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dhīrādhīra-jana-priyau priya-karau nirmatsarau pūjitau
nānā-śāstra-vicāraṇaika-nipuṇau sad-dharma-saṁsthāpakau
And now, Chapter 33: Indirect Expressions of Ecstatic Love.
lokānāṁ hita-kāriṇau tri-bhuvane mānyau śaraṇyākarau nānā-śāstra-vicāraṇaika-nipuṇau
Laughter After He had stolen some yogurt from the pots
of two gopīs, Kṛṣṇa told one of His gopī friends, "My dear beautiful friend, I can take oath
that I have not stolen even a drop of yogurt from your pot! But still your friend Rādhārāṇī
is very shamelessly smelling the flavor of My mouth. Kindly forbid Her from this devious
policy of putting Her face near Mine." When Kṛṣṇa was speaking like this, the friends
of Rādhārāṇī could not check their laughter. This is an instance of laughter in ecstatic
love. Astonishment
Astonishment Once Brahmā was watching all the cows and
the cowherd boys dressed in yellow garments and decorated with valuable jewels. The boys
were expanding their four arms and were being worshiped by many hundreds of other Brahmās.
All the cowherd boys began to express their joyfulness for being with Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme
Brahman. At that time, Brahmā showed his astonishment by exclaiming, "What am I seeing here?" This
is an instance of astonishment in ecstatic love.
Chivalry Chivalry
On the bank of the Yamunā, once there was the crackling sound of dry leaves, giggling
from the cowherd boys and thundering from the sky. Śrīdāmā was tightening his belt to
fight with Kṛṣṇa, the conqueror of the demon Agha. This is an instance of chivalry in ecstatic
love. Lamentation
Lamentation In the Tenth Canto, Seventh Chapter, verse
25, of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, there is a description of Kṛṣṇa's being taken away by the whirlwind
demon, Tṛṇāvarta. As Kṛṣṇa was being thus carried up into the sky, all the gopīs began
to cry aloud. They approached mother Yaśodā, stating that they could not find the son of
Nanda. He had been taken away by a whirlwind. This is an instance of lamentation in ecstatic
love. When Kṛṣṇa was fighting with Kāliya, mother
Yaśodā exclaimed, "Kṛṣṇa is now entrapped within the hoods of the Kāliya snake, and
yet I am not tattered to pieces! So I must admit how wonderful is the preserving power
of this material body!" This is another instance of lamentation in ecstatic love.
Anger Anger
When Jaṭilā, the mother of Abhimanyu, saw Kṛṣṇa wearing a necklace, she could understand
that the jeweled ornament had been given to Him by Rādhārāṇī. She therefore became absorbed
in anger and began to move her eyebrows, expressing her anger in ecstatic love.
Ghastliness Ghastliness
There is a statement by Yāmunācārya to this effect: "Since I have begun to enjoy these
transcendental exchanges of love, which are always newer and newer, whenever I remember
the pleasure of past sex life, my lips curl and I wish to spit on the idea." This is an
instance of ecstatic love in ghastliness. Dread
Dread One old devotee said, "My dear Lord, when
we are away from You we become so anxious to see You again, and there is great misery
in our lives. But then when we do see You, there immediately comes the fear of separation.
Under the circumstances, both when we see You and when we do not see You, we are subjected
to different kinds of tribulation." This is an instance of a contradictory mixture of
ecstatic love for Kṛṣṇa. Such ecstatic love is palatable, and expert critics have compared
such ecstatic love to a mixture of curd, sugar candy and a little black pepper. The combined
taste is very palatable.