddhava's perfectional stage of love of Godhead. Ecstatic bodily changes are manifested from the spiritual plane and are not artificial expressions developed by practice. There are three different stages of development in devotional service. The first stage is that of following the regulative principles prescribed in the codes of devotional service, the second stage is that of assimilation and realization of the steady condition of devotional service, and the last stage is that of ecstasy symptomized by transcendental bodily expression.
When one is free from all ten of these offenses in chanting the holy name of God, he develops the ecstatic bodily features called pulakāśru. Pulaka means "symptoms of happiness," and aśru means "tears in the eyes." The symptoms of happiness and tears in the eyes must appear in a person who has chanted the holy name offenselessly. Here in this verse it is stated that those who have actually developed the symptoms of happiness and tears in the eyes by chanting the glories of the Lord are eligible to enter the kingdom of God. In the Caitanya-caritāmṛta it is said that if one does not develop these symptoms while chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa, it is to be understood that he is still offensive. Caitanya-caritāmṛta suggests a nice remedy in this connection. There it is said in verse 31, Chapter Eight, of Ādi-līlā, that if anyone takes shelter of Lord Caitanya and just chants the holy name of the Lord, Hare Kṛṣṇa, he becomes freed from all offenses.
The sages, headed by Sanaka Ṛṣi, saw that the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Viṣṇu, who was formerly visible only within their hearts in ecstatic trance, had now actually become visible to their eyes. As He came forward, accompanied by His own associates bearing all paraphernalia, such as an umbrella and a cāmara fan, the white bunches of hair moved very gently, like two swans, and due to their favorable breeze the pearls garlanding the umbrella also moved, like drops of nectar falling from the white full moon or ice melting due to a gust of wind.
It is said that if one is already engaged in Kṛṣṇa consciousness and is rendering transcendental loving service to the Lord, then it can be supposed that he has finished all the recommended courses of austerity, penance, religion, sacrifice, mystic yoga and meditation. Devahūti's husband was so expert in the transcendental science that there was nothing for him to argue about, and when she heard him speak she was confident that since he was very much advanced in devotional service he had already surpassed all transcendental educational activities. She had no doubt about the gifts offered by her husband; she knew that he was expert in offering such gifts, and when she understood that he was offering the greatest gift, she was very satisfied. She was overwhelmed with ecstatic love, and therefore she could not reply; then, with faltering language, just like an attractive wife, she spoke the following words.
Sometimes it is asked how the living entity falls down from the spiritual world to the material world. Here is the answer. Unless one is elevated to the Vaikuṇṭha planets, directly in touch with the Supreme Personality of Godhead, he is prone to fall down, either from the impersonal Brahman realization or from an ecstatic trance of meditation. Another word in this verse, bhagavad-bāṇaḥ, is very significant. Bāṇaḥ means "arrow." The bhakti-yoga system is just like an arrow aiming up to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The bhakti-yoga system never urges one towards the impersonal Brahman effulgence or to the point of Paramātmā realization. This bāṇaḥ, or arrow, is so sharp and swift that it goes directly to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, penetrating the regions of impersonal Brahman and localized Paramātmā.
SB Canto 4
When various ecstasies appear in the body of a devotee, it is to be understood that his devotional service has become perfect. There are many types of transcendental ecstasies in the forms of crying, laughing, perspiring, falling down, and crying like a madman. All these symptoms are sometimes visible on the body of a devotee. They are called asta-sāttvika-vikāra (CC Antya 14.99), which means "eight kinds of transcendental transformations." They are never to be imitated, but when a devotee actually becomes perfect, these symptoms are visible on his body. The Lord is bhakta-vatsala, which means that He is inclined toward His pure devotee (bhakta). Therefore the transcendental ecstatic transaction between the Supreme Lord and His devotee is never like the activities of this material world.
If the state head or king allows the citizens to become sinful by indulging in illicit sex life, intoxication, meat-eating and gambling, then the king is responsible, and he has to suffer the resultant sequence of reactions for the sinful lives of the citizens because he levies taxes on them unnecessarily. These are the principles for a ruling power, and because Mahārāja Pṛthu observed all the principles for a ruling chief, he is referred to here as ādi-rājaḥ.
