{"id":57680,"date":"2019-09-24T00:14:05","date_gmt":"2019-09-24T04:14:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.isvara.org\/archive\/?p=57680"},"modified":"2023-09-24T00:15:28","modified_gmt":"2023-09-24T04:15:28","slug":"nectar-of-devotion-chapter-thirty-seven-impetuses-for-k%e1%b9%9b%e1%b9%a3%e1%b9%87as-service","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.isvara.org\/archive\/nectar-of-devotion-chapter-thirty-seven-impetuses-for-k%e1%b9%9b%e1%b9%a3%e1%b9%87as-service\/","title":{"rendered":"Nectar of Devotion CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN: – Impetuses for K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a\u2019s Service"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Library<\/a> \u00bb The Nectar of Devotion<\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN<\/span><\/h1>\n<\/div>\n
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Impetuses for K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a\u2019s Service<\/span><\/h1>\n<\/div>\n
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The causeless mercy of K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a, the dust of His lotus feet, His pras\u0101da<\/em> and association with His devotees are some impetuses toward a devotee\u2019s engagement in transcendental loving service to the Lord.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a exhibited His causeless mercy when He was present at the departure of Grandfather Bh\u012b\u1e63ma. During the Battle of Kuruk\u1e63etra, Bh\u012b\u1e63madeva, the grandfather of Arjuna, was lying on a bed of arrows before departing from this mortal world. When Lord K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a, Mah\u0101r\u0101ja Yudhi\u1e63\u1e6dhira and the other P\u0101\u1e47\u1e0davas approached Bh\u012b\u1e63madeva, he was very grateful to Lord K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a, and he addressed the br\u0101hma\u1e47a<\/em> military commander K\u1e5bp\u0101c\u0101rya thus: \u201cMy dear K\u1e5bp\u0101c\u0101rya, just see the wonderful causeless mercy of Lord K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a! I am most unfortunate. I have no qualification. I was opposing K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a\u2019s most intimate friend, Arjuna\u00a0\u2013 I even tried to kill<\/em> him! I have so many disqualifications, and yet the Lord is still so kind that He has come to see me at the last point of my life. He is worshipable by all great sages, but still He is so merciful that He has come to see an abominable person like me.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Sometimes the vibration of Lord K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a\u2019s flute, His bugling, His smiling, His footmarks on the ground, the transcendental fragrance of His body and the appearance of a new cloud in the sky also become impetuses for ecstatic love of Him.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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In the Vidagdha-m\u0101dhava<\/em> there is the following statement: \u201cWhen K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a was playing on His flute, Baladeva very anxiously declared, \u2018Just see how, after hearing the transcendental sound of K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a\u2019s flute, Indra, the king of heaven, is crying in his heavenly kingdom! And from his teardrops falling on the ground, V\u1e5bnd\u0101vana appears to have become a celestial residence for the demigods.\u2019\u2009\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Ecstatic love for K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a, which is known as anubh\u0101va,<\/em> is symptomized by the following signs: one becomes engaged exclusively in the service of the Lord, being attentive to carry out the orders of the Lord faithfully; one becomes undisturbed and nonenvious in full transcendental loving service to the Lord; and one makes friendship with the devotees of the Lord who are situated in faithful service to Him. All of these symptoms are called anubh\u0101va,<\/em> ecstatic love.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The first symptom of anubh\u0101va,<\/em> or engagement in a particular type of service, is exemplified by D\u0101ruka, a servant of K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a who used to fan K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a with a c\u0101mara,<\/em> a bunch of hair. When he was engaged in such service, he was filled with ecstatic love, and the symptoms of ecstatic love became manifest in his body. But D\u0101ruka was so serious about his service that he checked all of these manifestations of ecstatic love and considered them hindrances to his engagement. He did not care very much for these manifestations, although they automatically developed.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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In \u015ar\u012bmad-Bh\u0101gavatam<\/a>,<\/em> Tenth Canto, eighty-sixth chapter, verse 38, there is a statement of how \u015arutadeva, a br\u0101hma\u1e47a<\/em>from the country called Mithil\u0101 in northern India, became so overpowered with joy as soon as he saw K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a that immediately after bowing to the Lord\u2019s lotus feet he stood up and began to dance, raising his two arms above his head.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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One of the devotees of Lord K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a once addressed Him in this manner: \u201cMy dear Lord, although You are not a professional dancer, by Your dancing You have so astonished us that we can understand that You are personally the master of all dancing. Certainly You must have learned this dancing art directly from the goddess of love.