friends

When a devotee is permanently situated in devotional service, and by different symptoms of ecstasy he has developed and matured a fraternal mellow or flavor in relationship with the Personality of Godhead, at that time his feeling is called fraternal love of Godhead.    (More...)

The impetus for such fraternal love of God is God Himself. When one is liberated and discovers his eternal relationship with the Supreme Lord, the Lord Himself becomes the impetus for increasing fraternal love. The eternal associates of the Lord in Vrndavana have described this as follows: "The Lord, Hari, whose bodily hue is like the indranila jewel, whose smiling is as beautiful as the kunda flower, whose silk dress is as yellow as golden autumn foliage, whose chest is beautified with garlands of flowers and who is always playing upon His flute-this enemy of the Agha demon is always attracting our hearts by wandering about Vrndavana."    (More...)

There are similar statements of fraternal love expressed outside the jurisdiction of Vrndavana. When the sons of Panḍu, headed by Maharaj Yudhisthira, saw Krsna in His fourhanded form on the battlefield of Kuruksetra, holding His conchshell, disk, club and lotus flower, they completely forgot themselves and became merged in the ocean of nectarean happiness. This shows how the sons of Panḍu-King Yudhisthira, Bhima, Arjuna, Nakula and Sahadeva-were all caught up in fraternal love for Krsna.    (More...)

Sometimes the different names, forms, paraphernalia and transcendental qualities provoke fraternal love: For instance, Krsna's nice dress, the all-auspicious symptoms on His body, His strongly-built body, His knowledge of different languages, His learned teachings in the Bhagavad-gita, His uncommon genius in all fields of endeavor, His exhibition of expert knowledge, His mercy, His chivalry, His behavior as a conjugal lover, His intelligence, His forgiveness, His attraction for all kinds of men, His opulence and His happiness-all provoke fraternal love.    (More...)

The impetus to fraternal love upon seeing the associates of Krsna in Vrndavana is also very natural, for their personal bodily features, their qualities and dress are all equal to Krsna's. These associates are always happy in their service to Krsna, and they are generally known as vayasyas, or friends of the same age. These vayasyas are fully confident of protection by Krsna. Devotees sometimes pray: "Let us offer our respectful obeisances unto the vayasyas of Krsna, who are firmly convinced of Krsna's friendship and protection and whose devotion to Krsna is ever-fixed. They are fearless, and on a level equal with Krsna they discharge their transcendental loving devotional service." Such eternal vayasyas are also found beyond the jurisdiction of Vrndavana, in places such as Dvaraka and Hastinapura. Except for Vrndavana, all the places of Krsna's pastimes are called puras (towns). Mathura and Hastinapura, the capital of the Kurus, are both puras. Personalities like Arjuna, Bhima, Draupadi and Sridama Brahmana are counted amongst Krsna's fraternal devotees in the puras.    (More...)

How the sons of Panḍu, the Panḍavas, enjoy Krsna's association is described as follows: "When Sri Krsna arrived in Indraprastha, the capital of the Kurus, Maharaj Yudhisthira immediately came out to smell the flavor of Krsna's head." It is the Vedic custom that superiors smell the heads of their subordinates when the subordinates offer respect to the superior by touching his feet. Similarly, Arjuna and Bhima embraced Krsna with great jubilation, and the two younger brothers, namely Nakula and Sahadeva, touched the lotus feet of Krsna with tears in their eyes and offered their respects. In this way all the five Panḍava brothers enjoyed the fraternal friendship of Krsna in transcendental mellow. Of the five Panḍavas, Arjuna is the most intimately connected with Krsna. He has a nice bow in his hand which is called Ganḍiva. His thighs are compared with the trunks of elephants, and his eyes are always reddish. When Krsna and Arjuna are together on a chariot, they become celestial beauties, pleasing to the eyes of everyone. It is said that once Arjuna was lying in his bed with his head upon Krsna's lap and was talking and joking with Krsna in great relaxation and was enjoying Krsna's company with smiling and great satisfaction.    (More...)

As far as the vayasyas (friends) in Vrndavana are concerned, they become greatly distressed when they cannot see Krsna even for a moment.    (More...)