Even a responsible king like Mahārāja Pṛthu can become a pure devotee of the first order. We can distinctly see from King Pṛthu's behavior how he became ecstatic, both externally and internally, in pure devotional service.
SB Canto 5
The yoga-siddhis are described in this verse. One can fly in outer space without the aid of a machine, and he can travel at the speed of mind. This means that as soon as a yogī desires to go somewhere within this universe or even beyond this universe, he can do so immediately. One cannot estimate the speed of mind, for within a second the mind can go many millions of miles. Sometimes yogīs enter into the bodies of other people and act as they desire when their bodies are not working properly. When the body becomes old, a perfect yogī can find a young, able body. Giving up his old body, the yogī can enter into the young body and act as he pleases. Being a plenary expansion of Lord Vāsudeva, Lord Ṛṣabhadeva possessed all these mystic yoga powers, but He was satisfied with His devotional love of Kṛṣṇa, which was evinced by the ecstatic symptoms, such as crying, laughing and shivering.
That most exalted devotee, Mahārāja Bharata, in this way engaged constantly in the devotional service of the Lord. Naturally his love for Vāsudeva, Kṛṣṇa, increased more and more and melted his heart. Consequently he gradually lost all attachment for regulative duties. The hairs of his body stood on end, and all the ecstatic bodily symptoms were manifest. Tears flowed from his eyes, so much so that he could not see anything. Thus he constantly meditated on the reddish lotus feet of the Lord. At that time, his heart, which was like a lake, was filled with the water of ecstatic love. When his mind was immersed in that lake, he even forgot the regulative service to the Lord.
When one is actually advanced in ecstatic love for Kṛṣṇa, eight transcendental, blissful symptoms are manifest in the body. Those are the symptoms of perfection arising from loving service to the Supreme Personality, of Godhead. Since Mahārāja Bharata was constantly, engaged in devotional service, all the symptoms of ecstatic love were manifest in his body.
There is every chance of a woman's having a miscarriage if she experiences some ecstatic emotion or is frightened. Pregnant women should therefore be spared all these external influences.
Dhruva Mahārāja, the famous son of Mahārāja Uttānapāda, is known as the most exalted devotee of the Supreme Lord because of his firm determination in executing devotional service. Knowing that the sacred Ganges water washes the lotus feet of Lord Viṣṇu, Dhruva Mahārāja, situated on his own planet, to this very day accepts that water on his head with great devotion. Because he constantly thinks of Kṛṣṇa very devoutly within the core of his heart, he is overcome with ecstatic anxiety. Tears flow from his half-open eyes, and eruptions appear on his entire body.
SB Canto 6
One may very easily practice chanting and hearing the holy name of the Lord and thus become ecstatic in spiritual life. Padma Purāṇa states:
- nāmāparādha-yuktānāṁ
- nāmāny eva haranty agham
- aviśrānti-prayuktāni
- tāny evārtha-karāṇi ca
Even if one chants the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra offensively, one can avoid offenses by continuously chanting without deviation. One who becomes accustomed to this practice will always remain in a pure transcendental position, untouchable by sinful reactions. Śukadeva Gosvāmī especially requested King Parīkṣit to note this fact very carefully. There is no profit, however, in executing the Vedic ritualistic ceremonies. By performing such activities one may go to the higher planetary systems, but as stated in Bhagavad-gītā (9.21), kṣīṇe puṇye martya-lokaṁ viśanti: when the period of one's enjoyment in the heavenly planets is terminated because of the limited extent of the results of one's pious activities, one must return to earth. Thus there is no use in endeavoring to travel up and down in the universe. It is better to chant the holy name of the Lord so that one may become fully purified and eligible to return home, back to Godhead. That is the aim of life, and that is the perfection of life.
