madness / disease

 
Out of Her ecstatic love for Him, She sometimes acted just like an addled person and attempted to churn curd, although there was no curd in the pot. And seeing this, Kṛṣṇa became so enchanted by Rādhārāṇī that H
Srila Bilvamahgala Thakur prays in his book as follows: "Let Srimati Radharani purify the whole world, because She has surrendered Herself completely unto Krsna. Out of Her ecstatic love for Him, She sometimes acted just like an addled person and attempted to churn curd, although there was no curd in the pot. And seeing this, Krsna became so enchanted by Radharani that He began to milk a bull instead of a cow." These are some of the instances of insanity or madness in connection with the love affairs of Radha and Krsna. In the Srimad-Bhagavatam it is said that when Krsna entered the poisonous waters of the Yamuna, Srimati Yasoda Devi went insane. Instead of searching for curative herbs, she began to speak to the trees as if they were snake chanters. With folded hands she began to bow down to the trees, asking them, "What is the medicinal herb which can check Krsna's dying from this poisonous water?" This is an instance of insanity caused by some great danger.    (More...)
How a devotee can be in a state of insanity because of ecstatic love is described in the Tenth Canto, 30th Chapter, 4th verse of Srimad-Bhagavatam, where the gopis were searching for Krsna in the forests of Vrndavana. The gopis were loudly singing the glories of Krsna and wandering from one forest to another in search of Him. They knew that Krsna is not localized, but all-pervading. He is in the sky, He is in the water, He is in the air, He is the supersoul in everyone's heart. Thus the gopis began to inquire from all kinds of trees and plants about the Supreme Personality of Godhead. This is an instance of ecstatic madness on the part of devotees.    (More...)
Similarly, there are symptoms of diseases caused by ecstatic love. This condition is credited by learned scholars as mahabhava. This highly elevated condition is also called divyonmada, or transcendental madness.    (More...)
sometimes, being fully absorbed in thought on the pastimes of the Lord, he used to imitate such pastimes. This is an instance of a devotee's being almost like a madman.
In the Srimad-Bhagavatam, Seventh Canto, 4th Chapter, 30th verse, Prahlada Maharaj says that even in his childhood, when he was loudly speaking the glories of the Lord, he used to dance just like a shameless madman. And sometimes, being fully absorbed in thought on the pastimes of the Lord, he used to imitate such pastimes. This is an instance of a devotee's being almost like a madman. Similarly, it is said that the great sage Narada was so ecstatically in love with Krsna that he would sometimes dance naked, and sometimes his whole body would become stunned. Sometimes he would laugh very loudly, sometimes he would cry very loudly, sometimes he would remain silent, and sometimes he would appear to be suffering from some disease, although he had no disease. This is another instance of becoming like a madman in the ecstasy of devotion.    (More...)
In the Hari-bhakti-sudhodaya it is stated that when Prahlada Maharaj was thinking himself unfit to approach the Supreme Personality of Godhead, he immersed himself in great distress, in an ocean of unhappiness. As such, he used to shed tears and lie down on the floor as though unconscious.    (More...)
Uddhava's craziness was practically proved when he went to Raivataka Hill to minutely observe the congested black clouds. In his disturbed condition, he began to pray to these clouds, and he expressed his jubilation by bowing down before them.
When Sri Krsna left the city of Dvaraka to seek out the Syamantaka jewel, He was late returning home. Uddhava became so afflicted that the symptoms of disease became manifest on his body. Actually, due to his excessive ecstatic love for Krsna, Uddhava became known in Dvaraka as crazy. To his great fortune, on that day Uddhava's reputation as a crazy fellow was firmly established. Uddhava's craziness was practically proved when he went to Raivataka Hill to minutely observe the congested black clouds. In his disturbed condition, he began to pray to these clouds, and he expressed his jubilation by bowing down before them.    (More...)

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