There is the following prayer by a devotee for the vayasyas in Vrndavana: "All glories to Krsna's vayasyas, who are just like Krsna in their age, qualities, pastimes, dress and beauty. They are accustomed to playing on their flutes made of palm leaves, and they all have buffalo-horn bugles ornamented like Krsna's with jewels such as indranila and with gold and coral. They are always jubilant like Krsna. May these glorious companions of Krsna always protect us!"    (More...)

The vayasyas in Vrndavana are in such intimate friendship with Krsna that sometimes they think themselves as good as Krsna. Here is an instance of such friendly feeling: When Krsna was holding up Govardhan Hill with His left hand, the vayasyas said, "My dear friend, You have been standing for the last seven days and nights without any rest. This is very troublesome for us because we see that you have undertaken a severely laborious task. We think, therefore, that you need not continue to stand in that way holding the hill. You can just transfer it onto Sudama's hand. We are very much aggrieved to see You in this position. If You think that Sudama is not able to support Govardhan Hill, then at least You should change hands. Instead of supporting it with Your left hand, please transfer it to Your right hand, so that we can give Your left hand a massage." This is an instance of intimacy, showing how much the vayasyas considered themselves to be equal to Krsna.    (More...)

In the Srimad-Bhagavatam, Tenth Canto, 12th Chapter, 10th verse, Sukadeva Gosvami tells King Pariksit: "My dear King, Krsna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead to the learned transcendentalist, He is the supreme happiness for the impersonalist, He is the supreme worshipable Deity for the devotee, and He is just like an ordinary boy to one who is under the spell of maya. And just imagine-these cowherd boys are now playing with the Supreme Person as though they are on an equal level! By this anyone can understand that these boys must have accumulated heaps of the results of pious activities to enable them to associate with the Supreme Personality of Godhead in such intimate friendship."    (More...)

There is a description of Krsna's feeling for his vayasyas in Vrndavana. He once said to Balarama, "My dear brother, when My companions were being devoured by the Aghasura, hot tears poured down from My eyes. And as they were washing My cheeks, My dear elder brother, for at least one moment I completely lost Myself."    (More...)

Within Gokula, Krsna's vayasyas are generally divided into four groups: 1) well-wishers, 2) friends, 3) confidential friends and 4) intimate friends. Krsna's well-wisher friends are a little bit older than Krsna, and they have some parental affection for Him. Because of their being older than Krsna they always try to protect Him from any harm. As such, they sometimes bear weapons so that they can chastise any mischievous persons who want to do harm to Krsna. Counted amongst the well-wisher friends are Subhadra,* Manḍalibhadra, Bhadravardhana, Gobhata, Yaksa, Indrabhata, Bhadrahga, Virabhadra, Mahaguna, Vijaya, and Balabhadra. They are older than Krsna and are always thinking of His welfare.    (More...)

One of the elderly friends said, "My dear Manḍalibhadra, why are you wielding a shining sword as though you were running towards Aristasura to kill him? My dear Baladeva, why are you unnecessarily bearing that heavy plow? My dear Vijaya, don't be unnecessarily agitated. My dear Bhadravardhana, there is no need to make these threatening motions. If you will all look more closely you will see that it is only a thunder cloud upon Govardhana Hill; it is not the Aristasura in the shape of a bull, as you have imagined." These older, well-wishing friends of Krsna imagined a large cloud to be the Aristasura, appearing in the shape of a huge bull. In the midst of their excitement one of them ascertained that it was actually only a cloud on Govardhan Hill. He therefore informed the others not to take the trouble of worrying about Krsna, because there was no present danger from Aristasura.    (More...)

Amongst the well-wisher friends, Manḍalibhadra and Balabhadra are the chiefs. Manḍalibhadra is described as follows: his complexion is yellowish, and his dress is very attractive. He always carries a stick of various colors. He wears a peacock feather on his head and always looks very beautiful. Manḍalibhadra's attitude is revealed in his statement: "My dear friends, our beloved Krsna is now very tired from working with the cows in the pasturing grounds and from traveling all over the forests. I can see that He is very fatigued. Let me massage His head silently while He is taking rest in His house. And you, Subala-you just massage His thighs."    (More...)