Although the Lord is unborn (aja) and His body never undergoes material changes, He nevertheless appears as an incarnation, maintaining Himself always in the transcendental stage (śuddha-sattva). Thus He exhibits His transcendental forms, names and activities. That is His special mercy toward His devotees. Others may continue merely arguing about whether the Absolute Truth has form or not, but when a devotee, by the grace of the Lord, sees the Lord personally, he becomes spiritually ecstatic.
My dear brāhmaṇa, austerity in the form of meditation is My heart, Vedic knowledge in the form of hymns and mantras constitutes My body, and spiritual activities and ecstatic emotions are My actual form. The ritualistic ceremonies and sacrifices, when properly conducted, are the various limbs of My body, the unseen good fortune proceeding from pious or spiritual activities constitutes My mind, and the demigods who execute My orders in various departments are My life and soul.
While dancing, they appear madly intoxicated with ecstasy, as if drinking the beverage called mādhurī-pūra. Some of them cry, some of them dance, and some of them, although unable to dance publicly, dance within their hearts. Lord Śiva embraces Nārada Muni and begins talking in an ecstatic voice, and seeing Lord Śiva dancing with Nārada, Lord Brahmā also joins, saying, "All of you kindly chant 'Hari bol! Hari bol!' " The King of heaven, Indra, also gradually joins with great satisfaction and begins dancing and chanting "Hari bol! Hari bol!" In this way, by the influence of the transcendental vibration of the holy name of God, the whole universe becomes ecstatic. Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura says, "When the universe becomes ecstatic, my desire is satisfied. I therefore pray unto the lotus feet of Rūpa Gosvāmī that this chanting of harer nāma (CC Adi 17.21) may go on nicely like this."
SB Canto 7
This verse further clarifies the comparison of a devotee to a child. If a mother leaves her small child in his bed or cradle and goes away to attend to some family duties, the child immediately understands that his mother has gone away, and therefore he cries. But as soon as the mother returns and cares for the child, the child laughs and becomes jubilant. Similarly, Prahlāda Mahārāja, being always absorbed in thoughts of Kṛṣṇa, sometimes felt separation, thinking, "Where is Kṛṣṇa?" This is explained by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Śūnyāyitaṁ jagat sarvaṁ govinda-viraheṇa me. When an exalted devotee feels that Kṛṣṇa is invisible, having gone away, he cries in separation, and sometimes, when he sees that Kṛṣṇa has returned to care for him, he laughs, just as a child sometimes laughs upon understanding that his mother is taking care of him. These symptoms are called bhāva. In The Nectar of Devotion, various bhāvas, ecstatic conditions of a devotee, are fully described. These bhāvas are visible in the activities of a perfect devotee.
Apparently Prahlāda Mahārāja was placed in circumstances in which he was always tortured by his father. In such material conditions, one cannot have an undisturbed mind, but since bhakti is unconditional (ahaituky apratihatā), Prahlāda Mahārāja was never disturbed by the chastisements of Hiraṇyakaśipu. On the contrary, the bodily symptoms of his ecstatic love for the Supreme Personality of Godhead turned the minds of his friends, who had also been born in atheistic families. Instead of being disturbed by the torments of his father, Prahlāda influenced these friends and cleansed their minds. A devotee is never contaminated by material conditions, but persons subjected to material conditions can become spiritually advanced and blissful upon seeing the behavior of a pure devotee.
The Lord's activities are uncommon. For example, when He appeared as Lord Rāmacandra, He performed uncommon activities like bridging the ocean. Similarly, when Lord Kṛṣṇa appeared He raised the Govardhana Hill when He was only seven years of age. These are uncommon activities. Fools and rascals, who are not in the transcendental position, consider these uncommon activities of the Lord to be mythological, but when the pure devotee, the liberated person, hears about these uncommon activities of the Lord, he immediately becomes ecstatic and exhibits the symptoms of chanting, dancing, and crying very loudly and jubilantly. This is the difference between a devotee and a nondevotee.
