Laughter (CC)
Expressions researched:
"laugh"
|"laughable"
|"laughed"
|"laugher"
|"laughing"
|"laughingly"
|"laughingstock"
|"laughs"
|"laughter"
Sri Caitanya-caritamrta
CC Adi-lila
Thus they dance, sing and laugh like madmen, and they instruct everyone, "Just be loving servants of Lord Caitanya."
Śrī Pañca-tattva themselves danced again and again and thus made it easier to drink nectarean love of Godhead. They danced, cried, laughed and chanted like madmen, and in this way they distributed love of Godhead.
While chanting the holy name of the Lord in pure ecstasy, I lose Myself, and thus I laugh, cry, dance and sing just like a madman.
Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu hints in this verse that to chant the holy name of Kṛṣṇa one does not need to speculate on the philosophical aspects of the science of God, for one automatically becomes ecstatic and without consideration immediately chants, dances, laughs, cries and sings just like a madman.
Chanting the holy name in ecstasy causes Me to dance, laugh and cry.’ When My spiritual master heard all this, he smiled and then began to speak.
When one is completely fit to chant the holy name in this way, he is eligible to make disciples all over the world, and he actually becomes jagad-guru. Then the entire world, under his influence, begins to chant the holy names of the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra. Thus all the disciples of such a spiritual master increase in attachment for Kṛṣṇa, and therefore he sometimes cries, sometimes laughs, sometimes dances and sometimes chants. These symptoms are very prominently manifest in the body of a pure devotee. Sometimes when our students of the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement chant and dance, even in India people are astonished to see how these foreigners have learned to chant and dance in this ecstatic fashion. As explained by Caitanya Mahāprabhu, however, actually this is not due to practice, for without extra endeavor these symptoms become manifest in anyone who sincerely chants the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra.
‘When one actually develops love of Godhead, he naturally sometimes cries, sometimes laughs, sometimes chants and sometimes runs here and there just like a madman.
In this connection Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Gosvāmī says that sometimes persons who have no love of Godhead at all display ecstatic bodily symptoms. Artificially they sometimes laugh, cry and dance just like madmen, but this cannot help one progress in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Rather, such artificial agitation of the body is to be given up when one naturally develops the necessary bodily symptoms. Actual blissful life, manifested in genuine spiritual laughing, crying and dancing, is the symptom of real advancement in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, which can be achieved by a person who always voluntarily engages in the transcendental loving service of the Lord. If one who is not yet developed imitates such symptoms artificially, he creates chaos in the spiritual life of human society.
"When a person is actually advanced and takes pleasure in chanting the holy name of the Lord, who is very dear to him, he is agitated and loudly chants the holy name. He also laughs, cries, becomes agitated and chants just like a madman, not caring for outsiders."
The fruit of love of Godhead distributed by Caitanya Mahāprabhu is such a great intoxicant that anyone who eats it, filling his belly, immediately becomes maddened by it, and automatically he chants, dances, laughs and enjoys.
When Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, the great gardener, sees that people are chanting, dancing and laughing and that some of them are rolling on the floor and some are making loud humming sounds, He smiles with great pleasure.
Hearing this, Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu laughed with satisfaction and immediately called Kamalākānta Viśvāsa.
When all the ladies saw this fun, they enjoyed laughing and called the Lord "Gaurahari." From then on, Gaurahari became another of His names.
Seeing the lunar eclipse and laughing, Advaita Ācārya and Haridāsa Ṭhākura immediately went to the bank of the Ganges and bathed in the river in great jubilation. Taking advantage of the occasion of the lunar eclipse, Advaita Ācārya, by His mental strength, distributed various types of charity to the brāhmaṇas.
When the poetic champion was thus defeated, all the Lord's disciples sitting there began to laugh loudly. But Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu asked them not to do so, and He addressed the poet as follows.
While I was asleep, the lion jumped on my chest, laughing fiercely and gnashing His teeth.
One meat-eater said, ‘The Hindus say, "Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa," and they laugh, cry, dance, chant and fall on the ground, smearing their bodies with dirt.
We do not know what He eats that makes Him become mad, dancing, singing, sometimes laughing, crying, falling down, jumping up and rolling on the ground.
But the proud student community did not become submissive. On the contrary, the students spoke of the incident anywhere and everywhere. In a laughing manner they criticized the Lord.
CC Madhya-lila
In the northern division (uttara-vibhāga) there is a description of the indirect mellows of devotional service—namely, devotional service in laughter, devotional service in wonder, and devotional service in chivalry, pity, anger, dread and ghastliness. There are also mixing of mellows and the transgression of different humors. Thus there are nine waves in this part. This is but a brief outline of the Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu.