One devotee described the personal beauty of Baladeva as follows: "Let me take shelter of the lotus feet of Balarama, whose beauty is enhanced by the earrings touching his cheeks. His face is decorated with tilaka made from kastūri (musk), and His broad chest is decorated with a garland of gunja (small conchshells). His complexion is as white as an autumn cloud, He wears garments of blue color, and His voice is very grave. His arms are very long, touching His thighs, and He has shown His great strength by killing the Pralamba demon. Let me take shelter of this chivalrous Balarama."*    (More...)

Baladeva's affection for Krsna is illustrated in this statement to Subala: "My dear friend, please inform Krsna not to go to Kaliya's lake today. Today is His birthday, and so I wish to go along with Mother Yasoda to bathe Him. Tell Him He should not leave the house today." This shows how Balarama, Krsna's elder brother, took care of Krsna with parental love, within the scope of fraternal affection.    (More...)

Friends who were younger than Krsna, who were always attached to Him and who gave Him all kinds of service, are called ordinary friends, or, simply, friends. Such ordinary friends are called sakhas, and the names of some sakhas are Visala, Vrsabha, Ojasvi, Devaprastha, Varūthapa, Maranda, Kusumapiḍa, Manibandha, and Karandhama. All of these sakha friends of Krsna sought only to serve Him. Sometimes some of them would rise early in the morning and immediately go to Krsna's place and wait at the door to see Krsna and to accompany Him to the pasturing grounds. In the meantime, Krsna would be dressed by Mother Yasoda, and when she would see a boy standing at the door, she would call him: "Well, Visala, why are you standing there? Come here!" So with the permission of Mother Yasoda, he would immediately enter the house. And while Mother Yasoda was dressing Krsna, he would try to help put on Krsna's ankle bells, and Krsna would jokingly strike him with His flute. Then Mother Yasoda would call, "Krsna, what is this? Why are You teasing Your friend?" And Krsna would laugh, and the friend would also laugh. These are some of the activities of Krsna's sakhas. Sometimes the sakhas would take care of the cows who were going hither and thither. They would tell Krsna, "Your cows were going off here and there," and Krsna would thank them.    (More...)

Sometimes when Krsna and His sakhas went to the pasturing ground, Kamsa would send a demon to kill Krsna. Therefore, almost every day there was a fight with some different kind of demon. After fighting with a demon, Krsna would feel fatigued, the hairs on His head would be scattered, and the sakhas would immediately come and try to relieve Him in different ways. Some friends would say, "My dear Visala, please take this fan of lotus leaves and fan Krsna so that He may feel some comfort. Varūthapa, you just brush the scattered hairs on Krsna's head which have fallen upon His face. Vrsabha, don't talk unnecessarily! Immediately massage Krsna's body. His arms have become tired from fighting and wrestling with that demon. Oh, just see how our friend Krsna has become tired!" These are some examples of the treatment given to Krsna by the sakhas.    (More...)

One of the sakhas, known as Devaprastha, is described as follows: he is very strong, a ready scholar, and is very expert in playing ball. He wears a white dress, and he ties his hair into a bunch with a rope. Whenever there is a fight between Krsna and the demons, Devaprastha is the first to help, and he fights just like an elephant.    (More...)

One of the gopis once said to her friend, "My dear beautiful friend, when Krsna, the son of Maharaj Nanda, was taking rest within the cave of a hill, He was keeping His head on the arms of Sridama, and He was putting His left hand on Dama's chest. Taking this opportunity, Devaprastha, out of his strong affection for Krsna, immediately began to massage His legs." Such are the activities of Krsna's friends out on the pasturing grounds.    (More...)

The more confidential friends are called priya-sakhas and are almost Krsna's age. Because of their very confidential friendship, their behavior is only on the basis of pure friendship. Other friends' behavior is on the ground of paternal love or servitude, but the basic principle of the confidential friends is simply friendship on an equal level. Some confidential friends are as follows: Sridama, Sudama, Dama, Vasudama, Kihkini, Stokakrsna, Amsu, Bhadrasena, Vilasina, Punḍarika, Vitahka and Kalavihka. By their various activities in different pastimes, all of these friends used to give transcendental pleasure to Krsna.    (More...)

