His sons

True reverential devotion is exhibited by persons who think themselves subordinate to Krsna and by persons who think themselves sons of Krsna. The best examples of this subordination are Sarana, Gada and Subhadra. They were all members of the Yadu dynasty, and they used to always think themselves protected by Krsna. Similarly, Krsna's sons, such as Pradyumna, Carudesna, and Samba, felt the same way. Krsna had many sons in Dvaraka. He begot ten sons by each of His 16,108 queens, and all of these sons, headed by Pradyumna, Carudesna and Samba, used to think themselves always protected by Krsna. When Krsna's sons dined with Him, they would sometimes open their mouths for Krsna to feed them. Sometimes when Krsna would pat one of His sons, the son would sit on Krsna's lap, and while Krsna was blessing the son's head by smelling it, the others would shed tears, thinking how many pious activities he must have performed in his previous life. Out of Krsna's many sons, Pradyumna, a son of Krsna's chief queen, Rukmini, is considered the leader. Pradyumna's bodily features resembled Krsna's exactly. Pure devotees of Krsna glorify Pradyumna because he is so fortunate: like father like son.    (More...)

There is a description in the Hari-vamsa of Pradyumna's activities when he kidnapped Prabhavati. Pradyumna addressed Prabhavati at that time and said: "My dear Prabhavati, just look at the head of our family, Sri Krsna: He is Visnu Himself, the supreme driver of Garuḍa, and He is our supreme master. Because we have become so proud and confident of His protecting us, we sometimes do not even care about fighting with Tripurari [Lord Siva]."    (More...)

There are two kinds of devotees engaged in devotional service with awe and veneration, and the servitors in the abode of Dvaraka always worship Krsna as the most respectable and revered Personality of Godhead. They are captivated by Krsna because of His super-excellent opulences. The members who always thought themselves protected by Krsna could readily convert their conviction into practical demonstration, because it was sometimes found that the sons of Krsna acted very unlawfully in various places. Nonetheless they were given full protection by Krsna and Balarama.    (More...)

When demigods from the heavenly planets came to Sri Krsna, all of Krsna's sons followed them, and Lord Brahma sprinkled water from his kamanḍalu upon them. When the demigods came before Krsna, instead of sitting on golden chairs, the sons sat down on the floor, which was covered with deerskin.    (More...)

Sometimes the behavior of Krsna's sons appears similar to the behavior of His personal servants. For example, the sons used to offer their obeisances, they were silent, submissive and gentle, and they were always ready to carry out Krsna's orders, even at the risk of life. When present before Krsna, they bowed down on the ground. They were very silent and steady, and they used to restrain coughing and laughing before the Lord. Also, they never discussed Krsna's pastimes in conjugal love. In other words, devotees who are engaged in reverential devotional service should not discuss the conjugal love affairs of Krsna. No one should claim his eternal relationship with Krsna unless he is liberated. In the conditioned state of life, the devotees have to execute the prescribed duties as recommended in the codes of devotional service. When one is mature in devotional service and is a realized soul, he can know his own eternal relationship with Krsna. One should not artificially try to establish some relationship. In the premature stage it is sometimes found that a lusty, conditioned person will artificially try to establish some relationship with Krsna in conjugal love. The result of this is that one becomes prakrta-sahajiya, or one who takes everything very cheaply. Although such persons may be very anxious to establish a relationship with Krsna in conjugal love, their conditioned life in the material world is still most abominable. A person who has actually established his relationship with Krsna can no longer act on the material plane, and his personal character cannot be criticized.    (More...)

In addition to jubilation, there are sometimes symptoms of disappointment. Pradyumna once addressed Samba with these words: "My dear Samba, you are such a glorified personality! I have seen that once when you were playing on the ground, your body became covered with dust; yet, our father, Lord Krsna, still took you up on His lap. But I am so unfortunate that I could never get such love from our father!" This statement is an example of disappointment in love.    (More...)

To regard Krsna as one's superior is called reverential feeling, and when, in addition to this, a devotee feels that Krsna is his protector, his transcendental love for Krsna is increased, and his combined feelings are called reverential devotion. When this steady reverential devotion increases further, it is called love of Godhead in reverential devotion. Attraction and affection are two prominent symptoms of this stage. In this reverential devotional attitude, Pradyumna never talked to his father in a loud voice. In fact, he never so much as unlocked the lips of his mouth, nor did he ever show his face filled with tears. He would always glance only at the lotus feet of his father.    (More...)