View source for When there was a forest fire all of Krsna's friends neglected their own protection and surrounded Krsna on all sides to protect Him from the flames

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{{terms|"when there was a forest fire all of Kṛṣṇa's friends neglected their own protection and surrounded Kṛṣṇa on all sides to protect Him from the flames"}}
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{{compiler|MahaprabhuCaitanya}}
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[[Category:When]]
[[Category:There Was]]
[[Category:Krsna and Forest Fires]]
[[Category:Krsna's Friends]]
[[Category:Neglect]]
[[Category:Protection]]
[[Category:Krsna Is Surrounded By]]
[[Category:All Sides]]
[[Category:Protecting Krsna]]
[[Category:Flame]]
[[Category:The Nectar of Devotion Chapter 42 - Fraternal Loving Affairs]]
[[Category:The Nectar of Devotion Chapters 01 to 51]]
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<h2>Other Books by Srila Prabhupada</h2>
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<h3>Nectar of Devotion</h3>
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When Kṛṣṇa entered the lake of Kāliya, His intimate friends became so perturbed that their bodily colors faded, and they all produced horrible gurgling sounds. At that time all of them fell down on the ground as if they were unconscious. Similarly, when there was a forest fire all of Kṛṣṇa's friends neglected their own protection and surrounded Kṛṣṇa on all sides to protect Him from the flames. This behavior of the friends toward Kṛṣṇa is described by thoughtful poets as vyabhicārī. In vyabhicārī ecstatic love for Kṛṣṇa there is sometimes madness, dexterity, fear, laziness, jubilation, pride, dizziness, meditation, disease, forgetfulness and humbleness. These are some of the common symptoms in the stage of vyabhicārī ecstatic love for Kṛṣṇa.
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[[Vanisource:NOD 42 (1970)|Nectar of Devotion, 42]]
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When Kṛṣṇa came out from the Yamunā after chastising the Kāliyanāga, Śrīdāmā wanted to embrace Him first, but he could not raise his arms because of his great feeling of respect.

When Kṛṣṇa used to play on His flute, it appeared just like the roaring of clouds in the sky during the constellation of Svāti. According to Vedic astronomical calculation, if there is rain during the constellation of the Svāti star, any rain falling on the sea will produce pearls, and rain falling on a serpent will produce jewels. Similarly, when Kṛṣṇa's flute roared like a thundercloud under the Svāti constellation, the resulting perspiration on Śrīdāmā's body appeared to be just like pearls.

When Kṛṣṇa and Subala were embracing one another, Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī became a little envious, and hiding Her hot temperament She said, "My dear Subala, you are very fortunate, because even in the presence of superiors you and Kṛṣṇa have no hesitation in putting your arms on each other's shoulders. I think it must be admitted that in your previous lives you have succeeded in many kinds of austerities." The idea is that although Rādhārāṇī was accustomed to put Her arms on Kṛṣṇa's shoulders, it was not possible for Her to do such a thing in the presence of Her superiors, whereas Subala could do so freely. Rādhārāṇī therefore praised his good fortune.

When Kṛṣṇa entered the lake of Kāliya, His intimate friends became so perturbed that their bodily colors faded, and they all produced horrible gurgling sounds. At that time all of them fell down on the ground as if they were unconscious. Similarly, when there was a forest fire all of Kṛṣṇa's friends neglected their own protection and surrounded Kṛṣṇa on all sides to protect Him from the flames. This behavior of the friends toward Kṛṣṇa is described by thoughtful poets as vyabhicārī. In vyabhicārī ecstatic love for Kṛṣṇa there is sometimes madness, dexterity, fear, laziness, jubilation, pride, dizziness, meditation, disease, forgetfulness and humbleness. These are some of the common symptoms in the stage of vyabhicārī ecstatic love for Kṛṣṇa.

When there are dealings between Kṛṣṇa and His friends which are completely devoid of any feelings of respect, and they all treat one another on an equal level, such ecstatic love in friendship is called sthāyī. When one is situated in this confidential friendly relationship with Kṛṣṇa, one shows symptoms of love such as attraction, affection, affinity and attachment. An example of sthāyī was exhibited when Arjuna*(4) told Akrūra: "My dear son of Gāndinī, please ask Kṛṣṇa when I shall be able to embrace Him in my arms."

When there is full knowledge of Kṛṣṇa's superiority and yet in dealings with Him on friendly terms respectfulness is completely absent, that stage is called affection. There is one brilliant example of this affection. When the demigods, headed by Lord Śiva, were offering respectful prayers to Kṛṣṇa, describing the glorious opulences of the Lord, Arjuna* stood before Him with his hand on His shoulders and brushed the dust from His peacock feather.

* This Arjuna, living in Vṛndāvana, is different from the friend of the same name to whom Bhagavad-gītā was spoken.

When the Pāṇḍavas were banished by Duryodhana and forced to live incognito in the forest, no one could trace out where they were staying. At that time, the great sage Nārada met Lord Kṛṣṇa and said, "My dear Mukunda, although You are the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the all-powerful person, by making friendship with You the Pāṇḍavas have become bereft of their legitimate right to the kingdom of the world—and, moreover, they are now living in the forest incognito. Sometimes they must work as ordinary laborers in someone else's house. These symptoms appear to be very inauspicious materially, but the beauty is that the Pāṇḍavas have not lost their faith and love for You, in spite of all these tribulations. In fact, they are always thinking of You and chanting Your name in ecstatic friendship."

Another example of acute affection for Kṛṣṇa is given in the [[Vanisource:SB 10.15.18|10th Canto, 15th Chapter, 15th verse]] of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. In the pasturing ground Kṛṣṇa felt a little tired and wanted to take rest, so He laid down on the ground. At that time, many cowherd boys assembled there and with great affection began to sing suitable songs so that Kṛṣṇa would rest very nicely.

There is a nice example of the friendship between Kṛṣṇa and Arjuna on the battlefield of Kurukṣetra. When the fighting was going on, Aśvatthāmā, the son of Droṇācārya, unceremoniously attacked Kṛṣṇa, although according to the prevailing rules of chivalry one's chariot driver should never be attacked by the enemy. But Aśvatthāmā behaved heinously in so many ways that he did not hesitate to attack Kṛṣṇa's body, although Kṛṣṇa was acting only as charioteer for Arjuna. When Arjuna saw that Aśvatthāmā was releasing various kinds of arrows to hurt Kṛṣṇa, he immediately stood in front of Kṛṣṇa to intercept all of them. At that time, although Arjuna was being harmed by those arrows, he felt an ecstatic love for Kṛṣṇa, and the arrows appeared to him like showers of flowers.

There is another instance of ecstatic love for Kṛṣṇa in friendship: Once when a cowherd boy named Vṛṣabha was collecting flowers from the forest to prepare a garland to be offered to Kṛṣṇa, the sun reached its zenith, and although the sunshine was scorching hot, Vṛṣabha felt it as the moonshine. That is the way of rendering transcendental loving service to the Lord: When devotees are put into great difficulties—even like the Pāṇḍavas, as described above—they feel all their miserable conditions as great facilities for serving the Lord.
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