In the attitude of separation, Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu appeared mad both day and night. Sometimes He laughed, and sometimes He cried; sometimes He danced, and sometimes He chanted in great sorrow.
Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu used to lament by saying, “Where is Śrī Kṛṣṇa, whose form is curved in three places? Where is the sweet song of His flute, and where is the bank of the Yamunā? Where is the rāsa dance? Where is that dancing, singing, and laughing? Where is My Lord, Madana-mohana, the enchanter of Cupid?
The word unmāda is explained in the Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu as extreme joy, misfortune and bewilderment in the heart due to separation. Symptoms of unmāda are laughing like a madman, dancing, singing, performing ineffectual activities, talking nonsense, running, shouting and sometimes working in contradictory ways. The word praṇaya is explained thus: When there is a possibility of receiving direct honor but it is avoided, that love is called praṇaya. Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī, in his Ujjvala-nīlamaṇi, explains the word māna thus: When the lover feels novel sweetness by exchanging hearty loving words but wishes to hide his feelings by crooked means, māna is experienced.
There were different transformations of the body of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu: being stunned, trembling, perspiring, fading away of color, weeping, and choking of the voice. In this way His whole body was pervaded by transcendental joy. As a result, sometimes Caitanya Mahāprabhu would laugh, sometimes cry, sometimes dance and sometimes sing. Sometimes He would get up and run here and there, and sometimes fall on the ground and lose consciousness.
When Mādhavendra Purī was overwhelmed in the ecstasy of love of Godhead, he sometimes stood up and sometimes fell to the ground. Sometimes he laughed, danced and sang. In this way he enjoyed transcendental bliss by seeing the Jagannātha Deity.
Exhibiting ecstatic emotions, the Lord began to run here and there, making resounding noises. Sometimes He laughed, and sometimes He cried, and sometimes He danced and sang.
They unanimously agreed, "If you offer your daughter to a degraded family, your aristocracy will be lost. When people hear of this, they will make jokes and laugh at you."
Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu laughed, cried, danced and made many ecstatic vibrations and sounds. Although the temple was only six miles away, to Him the distance seemed thousands of miles.
Gopīnātha Ācārya was the brother-in-law of Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya; therefore their relationship was very sweet and intimate. Under the circumstances, Gopīnātha Ācārya taught him by sometimes blaspheming him, sometimes praising him and sometimes laughing at him. This had been going on for some time.
While Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya was in this ecstasy, Gopīnātha Ācārya was very pleased. The associates of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu all laughed to see the Bhaṭṭācārya dance so.
Upon hearing this explanation, the Lord began to laugh and, with great pleasure, immediately embraced Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya very firmly.
Each of these empowered persons would return to his own village, always chanting the holy name of Kṛṣṇa and sometimes laughing, crying and dancing.
While at this place, Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu was in His usual ecstasy of love of Godhead and was laughing, crying, dancing and chanting. Everyone who saw Him was astonished.
The Lord then requested Rāmānanda Rāya, "Keep all these talks a secret. Please do not expose them anywhere and everywhere. Since My activities appear to be like those of a madman, people may take them lightly and laugh."
All mental speculators and learned scholars were defeated by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, and when the people began to laugh, the Buddhist philosophers felt both shame and fear.
Due to his incorrect pronunciation, people sometimes criticized him and laughed at him, but he did not care. He was full of ecstasy due to reading the Bhagavad-gītā and was personally very happy.
Constantly associating with each other, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu and Veṅkaṭa Bhaṭṭa gradually developed a friendly relationship. Indeed, sometimes they laughed and joked together.
"When a person is actually advanced and takes pleasure in chanting the holy name of the Lord, who is very dear to him, he is agitated and loudly chants the holy name. He also laughs, cries, becomes agitated and chants just like a madman, not caring for outsiders."
"May the sight of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī"s kila-kiñcita ecstasy, which is like a bouquet, bring good fortune to all. When Śrī Kṛṣṇa blocked Rādhārāṇī’s way to the dāna-ghāṭi, there was laughter within Her heart. Her eyes grew bright, and fresh tears flowed from Her eyes, reddening them. Due to Her sweet relationship with Kṛṣṇa, Her eyes were enthusiastic, and when Her crying subsided, She appeared even more beautiful.’
She wondered, "Why did Lord Jagannātha give up so much opulence and go to Vṛndāvana?" To make Him a laughingstock, the goddess of fortune made arrangements for much decoration.
Śrīvāsa Ṭhākura then began to dance in ecstatic love. He vibrated sounds by slapping his armpits with the palms of his hands, and he laughed very loudly.
Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu would worship Advaita Ācārya by chanting the mantra "Whatever You are, You are-but I offer My respects unto You." In addition, the Lord would make some sounds within His mouth that would make Advaita Ācārya laugh.
Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu wheeled and threw the rod, sometimes over His head, sometimes behind His back, sometimes in front of Him, sometimes to His side and sometimes between His legs. All the people laughed to see this.
The Bhaṭṭācārya then began to curse his son-in-law and call him ill names. When the Bhaṭṭācārya returned, he saw that Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu was laughing to hear him criticize Amogha.
While Amogha danced in ecstatic love, he manifested all the ecstatic symptoms—trembling, tears, jubilation, trance, perspiration and a faltering voice. Seeing these waves of ecstatic emotion, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu began to laugh.
All these saintly people incessantly chant the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra, and they all laugh, dance, chant and cry.
After saying this, the messenger began to chant the holy names of Hari and Kṛṣṇa. He also began to laugh and cry, dance and sing exactly like a madman.
Sometimes He dances, laughs, sings and cries, and sometimes He roars like a lion.
Prakāśānanda Sarasvatī laughed very much to hear this description. Joking and laughing at the brāhmaṇa, he began to speak as follows.
The people said, “Simply by seeing Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, everyone is maddened with love of Kṛṣṇa. Indeed, everyone is laughing, crying, dancing, chanting and taking the holy name of Kṛṣṇa.
When the Lord regained His senses, He began to roll on the ground. He would sometimes laugh, cry, dance and fall down. He would also chant very loudly.
"Everyone has seen Lord Kṛṣṇa Himself. There is no doubt about it." Hearing this, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu began to laugh. He then said, "Everything is correct."
Some of the people following the Lord were crying. Some were laughing, some dancing and some chanting. Indeed, some of them were rolling on the ground, exclaiming "Kṛṣṇa! Kṛṣṇa!"
Attachment for Kṛṣṇa never wanes; it increases more and more as one attains different stages. All the stages together are called sthāyibhāva, or continuous existence of ecstasy. The nine forms of devotional service are śravaṇaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṇoḥ smaraṇaṁ pāda-sevanam arcanaṁ vandanaṁ dāsyaṁ sakhyam ātma-nivedanam (SB 7.5.23). When continuous love of Godhead is mixed with the processes of devotional service, it is called vibhāva, anubhāva, sāttvika and vyabhicārī. The devotee thus enjoys a variety of transcendental bliss. In his Amṛta-pravāha-bhāṣya, Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura states that anubhāva can be divided into thirteen categories: (1) dancing, (2) rolling on the ground, (3) singing, (4) yelling, (5) jumping, (6) making loud noises, (7) yawning, (8) heavy breathing, (9) not caring for public opinion, (10) discharging saliva, (11) roaring laughter, (12) unsteadiness and (13) hiccuping. These are the symptoms of anubhāva. Thus the transcendental mellows are experienced in different stages. Similarly, there are many other forms of expression that have been analytically studied by the Gosvāmīs. In the Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu, Rūpa Gosvāmī gives each and every symptom a particular name.
"Besides the five direct mellows, there are seven indirect mellows, known as laughter, wonder, chivalry, compassion, anger, disaster and fear."
“In addition to the five direct mellows, there are seven indirect mellows, known as laughter, wonder, chivalry, compassion, anger, disaster and fear.
Hāsya, adbhuta, vīra, karuṇa, raudra, bhaya and bībhatsa—the seven indirect mellows—are explained in the Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu (4.1.6). The hāsya-bhakti-rasa, laughing devotion, is explained as follows:
- vakṣyamāṇair vibhāvādyaiḥ puṣṭiṁ hāsa-ratir gatā
- hāsya-bhakti-raso nāma budhair eṣa nigadyate
"When through devotional service a laughing attachment to Kṛṣṇa is developed, it is called hāsya-bhakti-rasa by learned scholars."
"When a person is actually advanced and takes pleasure in chanting the holy name of the Lord, who is very dear to him, he is agitated and loudly chants the holy name. He also laughs, cries, becomes agitated and chants just like a madman, not caring for outsiders."
"These moods (bhāvas) bring under control the favorable ecstasies (such as laughing) and unfavorable ecstasies (such as anger). When these moods continue to remain as kings, they are called sthāyi-bhāva, or permanent ecstasies. Continuous ecstatic love for Kṛṣṇa is called permanent ecstasy."
"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.
As soon as people received instructions from Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, they began to chant the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra. Thus everyone laughed, chanted and danced with the Lord.
"When a person is actually advanced and takes pleasure in chanting the holy name of the Lord, who is very dear to him, he is agitated and loudly chants the holy name. He also laughs, cries, becomes agitated and chants like a madman, not caring for outsiders."
