View source for They (Cowherd boys) 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

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{{terms|"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"}}
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[[Category:Cowherd Boys]]
[[Category:Were]]
[[Category:Sometimes]]
[[Category:Lie - Lay]]
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[[Category:Ground]]
[[Category:Rolling]]
[[Category:Dust]]
[[Category:Laughter]]
[[Category:Run]]
[[Category:Very]]
[[Category:Swift]]
[[Category:Symptoms]]
[[Category:Appearance]]
[[Category:Madman]]
[[Category:The Nectar of Devotion Chapter 42 - Fraternal Loving Affairs]]
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<h2>Other Books by Srila Prabhupada</h2>
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<h3>Nectar of Devotion</h3>
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There is also an example of madness caused by separation from Kṛṣṇa. When Kṛṣṇa was absent from Vṛndāvana, all the cowherd boys became bewildered, and having given up all kinds of activities, they appeared to be mad and forgot all their regular business. 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.
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[[Vanisource:NOD 42 (1970)|Nectar of Devotion, 42]]
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Another friend once informed Kṛṣṇa, "When one of Your friends was feeling much separation from You, there were tears covering his lotus eyes, so the black drones of sleep became discouraged from entering his eyes and left that place." When there is a lotus flower, the black drones fly into it to collect honey. The eyes of Kṛṣṇa's friend are compared to the lotus flower, and because they were full of tears the black drones of sleep could not collect honey from his lotus eyes and therefore left the place. In other words, because he was too much afflicted, his eyes were full of tears, and he could not sleep. This is an example of staying up at night because of separation from Kṛṣṇa.

An example of helplessness is described in the following statement: "Due to Kṛṣṇa's departure from Vṛndāvana to Mathurā, Kṛṣṇa's dearest cowherd boys felt as mentally light as possible. They were like fragments of cotton, lighter than the air, and were all floating in the air without any shelter." In other words, the minds of the cowherd boys became almost vacant on account of Kṛṣṇa's separation, and they are compared with fragments of cotton floating in the air without any shelter. An example of impatience was also shown by the cowherd boys when Kṛṣṇa went to Mathurā. Out of the sorrow of separation, all these boys forgot to take care of their cowherding and tried to forget all the melodious songs they used to sing in the pasturing ground. At last they had no desire to live anymore, being separated from Kṛṣṇa.

An example of stillness was described by a friend of Kṛṣṇa, who informed Him in Mathurā that all the cowherd boys had become just like leafless trees on the tops of hills. They appeared almost naked, skinny and frail, and did not carry any fruits or flowers. He informed Kṛṣṇa that all the cowherd boys residing in Vṛndāvana were as still as the trees at the tops of hills. Sometimes they felt diseased from their separation from Kṛṣṇa, and being so greatly disappointed, they were aimlessly wandering on the banks of the Yamunā.

There is also an example of madness caused by separation from Kṛṣṇa. When Kṛṣṇa was absent from Vṛndāvana, all the cowherd boys became bewildered, and having given up all kinds of activities, they appeared to be mad and forgot all their regular business. 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 Drupadanagara, 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.

In the Tenth Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, [[Vanisource:SB 10.71.27|71st Chapter, 25th verse]], it is stated that when Kṛṣṇa arrived in the city of Indraprastha, Bhīma was so overwhelmed with joy that, with tears in his eyes and a smiling face, he immediately embraced his maternal cousin. Following him were his young brothers Nakula and Sahadeva, along with Arjuna, and they all became so overwhelmed at seeing Kṛṣṇa that with full satisfaction they embraced the Lord, who is known as Acyuta (the infallible). There is a similar statement about the cowherd boys of Vṛndāvana. When Kṛṣṇa was on the battlefield of Kurukṣetra, all the cowherd boys came to see Him, wearing jeweled earrings in their ears. Becoming so greatly overjoyed, they extended their arms and embraced Kṛṣṇa as their old friend. These are instances of full satisfaction in friendship with Kṛṣṇa.

In the [[Vanisource:SB 10.12.12|Tenth Canto, 12th Chapter, 11th verse]] of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam it is stated that even after undergoing severe penances and austerities and performing the yogic principles, the great mystic yogīs can hardly become eligible to achieve the dust of the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa, but the same Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, is easily available to the vision of the residents of Vṛndāvana. This means there is no comparison to these devotees' great fortune. The friendly relationship of the cowherd boys with Kṛṣṇa is a particular type of spiritual ecstasy almost similar to the ecstasy of conjugal love. It is very difficult to explain this ecstasy of loving affairs between the cowherd boys and Kṛṣṇa. Great expert devotees like Rūpa Gosvāmī and others express their astonishment at the inconceivable feelings which are in Kṛṣṇa and His cowherd boy friends.

This particular type of ecstatic love shared between Kṛṣṇa and His confidential friends further develops into parental love, and on from there it may develop into conjugal love, the most exalted humor or mellow of ecstatic love between Lord Kṛṣṇa and His devotees.
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