The behavior of these confidential friends is described by a friend of Radharani, who told Radharani: "My dear graceful Radharani, Your intimate friend, Krsna, is also served by His intimate boy friends. Some of them cut jokes with Him in mild voices and please Him very much by this." For example, Krsna had one brahmana friend whose name was Madhumahgala. This boy would joke by playing the part of a greedy brahmana. Whenever the friends ate, he would eat more than all others, especially laḍḍus, of which he was very fond. Then after eating more laḍḍus than anyone else, Madhumahgala would still not be satisfied, and he would say to Krsna, "If You give me one more laḍḍu, then I shall be pleased to give You my blessings so that Your friend Radharani will be very much pleased with You." The brahmanas are supposed to give blessings to the vaisyas (farming and merchant caste), and Krsna presented Himself as the son of Maharaj Nanda, a vaisya; so the brahmana boy was right in giving blessings to Krsna. Thus Krsna was very pleased by His friend's blessings, and He would supply him with more and more laḍḍus.    (More...)

Sometimes a confidential friend would come before Krsna and embrace Him with great affection and love. Another friend would then come up from the rear and cover Krsna's eyes with his hands. Krsna would always feel very happy by such dealings with His confidential friends.    (More...)

Out of all these confidential friends, Sridama is considered to be the chief. Sridama used to put on a yellow-colored dress. He would carry a buffalo horn, and his turban was of reddish, copper color. His bodily complexion was blackish, and around his neck there was a nice garland. He would always challenge Krsna in joking friendship. Let us pray to Sridama to bestow his mercy upon us!    (More...)

Sometimes Sridama used to address Krsna: "Oh, You are so cruel that You left us alone on the bank of Yamuna, and we were all mad from not seeing You there! Now it is our great fortune that we are able to see You here. If You want to pacify us, You must embrace each one of us with Your arms. But believe me, my dear friend, a moment's absence from You creates great havoc, not only for us but for the cows also. Everything becomes disarranged, and we become mad after You."    (More...)

There are other friends who are still more confidential. They are called priya-narma, or intimate friends. Counted among the priya-narma friends are Subala, Arjuna, Gandharva, Vasanta and Ujjvala. There was talk among the friends of Radharani, the gopis, about these most intimate friends. One gopi addressed Radharani thusly: "My dear Krsahgi [delicate one], just see how Subala is whispering Your message into Krsna's ear, how he is delivering the confidential letter of Syamadasi silently into Krsna's hand, how he is delivering the betel nuts prepared by Palika into Krsna's mouth, and how he is decorating Krsna with the garland prepared by Taraka. Did you know, my dear friend, that all these most intimate friends of Krsna are always engaged in His service in this way?" Out of the many intimate priya-narmas, Subala and Ujjvala are considered to be the most prominent.    (More...)

Subala's body is described as follows. His complexion is just like molten gold. He is very, very dear to Krsna. He always has a garland around his neck, and he wears yellow clothing. His eyes are just like lotus flower petals, and he is so intelligent that by his talking and his moral instructions, all the other friends take the highest pleasure. Let us all offer our respectful obeisances unto Krsna's friend Subala!    (More...)

The degree of intimacy shared by Krsna and Subala can be understood by the fact that the talks between them were so confidential that no one else could understand what they were saying.    (More...)

The description of Ujjvala, another intimate friend, is given as follows. Ujjvala always wears some garment of orange color, and the movements of his eyes are always very restless. He likes to decorate himself with all kinds of flowers, his bodily hue is almost like Krsna's, and on his neck there is always a necklace of pearls. He is always very dear to Krsna. Let us all worship Ujjvala, the most intimate friend of Krsna!    (More...)

About the confidential service of Ujjvala, this statement is to be found, addressed by Radharani to one of Her friends: "My dear friend, it is impossible for Me to keep My prestige! I wanted to avoid talking to Krsna anymore-but just see! There again is His friend, Ujjvala, coming to Me with his canvassing work. His entreaties are so powerful that it is very difficult for a gopi to resist her love for Krsna, even though she may be very bashful, devoted to her family duties and most faithful to her husband."    (More...)