Similarly, when a devotee constantly engages in devotional service and thinks of the Lord in his original Kṛṣṇa consciousness, he no longer has any material activities, for his body is spiritualized. Advancement in Kṛṣṇa consciousness is very powerful, and therefore even during this life such a devotee has achieved the shelter of the lotus feet of the Lord. This transcendental ecstatic existence of a devotee was completely exhibited by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. In this regard, Śrīla Madhvācārya writes as follows:
- tad-bhāva-bhāvaḥ tad yathā svarūpaṁ bhaktiḥ
- kecid bhaktā vinṛtyanti gāyanti ca yathepsitam
- kecit tuṣṇīṁ japanty eva kecit śobhaya-kāriṇaḥ
The ecstatic condition of devotional service was completely exhibited by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, who sometimes danced, sometimes cried, sometimes sang, sometimes remained silent, and sometimes chanted the holy name of the Lord. That is perfect spiritual existence.
When Lord Nṛsiṁha-deva saw the small boy Prahlāda Mahārāja prostrated at the soles of His lotus feet, He became most ecstatic in affection toward His devotee. Raising Prahlāda, the Lord placed His lotus hand upon the boy's head because His hand is always ready to create fearlessness in all of His devotees.
One may actually become successful in spiritual consciousness by the mercy of devotees, or one may fall from spiritual consciousness by being disrespectful to devotees. In this regard, Nārada Muni narrated the history of how he had fallen from the Gandharva kingdom, how he was born in a śūdra family, and how by serving exalted brāhmaṇas he became the son of Lord Brahmā and was reinstated in his transcendental position. After narrating all these stories, Nārada Muni praised the mercy received from the Lord by the Pāṇḍavas. Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira, after hearing from Nārada, became ecstatic in love of Kṛṣṇa, and then Nārada Muni left that place and returned to his own place. Thus Śukadeva Gosvāmī, having described various descendants of the daughters of Dakṣa, ends the Seventh Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.
It is natural that when someone belonging to one's family circle is understood to be very great, one becomes ecstatic in love, thinking, "Oh, such a great personality is our relative!" When Śrī Kṛṣṇa, who was already known to the Pāṇḍavas, was further described by Nārada Muni to be the Supreme Personality of Godhead, naturally the Pāṇḍavas were amazed, thinking, "The Supreme Personality of Godhead is with us as our cousin!" Certainly their ecstasy was extraordinary.
SB Canto 8
While Indradyumna Mahārāja was engaged in ecstatic meditation, worshiping the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the great sage Agastya Muni arrived there, surrounded by his disciples. When the Muni saw that Mahārāja Indradyumna, who was sitting in a secluded place, remained silent and did not follow the etiquette of offering him a reception, he was very angry.
I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, who resides in His own realm, Goloka, with Rādhā, who resembles His own spiritual figure and who embodies the ecstatic potency (hlādinī). Their companions are Her confidantes, who embody extensions of Her bodily form and who are imbued and permeated with ever-blissful spiritual rasa." (Bs. 5.37)
Although Govinda is always present in His abode (goloka eva nivasati), He is simultaneously present everywhere. Nothing is unknown to Him, and nothing can be hidden from Him. The example given here compares the Lord to the air, which is within the vast sky and within every body but still is different from everything.
After Aditi performed the payo-vrata ceremony for twelve continuous days, the Lord, who was certainly very pleased with her, appeared before her with four hands and dressed in yellow garments. As soon as Aditi saw the Supreme Personality of Godhead present before her, she immediately got up, and with great ecstatic love for the Lord she fell to the ground to offer respectful obeisances. Aditi's throat was choked because of ecstatic feelings, and her entire body trembled with devotion. Although she wanted to offer suitable prayers to the Lord, she could not do anything, and thus she remained silent for some time. Then, feeling solace, observing the beauty of the Lord, she offered her prayers.
The great soul Bali Mahārāja experienced that the highest gain in life is to attain devotional service under the shelter of the Lord's lotus feet in full surrender. Being fixed in this conclusion, his heart full of ecstatic devotion and his eyes full of tears, he offered obeisances to the Personality of Godhead and then, with his associates, entered the planet known as Sutala. Thus the Supreme Personality of Godhead satisfied the desire of Aditi and reinstalled Lord Indra. Prahlāda Mahārāja, being aware of Bali's release from arrest, then described the transcendental pastimes of the Supreme Personality of Godhead in this material world.