All the inhabitants of Kāśī (Vārāṇasī) began chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra in ecstatic love. Sometimes they laughed, sometimes they cried, sometimes they chanted, and sometimes they danced.
Among His own associates, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu laughingly said, “I came here to sell My emotional ecstatic love.
Men become strong and stout by eating sufficient grains, but the devotee who simply eats ordinary grains but does not taste the transcendental pastimes of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu and Kṛṣṇa gradually becomes weak and falls down from the transcendental position. However, if one drinks but a drop of the nectar of Kṛṣṇa's pastimes, his body and mind begin to bloom, and he begins to laugh, sing and dance.
CC Antya-lila
Nakula Brahmacārī became exactly like a man haunted by a ghost. Thus he sometimes laughed, sometimes cried, sometimes danced and sometimes chanted like a madman.
When Nityānanda Prabhu heard this order from the servant of Rāmacandra Khān, He became very angry and came out. Laughing very loudly, He spoke as follows.
"When a person is actually advanced and takes pleasure in chanting the holy name of the Lord, who is very dear to him, he is agitated and loudly chants the holy name. He also laughs, cries, becomes agitated and chants just like a madman, not caring for outsiders."
Thus the overlapping of transcendental mellows is described as being first grade, second grade or third grade. When the twelve mellows—such as neutrality, servitorship and friendship—are characterized by adverse sthāyi-bhāva, vibhāva and anubhāva ecstasies, they are known as uparasa, submellows. When the seven indirect transcendental mellows and the dried-up mellow of neutrality are produced by devotees and moods not directly related to Kṛṣṇa and devotional service in ecstatic love, they are described as anurasa, imitation mellows. If Kṛṣṇa and the enemies who harbor feelings of opposition toward Him are respectively the object and abodes of the mellow of laughter, the resulting feelings are called aparasa, opposing mellows. Experts in distinguishing one mellow from another sometimes accept some overlapping transcendental mellows (rasābhāsa) as rasas due to their being pleasurable and tasteful.” Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura says, paraspara-vairayor yadi yogas tadā rasābhāsaḥ: "When two opposing transcendental mellows overlap, they produce rasābhāsa, or an overlapping of transcendental mellows."
At that time, Rāghava Paṇḍita arrived there. Seeing the situation, he began to laugh in great surprise.
Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, also smiling, took a morsel of food, pushed it into the mouth of Nityānanda and laughed as He made Lord Nityānanda eat it.
Have I taken sannyāsa for such happiness? Accepting this oil would bring My ruination, and all of you would laugh.
Uddhava said to Kṛṣṇa, “My dear Kṛṣṇa, all the gopīs are so afflicted by Your absence that they have become almost mad. O Murāri, at home Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī laughs unnecessarily and, like a madwoman, inquires about You from every entity without distinction, even from the stones. She rolls on the ground, unable to bear the agony of Your absence.
The nectar of Your lips and the vibration of Your flute join together to loosen our belts and induce us to give up shame and religion, even before our superiors. As if catching us by our hair, they forcibly take us away and deliver us unto You to become Your maidservants. Hearing of these incidents, people laugh at us. We have thus become completely subordinate to the flute.
"Therefore, My dear Kṛṣṇa, please give up all the tricks You have set up so expertly. Do not try to kill the life of the gopīs with the vibration of Your flute. Because of Your joking and laughing, You are becoming responsible for the killing of women. It would be better for You to satisfy us by giving us the charity of the nectar of Your lips."
I saw Kṛṣṇa and the gopīs enjoying all kinds of pastimes while laughing and joking together. Hearing their vocal expressions enhanced the joy of My ears.
Passing along the beach, they saw a fisherman approaching with his net over his shoulder. Laughing, crying, dancing and singing, he kept repeating the holy name "Hari, Hari."
When he heard Advaita Ācārya's statement, Jagadānanda Paṇḍita began to laugh, and when he returned to Jagannātha Purī, Nīlācala, he informed Caitanya Mahāprabhu of everything.
All the queens incessantly thought of Kṛṣṇa. After their pastimes in the water, the queens said, “Our dear friend the osprey, Kṛṣṇa is now asleep, but we stay awake at night because of Him. You laugh at us when you see us awake at night, but why are you not sleeping? You seem absorbed in thoughts of Kṛṣṇa. Have you also been pierced by Kṛṣṇa's smile? His smile is very sweet. One who is pierced by such an arrow is very fortunate.
| Page Title: | Laughter (CC) |
| Compiler: | Visnu Murti, Mayapur |
| Created: | 07 of Mar, 2012 |
| Totals by Section: | BG=0, SB=0, CC=77, OB=0, Lec=0, Con=0, Let=0 |
| No. of Quotes: | 77 |