The following is a statement by Ujjvala, showing his jubilant nature: "My dear Krsna, O killer of Aghasura, You have extended Your loving affairs so much that You can be compared to the great ocean, which is without limitations. At the same time, the young girls of the world who are all searching after the perfect lover have become just like rivers running into this ocean. Under the circumstances, all these rivers of young girls may try to divert their courses to some other place, but at the end they must come unto You."    (More...)

Amongst the groups of different friends of Krsna, some are well-known from various scriptures, and some are well-known by popular tradition. There are three divisions amongst Krsna's friends: some are eternally in friendship with Krsna, some are elevated demigods, and some are perfected devotees. In all of these groups there are some who by nature are fixed in Krsna's service and are always engaged in giving counsel; some of them are very fond of joking and naturally cause Krsna to smile by their words; some of them are by nature very simple, and by their simplicity they please Lord Krsna; some of them create wonderful situations by their activities, apparently against Krsna; some of them are very talkative, always arguing with Krsna and creating a debating atmosphere; and some of them are very gentle and give pleasure to Krsna by their sweet words. All of these friends are very intimate with Krsna, and they show expertise in their different activities, their aim always being to please Krsna.    (More...)

Krsna sometimes played with His intimate friends by engaging in fighting or wrestling with their arms, sometimes by playing ball, sometimes by playing chess, sometimes by carrying one another on the shoulders, and sometimes by exhibiting their expertness at whirling logs. And the cowherd friends used to please Krsna by sitting together with Him on coaches or on swings, by lying together on their beds, by joking together and by swimming in the pool. All these activities are called anubhava. Whenever all the friends would assemble in the company of Krsna, they would immediately engage in all these functions, especially in dancing together. Regarding their wrestling, one friend once asked Krsna, "My dear friend, O killer of the Agha demon, You are very proudly wandering among Your friends trying to exhibit Your arms as very strong. Is it that You are envious of me? I know that You cannot defeat me in wrestling, and I also know that You were sitting idly for a long time because You were hopeless of defeating me."    (More...)

All the friends were very daring and would risk any difficulty, because they were confident that Krsna would help them to be victorious in all adventures. They used to sit together and advise one another what to do, sometimes inducing one another to be engaged in welfare work. Sometimes they would offer betel nuts to one another, decorate one another's faces with tilaka or smear pulp of candana on one another's bodies. Sometimes, for the sake of amusement, they used to decorate their faces in strange ways. Another business of the friends was that each of them wanted to defeat Krsna. Sometimes they used to snatch His clothing or snatch away the flowers from His hands. Sometimes one would try to induce another to decorate his body for him, and failing this, they were always ready to fight, challenging one another to combat in wrestling. These were some of the general activities of Krsna and His friends.    (More...)

Another important pastime of the friends of Krsna was that they served as messengers to and from the gopis; they introduced the gopis to Krsna and canvassed for Krsna. When the gopis were in disagreement with Krsna, these friends would support Krsna's side in His presence-but when Krsna was not present, they would support the side of the gopis. In this way, sometimes supporting one side, sometimes the other, they would talk very privately, with much whispering in the ears, although none of the business was very serious.    (More...)

The servants of Krsna were sometimes engaged in collecting flowers, decorating His body with valuable ornaments and trinkets, dancing before Him, singing, helping Him herd the cows, massaging His body, preparing flower garlands and sometimes fanning His body. These were some of the primary duties of the servants of Krsna. The friends and servants of Krsna were combined together in serving Him, and all of their activities are known as anubhava.    (More...)

When Krsna came out from the Yamuna after chastising the Kaliyanaga, Sridama wanted to embrace Him first, but he could not raise his arms because of his great feeling of respect.    (More...)

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

When Krsna and Subala were embracing one another, Srimati Radharani 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 Krsna 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 Radharani was accustomed to put Her arms on Krsna'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. Radharani therefore praised his good fortune.    (More...)

When Krsna entered the lake of Kaliya, 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 Krsna's friends neglected their own protection and surrounded Krsna on all sides to protect Him from the flames. This behavior of the friends toward Krsna is described by thoughtful poets as vyabhicari. In vyabhicari ecstatic love for Krsna 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 vyabhicari ecstatic love for Krsna.    (More...)