When Prahlāda Mahārāja heard how Bali Mahārāja, his grandson and descendant, had been released from bondage and had achieved the benediction of the Lord, he spoke as follows in a tone of greatly ecstatic devotion.
SB Canto 9
When Lord Bharata understood that Lord Rāmacandra was returning to the capital, Ayodhyā, He immediately took upon His own head Lord Rāmacandra's wooden shoes and came out from His camp at Nandigrāma. Lord Bharata was accompanied by ministers, priests and other respectable citizens, by professional musicians vibrating pleasing musical sounds, and by learned brāhmaṇas loudly chanting Vedic hymns. Following in the procession were chariots drawn by beautiful horses with harnesses of golden rope. These chariots were decorated by flags with golden embroidery and by other flags of various sizes and patterns. There were soldiers bedecked with golden armor, servants bearing betel nut, and many well-known and beautiful prostitutes. Many servants followed on foot, bearing an umbrella, whisks, different grades of precious jewels, and other paraphernalia befitting a royal reception. Accompanied in this way, Lord Bharata, His heart softened in ecstasy and His eyes full of tears, approached Lord Rāmacandra and fell at His lotus feet with great ecstatic love.
SB Canto 10.1 to 10.13
The Twenty-ninth Chapter contains forty-eight verses, describing how Kṛṣṇa talked to the gopīs before performing the rāsa-līlā and how, after the beginning of the rāsa-līlā, Kṛṣṇa disappeared from the scene. Chapter Thirty contains forty-four verses, describing how the gopīs, being separated from Kṛṣṇa, went mad and began to wander in the forest in search of Him. The gopīs met Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī, the daughter of King Vṛṣabhānu, and they all wandered on the bank of the Yamunā searching for Krishna. Chapter Thirty-one contains nineteen verses, describing how the bereaved gopīs waited in great anxiety to meet Kṛṣṇa. Chapter Thirty-two contains twenty-two verses. In this chapter, Kṛṣṇa appears among the gopīs, who are fully satisfied in ecstatic love for Him. Chapter Thirty-three contains thirty-nine verses. In this chapter Kṛṣṇa appears in multiforms in the midst of the gopīs, with whom He dances in the rāsa dance. Then they all bathe in the River Yamunā. Also in this chapter, Śukadeva mitigates the doubts of Parīkṣit concerning the performance of the rāsa-līlā.
After promising the inhabitants of Vṛndāvana that He would return very soon, Kṛṣṇa underwent ritualistic ceremonies as a kṣatriya. He took the vow of brahmacarya and lived in the guru-kula, where He studied regularly. By killing the demon named Pañcajana, He received a conchshell named Pāñcajanya. Krishna rescued the son of His guru from the custody of Yamarāja and returned him. After thus offering guru-dakṣiṇā to repay His teacher, Lord Kṛṣṇa returned to Mathurā-purī. Chapter Forty-six contains forty-nine verses. As described in this chapter, Kṛṣṇa sent Uddhava to Vṛndāvana to pacify His father and mother, Nanda Mahārāja and Yaśodā. Chapter Forty-seven contains sixty-nine verses, describing how Uddhava, following Kṛṣṇa's order, went to pacify the gopīs and then returned to Mathurā. Thus Uddhava appreciated the ecstatic love felt for Kṛṣṇa by the inhabitants of Vṛndāvana.
O Lord, during the time of maintenance You manifest several incarnations, all with transcendental bodies, beyond the material modes of nature. When You appear in this way, You bestow all good fortune upon the living entities by teaching them to perform Vedic activities such as ritualistic ceremonies, mystic yoga, austerities, penances, and ultimately samādhi, ecstatic absorption in thoughts of You. Thus You are worshiped by the Vedic principles.
