The Nectar of Devotion

The particular type of ecstatic loving sentiment that develops within the heart of a particular devotee is considered to be vibhava. And the resultant manifestations such as moving the eyebrows, fear, astonishment and smiling, which have been explained hereinbefore, are called anubhava. The different causes for developing anubhava and vibhava are called steady ecstasy, or sancari-bhava.

Whenever there is a recitation of poetry or a dramatic play on the different pastimes of Krsna, the audience develops different kinds of transcendental loving service for the Lord. They enjoy different types of vibhava, anubhava and sancari-bhava.

No one, while remaining on the material platform, should discuss these different descriptions of bhava and anubhava by quoting different statements of transcendental literatures. Such manifestations are displays of the transcendental pleasure potency of the Lord. One should simply try to understand that on the spiritual platform, there are many varieties of reciprocal love. Such loving exchanges should never be considered to be material. In the Mahabharata Udyama-parva it is warned that things which are inconceivable should not be subjected to arguments. Actually, the transactions of the spiritual world are inconceivable to us in our present state of life. Great liberated souls like Rūpa Gosvami and others have tried to give us some hints of transcendental activities in the spiritual world, but on the whole these transactions will remain inconceivable to us at the present moment. Understanding the exchanges of transcendental loving service with Krsna is possible only when one is actually in touch with the pleasure potency of the Supreme Lord.

In this connection Sri Rūpa Gosvami gives an example of the clouds in the sky: the clouds in the sky arise from the ocean, and when the clouds become water again and fall to the ground, they glide back to the ocean. Similarly, the pleasure potency of Krsna is compared with the ocean. The pure devotee is the pleasure-possessing cloud, and when he is filled with transcendental loving service, then he can bestow his mercy as a downpour of rain-and the pleasure potency returns to the ocean of Krsna.