When there are dealings between Krsna 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 sthayi. When one is situated in this confidential friendly relationship with Krsna, one shows symptoms of love such as attraction, affection, affinity and attachment. An example of sthayi was exhibited when Arjuna* told Akrūra: "My dear son of Gandini, please ask Krsna when I shall be able to embrace Him in my arms."    (More...)

When there is full knowledge of Krsna'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 Siva, were offering respectful prayers to Krsna, 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.    (More...)

When the Panḍavas 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 Narada met Lord Krsna and said, "My dear Mukunda, although You are the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the all-powerful person, by making friendship with You the Panḍavas 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 Panḍavas 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."    (More...)

Another example of acute affection for Krsna is given in the 10th Canto, 15th Chapter, 15th verse of Srimad-Bhagavatam. In the pasturing ground Krsna 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 Krsna would rest very nicely.    (More...)

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

There is another instance of ecstatic love for Krsna in friendship: Once when a cowherd boy named Vrsabha was collecting flowers from the forest to prepare a garland to be offered to Krsna, the sun reached its zenith, and although the sunshine was scorching hot, Vrsabha 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 Panḍavas, as described above-they feel all their miserable conditions as great facilities for serving the Lord.    (More...)

Another instance of Arjuna's friendship with Krsna is described by Narada, who reminded Krsna, "When Arjuna was learning the art of shooting arrows, he could not see You for so many days. But when You arrived there, he stopped all His activities and immediately embraced You." This means that even though Arjuna was engaged in learning about the military art, he had not forgotten Krsna for a moment, and as soon as there was an opportunity to see Krsna, he immediately embraced Him.    (More...)

One servant of Krsna named Patri once addressed Him like this: "My dear Lord, You protected the cowherd boys from the hunger of the Aghasura demon, and You protected them from the poisonous affects of the Kaliya snake. And You also saved them from the fierce forest fire. But I am suffering from Your separation, which is more severe than the hunger of Aghasura, the poison of Lake Kaliya, and the burning of the forest fire. So why should You not protect me from the pangs of separation?" Another friend once told Krsna: "My dear enemy of Kamsa, since You have left us, the heat of separation has become extraordinary. And this heat is felt more severely when we understand that in Bhanḍiravana You are being refreshed by the waves of the cooling river known as Bhanūtanaya [Radharani]." The purport is that when Krsna was engaged with Radharani, the cowherd boys headed by Subala were feeling great separation, and that was unbearable for them.    (More...)

Another friend addressed Krsna thus: "My dear Krsna, O killer of Aghasura, when You left Vrndavana to kill King Kamsa in Mathura, all the cowherd boys became bereft of their four bhūtas [the elements of earth, water, fire and space]. And the fifth bhūta, the air, was flowing very rapidly within their nostrils." When Krsna went to Mathura to kill King Kamsa, all the cowherd boys became so afflicted by the separation that they almost died. When a person is dead it is said that he has given up the five elements, known as bhūtas, as the body again mixes with the five elements from which it was prepared. In this case, although the four elements of earth, water, fire and ether were already gone, the remaining element, air, was still very prominent and was blowing through their nostrils furiously. In other words, after Krsna left Vrndavana, they were always anxious about what would happen in His fight with King Kamsa.    (More...)

Another friend once informed Krsna, "When one of Your friends was feeling much separation from You, there were tears covering his lotus eyes, so the black drones of sleep became discouraged from entering his eyes and left that place." When there is a lotus flower, the black drones fly into it to collect honey. The eyes of Krsna's friend are compared to the lotus flower, and because they were full of tears the black drones of sleep could not collect honey from his lotus eyes and therefore left the place. In other words, because he was too much afflicted, his eyes were full of tears, and he could not sleep. This is an example of staying up at night because of separation from Krsna.    (More...)