This means that sometimes a small child speaks lies. For example, he may have stolen something or eaten something and yet deny that he has done so. We ordinarily see this in the material world, but in relation to Kṛṣṇa it is different; such activities are meant to endow the devotee with transcendental ecstasy. The Supreme Personality of Godhead was playing as a liar and accusing all the other devotees of being liars. As stated in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (10.12.11), kṛta-puṇya-puñjāḥ: a devotee may attain such an ecstatic position after many, many births of devotional service. Persons who have amassed the results of a vast amount of pious activities can attain the stage of associating with Kṛṣṇa and playing with Him like ordinary playmates. One should not consider these transactions of transcendental service to be untruthful accusations. One should never accuse such devotees of being ordinary boys speaking lies, for they attained this stage of associating with Kṛṣṇa by great austerities (tapasā brahmacaryeṇa śamena ca damena ca (SB 6.1.13)).
In the beginning, the Vedic purpose is pursued in three ways (trayī)—by karma-kāṇḍa, jñāna-kāṇḍa and upāsanā-kāṇḍa. When one reaches the complete, perfect stage of upāsanā-kāṇḍa, one comes to worship Nārāyaṇa, or Lord Viṣṇu. When Pārvatī asked Lord Mahādeva, Lord Śiva, what is the best method of upāsanā, or worship, Lord Śiva answered, ārādhanānāṁ sarveṣāṁ viṣṇor ārādhanaṁ param. Viṣṇūpāsanā, or viṣṇv-ārādhana, worship of Lord Viṣṇu, is the highest stage of perfection, as realized by Devakī. But here mother Yaśodā performs no upāsanā, for she has developed transcendental ecstatic love for Kṛṣṇa. Therefore her position is better than that of Devakī. In order to show this, Śrīla Vyāsadeva enunciates this verse, trayyā copaniṣadbhiḥ etc.
Having heard of the great fortune of mother Yaśodā, Parīkṣit Mahārāja inquired from Śukadeva Gosvāmī: O learned brāhmaṇa, mother Yaśodā's breast milk was sucked by the Supreme Personality of Godhead. What past auspicious activities did she and Nanda Mahārāja perform to achieve such perfection in ecstatic love?
Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma, being attached to Their play, were playing with the other boys although it was very late. Therefore mother Yaśodā called Them back for lunch. Because of her ecstatic love and affection for Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma, milk flowed from her breasts.
Usually, the demigods never touch the ground, but Lord Brahmā, voluntarily giving up his prestige as a demigod, bowed down on the ground before Kṛṣṇa. Although Brahmā has one head in each direction, he voluntarily brought all his heads to the ground and touched Kṛṣṇa's feet with the tips of his four helmets. Although his intelligence works in every direction, he surrendered everything before the boy Kṛṣṇa.
It is mentioned that Brahmā washed the feet of Kṛṣṇa with his tears, and here the word sujalaiḥ indicates that his tears were purified. As soon as bhakti is present, everything is purified (sarvopādhi-vinirmuktam (CC Madhya 19.170)). Therefore Brahmā's crying was a form of bhakty-anubhāva, a transformation of transcendental ecstatic love.
SB Cantos 10.14 to 12 (Translations Only)
My dear master, although You have nothing to do with material existence, You come to this earth and imitate material life just to expand the varieties of ecstatic enjoyment for Your surrendered devotees.
They offered Balarāma profuse benedictions and then glorified Him, who deserves all glorification. Their minds overwhelmed with ecstatic love, they embraced Him as if He had come back from the dead.
All the residents of Vṛndāvana were overwhelmed with ecstatic love, and they came forward and greeted Śrī Kṛṣṇa according to their individual relationships with Him—some embracing Him, others bowing down to Him, and so forth. The cowherd women presented water mixed with yogurt and unbroken barleycorns as a token of honor, and they showered auspicious benedictions upon Him.
Dear Kṛṣṇa, what woman in all the three worlds wouldn't deviate from religious behavior when bewildered by the sweet, drawn-out melody of Your flute? Your beauty makes all three worlds auspicious. Indeed, even the cows, birds, trees and deer manifest the ecstatic symptom of bodily hair standing on end when they see Your beautiful form.
