Ecstatic love for Kṛṣṇa, which is known as anubhāva, is symptomized by the following signs: one becomes engaged exclusively in the service of the Lord, being attentive to carry out the orders of the Lord faithfully; one becomes undisturbed and non-envious in full transcendental loving service to the Lord; and one makes friendship with the devotees of the Lord who are situated in faithful service to Him. All of these symptoms are called anubhāva, ecstatic love.
The first symptom of anubhāva, or engagement in a particular type of service, is exemplified by Dāruka, a servant of Kṛṣṇa who used to fan Kṛṣṇa with a cāmara, a bunch of hair. When he was engaged in such service, he was filled with ecstatic love, and the symptoms of ecstatic love became manifest in his body. But Dāruka was so serious about his service that he checked all of these manifestations of ecstatic love and considered them hindrances to his engagement. He did not care very much for these manifestations, although they automatically developed.
In the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Tenth Canto, 86th Chapter, 27th verse, there is a statement of how Śrutadeva, a brāhmaṇa from the country called Mithilā in northern India, would become so overpowered with joy as soon as he saw Kṛṣṇa that immediately after bowing to the Lord's lotus feet, he would stand up and begin to dance, raising his two arms above his head.
One of the devotees of Lord Kṛṣṇa once addressed Him in this manner: "My dear Lord, although You are not a professional dancer, by Your dancing You have so astonished us that we can understand that You are personally the master of all dancing. Certainly You must have learned this dancing art directly from the goddess of love." When a devotee dances in ecstatic love, there are manifestations of symptoms which are called sāttvika. Sāttvika means that they are from the transcendental platform. They are not symptoms of material emotions; they come from the soul proper.
In the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, Tenth Canto, 85th Chapter, 30th verse, Śukadeva Gosvāmī tells Mahārāj Parīkṣit that after surrendering everything unto the lotus feet of Vāmanadeva, Bali Mahārāj immediately caught hold of the lotus feet of the Lord and pressed them to his heart. Being overwhelmed with joy, he manifested all the symptoms of ecstatic love, with tears in his eyes and a faltering voice.
In such expressions of ecstatic love there are many other subsidiary symptoms, such as jubilation, withering, silence, disappointment, moroseness, reverence, thoughtfulness, remembrance, doubtfulness, confidence, eagerness, indifference, restlessness, impudence, shyness, inertness, illusion, madness, ghastliness, contemplation, dreaming, disease and signs of death. When a devotee meets Kṛṣṇa, there are symptoms of jubilation, pride and perseverence, and when he is feeling great separation from Kṛṣṇa, the symptoms of ghastliness, disease and the signs of death become prominent.
It is stated in the First Canto of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, 11th Chapter, 4th verse, that when Lord Kṛṣṇa returned from the battlefield of Kurukṣetra to His home at Dvārakā, all the residents of Dvārakā began to talk with Him, as a child talks lovingly to his father after the father's return from foreign countries. This is an example of jubilation.
When Bahulāśva, the King of Mithilā, saw Kṛṣṇa at his palace, he decided to offer his respects by bowing down before Him at least a hundred times, but he was so overcome by feelings of love that, after bowing down only once, he forgot his position and could not rise up again.
In the Skanda Purāṇa a devotee tells Lord Kṛṣṇa: "My dear Lord, as the sun evaporates all the water on the ground by its scorching heat, so my mental state has dried away the luster of my face and body, due to separation from You." This is an example of withering in ecstatic love.
An expression of disappointment was made by Indra, the King of heaven. When he saw the sungod, he told him, "My dear sungod, your sunshine is very glorious because it reaches unto the lotus feet of Lord Kṛṣṇa, the master of the Yadu dynasty. I have thousands of eyes, but they have proved to be useless because not even for a moment are they able to see the lotus feet of the Lord."
Reverential devotion for the Lord gradually increases and transforms itself into ecstatic love, then affection and then attachment. In the Tenth Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, 38th Chapter, 5th verse, Akrūra says: "Because I am going to see Lord Kṛṣṇa today, all symptoms of inauspiciousness have already been killed. My life is now successful because I shall be able to offer my respects unto the lotus feet of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.