An example of helplessness is described in the following statement: "Due to Krsna's departure from Vrndavana to Mathura, Krsna's dearest cowherd boys felt as mentally light as possible. They were like fragments of cotton, lighter than the air, and were all floating in the air without any shelter." In other words, the minds of the cowherd boys became almost vacant on account of Krsna's separation, and they are compared with fragments of cotton floating in the air without any shelter. An example of impatience was also shown by the cowherd boys when Krsna went to Mathura. Out of the sorrow of separation, all these boys forgot to take care of their cowherding and tried to forget all the melodious songs they used to sing in the pasturing ground. At last they had no desire to live anymore, being separated from Krsna.    (More...)

An example of stillness was described by a friend of Krsna, who informed Him in Mathura that all the cowherd boys had become just like leafless trees on the tops of hills. They appeared almost naked, skinny and frail, and did not carry any fruits or flowers. He informed Krsna that all the cowherd boys residing in Vrndavana were as still as the trees at the tops of hills. Sometimes they felt diseased from their separation from Krsna, and being so greatly disappointed, they were aimlessly wandering on the banks of the Yamuna.    (More...)

There is also an example of madness caused by separation from Krsna. When Krsna was absent from Vrndavana, all the cowherd boys became bewildered, and having given up all kinds of activities, they appeared to be mad and forgot all their regular business. They were sometimes lying down on the ground, sometimes rolling in the dust, sometimes laughing and sometimes running very swiftly. All of these symptoms gave them the appearance of madmen. One friend of Krsna's criticized Him by saying, "My dear Lord, You have become the King of Mathura after killing Kamsa, and that is very good news for us. But at Vrndavana all the residents have become blind from their continuous crying over Your absence. They are full only of anxieties and are not cheered at all by Your becoming the King of Mathura."    (More...)

Sometimes there were also signs of death caused by separation from Krsna. Once Krsna was told: "My dear enemy of Kamsa, because of their separation from You, the cowherd boys are suffering too much, and they are now lying down in the valleys, breathing only slightly. In order to sympathize with the boys' regrettable condition, even the forest friends, the deer, are shedding tears."    (More...)

In the Mathura-khanḍa chapter of the Skanda Purana, there is a description of Krsna and Balarama, surrounded by all the cowherd boys, always engaged in taking care of the cows and calves. When Krsna was met by Arjuna at a potter's shop in the city of Drupadanagara, because of the similarity of their bodily features they made intimate friendship. This is an instance of friendship caused by the attraction of similar bodies.    (More...)

In the Tenth Canto of Srimad-Bhagavatam, 71st Chapter, 25th verse, it is stated that when Krsna arrived in the city of Indraprastha, Bhima was so overwhelmed with joy that, with tears in his eyes and a smiling face, he immediately embraced his maternal cousin. Following him were his young brothers Nakula and Sahadeva, along with Arjuna, and they all became so overwhelmed at seeing Krsna that with full satisfaction they embraced the Lord, who is known as Acyuta (the infallible). There is a similar statement about the cowherd boys of Vrndavana. When Krsna was on the battlefield of Kuruksetra, all the cowherd boys came to see Him, wearing jeweled earrings in their ears. Becoming so greatly overjoyed, they extended their arms and embraced Krsna as their old friend. These are instances of full satisfaction in friendship with Krsna.    (More...)

In the Tenth Canto, 12th Chapter, 11th verse of Srimad-Bhagavatam it is stated that even after undergoing severe penances and austerities and performing the yogic principles, the great mystic yogis can hardly become eligible to achieve the dust of the lotus feet of Krsna, but the same Personality of Godhead, Krsna, is easily available to the vision of the residents of Vrndavana. This means there is no comparison to these devotees' great fortune. The friendly relationship of the cowherd boys with Krsna is a particular type of spiritual ecstasy almost similar to the ecstasy of conjugal love. It is very difficult to explain this ecstasy of loving affairs between the cowherd boys and Krsna. Great expert devotees like Rūpa Gosvami and others express their astonishment at the inconceivable feelings which are in Krsna and His cowherd boy friends.    (More...)

Krsna's age, His beauty, His bugle, His flute, His conchshell and His pleasing attitude all provoke love in friendship for Him. His exceptional joking abilities, exhibited sometimes by His pretending to be a royal prince, or even the Supreme Personality of Godhead, also give impetus to devotees developing love for Krsna in friendship.    (More...)