O mother earth, what austerity did you perform to attain the touch of Lord Keśava's lotus feet, which has brought you such great joy that your bodily hairs are standing on end? You appear very beautiful in this condition. Was it during the Lord's current appearance that you acquired this ecstatic symptom, or was it perhaps much earlier, when He stepped upon you in His form of the dwarf Vāmanadeva, or even earlier, when He embraced you in His form of the boar Varāhadeva?
Out of great affection for the cows of Vraja, Kṛṣṇa became the lifter of Govardhana Hill. At the end of the day, having rounded up all His own cows, He plays a song on His flute, while exalted demigods standing along the path worship His lotus feet and the cowherd boys accompanying Him chant His glories. His garland is powdered by the dust raised by the cows' hooves, and His beauty, enhanced by His fatigue, creates an ecstatic festival for everyone's eyes. Eager to fulfill His friends' desires, Kṛṣṇa is the moon arisen from the womb of mother Yaśodā.
It is not astonishing that the palace women, who should have felt maternal affection for Pradyumna, privately felt ecstatic attraction for Him as if He were their own Lord. After all, the son exactly resembled His father. Indeed, Pradyumna was a perfect reflection of the beauty of Lord Kṛṣṇa, the shelter of the goddess of fortune, and appeared before their eyes as Cupid Himself. Since even those on the level of His mother felt conjugal attraction for Him, then what to speak of how other women felt when they saw Him?
Vasudeva embraced Nanda Mahārāja with great joy. Beside himself with ecstatic love, Vasudeva remembered the troubles Kaṁsa had caused him, forcing him to leave his sons in Gokula for Their safety.
Śukadeva Gosvāmī said: While gazing at their beloved Kṛṣṇa, the young gopīs used to condemn the creator of their eyelids, (which would momentarily block their vision of Him). Now, seeing Kṛṣṇa again after such a long separation, with their eyes they took Him into their hearts, and there they embraced Him to their full satisfaction. In this way they became totally absorbed in ecstatic meditation on Him, although those who constantly practice mystic yoga find such absorption difficult to achieve.
The Supreme Lord approached the gopīs in a secluded place as they stood in their ecstatic trance. After embracing each of them and inquiring about their well-being, He laughed and spoke as follows.
The queens would become stunned in ecstatic trance, their minds absorbed in Kṛṣṇa alone. Then, thinking of their lotus-eyed Lord, they would speak as if insane. Please hear these words from me as I relate them.
Śukadeva Gosvāmī said: By thus speaking and acting with such ecstatic love for Lord Kṛṣṇa, the master of all masters of mystic yoga, His loving wives attained the ultimate goal of life.
And how could one possibly describe the great austerities that had been performed by the women who perfectly served Him, the spiritual master of the universe, in pure ecstatic love? Thinking of Him as their husband, they rendered such intimate services as massaging His feet.
By chanting the holy name of the Supreme Lord, one comes to the stage of love of Godhead. Then the devotee is fixed in his vow as an eternal servant of the Lord, and he gradually becomes very much attached to a particular name and form of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. As his heart melts with ecstatic love, he laughs very loudly or cries or shouts. Sometimes he sings and dances like a madman, for he is indifferent to public opinion.
O greatest of mystics, although we are conditioned souls wandering on the path of fruitive work, we will certainly cross beyond the darkness of this material world simply by hearing about Your Lordship in the association of Your devotees. Thus we are always remembering and glorifying the wonderful things You do and the wonderful things You say. We ecstatically recall Your amorous pastimes with Your confidential conjugal devotees and how You boldly smile and move about while engaged in such youthful pastimes. My dear Lord, Your loving pastimes are bewilderingly similar to the activities of ordinary people within this material world.
What more remains to be accomplished for the perfect devotee after achieving devotional service unto Me, the Supreme Absolute Truth, whose qualities are innumerable and who am the embodiment of all ecstatic experience?
| Page Title: | Ecstatic (BG & SB) |
| Compiler: | SunitaS, Mayapur |
| Created: | 25 of Aug, 2011 |
| Totals by Section: | BG=2, SB=56, CC=0, OB=0, Lec=0, Con=0, Let=0 |
| No. of Quotes: | 58 |