\u201d When a devotee dances in ecstatic love, there are manifestations of symptoms which are called s\u0101ttvika. S\u0101ttvika<\/em> means that they are from the transcendental platform. They are not symptoms of material emotion; they come from the soul proper.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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In \u015ar\u012bmad-Bh\u0101gavatam<\/a>,<\/em> Tenth Canto, eighty-fifth chapter, verse 38, \u015aukadeva Gosv\u0101m\u012b tells Mah\u0101r\u0101ja Par\u012bk\u1e63it that after surrendering everything unto the lotus feet of V\u0101mana-deva, Bali Mah\u0101r\u0101ja immediately caught hold of the lotus feet of the Lord and pressed them to his heart. Being overwhelmed with joy, he manifested all the symptoms of ecstatic love, with tears in his eyes and a faltering voice.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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In such expressions of ecstatic love there are many other subsidiary symptoms, such as jubilation, withering, silence, disappointment, moroseness, reverence, thoughtfulness, remembrance, doubtfulness, confidence, eagerness, indifference, restlessness, impudence, shyness, inertness, illusion, madness, ghastliness, contemplation, dreaming, disease and signs of death. When a devotee meets K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a, there are symptoms of jubilation, pride and perseverance, and when he is feeling great separation from K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a, the symptoms of ghastliness, disease and signs of death become prominent.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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It is stated in the First Canto of \u015ar\u012bmad-Bh\u0101gavatam<\/a>,<\/em> eleventh chapter, verse 5 that when Lord K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a returned from the Battlefield of Kuruk\u1e63etra to His home at Dv\u0101rak\u0101, all the residents of Dv\u0101rak\u0101 began to talk with Him as a child talks lovingly to his father after the father\u2019s return from foreign countries. This is an example of jubilation.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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When Bahul\u0101\u015bva, the King of Mithil\u0101, saw K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a at his palace, he decided to offer his respects by bowing down before Him at least a hundred times, but he was so overcome by feelings of love that after bowing down only once, he forgot his position and could not rise again.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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In the Skanda Pur\u0101\u1e47a<\/em> a devotee tells Lord K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a, \u201cMy dear Lord, as the sun evaporates all the water on the ground by its scorching heat, so my mental state has dried away the luster of my face and body, due to separation from You.\u201d This is an example of withering in ecstatic love.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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An expression of disappointment was made by Indra, the king of heaven. When he saw the sun-god, Indra told him, \u201cMy dear sun-god, your sunshine is very glorious because it reaches unto the lotus feet of Lord K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a, the master of the Yadu dynasty. I have thousands of eyes, but they have proved to be useless because not even for a moment are they able to see the lotus feet of the Lord.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Reverential devotion for the Lord gradually increases and transforms itself into ecstatic love, then affection and then attachment. In the Tenth Canto of \u015ar\u012bmad-Bh\u0101gavatam<\/a>,<\/em> thirty-eighth chapter, verse 6, Akr\u016bra says, \u201cBecause I am going to see Lord K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a today, all symptoms of inauspiciousness have already been killed. My life is now successful because I shall be able to offer my respects unto the lotus feet of the Supreme Personality of Godhead!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Another devotee in ecstatic reverential affection once said, \u201cWhen will that glorious day in my life come when it will be possible for me to go to the bank of the Yamun\u0101 and see Lord \u015ar\u012b K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a playing there as a cowherd boy?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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When there is no diminishing of this ecstatic love and when it is freed from all kinds of doubt, the devotee has reached the stage called steady love for K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a. In this stage, all expressions of unhappiness by the devotee are called anubh\u0101va,<\/em> or ecstatic loving symptoms.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The symptom of ecstatic affection with reverence felt by Bali Mah\u0101r\u0101ja was expressed as follows: \u201cMy dear Lord, You have simultaneously punished me and showed me Your causeless mercy. My conclusion is that when I have taken shelter of Your lotus feet I shall never be disturbed in any condition of life. Whether You give me the opportunity to enjoy all the yogic perfections or You put me into the most abominable condition of hellish life, I shall never be disturbed.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a Himself, after seeing Bali Mah\u0101r\u0101ja, told Uddhava, \u201cMy dear friend, how can I express the glorious characteristics of Bali Mah\u0101r\u0101ja, the son of Virocana? Although the king of the suras<\/em> [demigods] was cursed by this son of Virocana, and although I cheated him in My incarnation as V\u0101mana, taking away his dominions throughout the universe, and although I still criticized him for not fulfilling his promise, I have just now seen him in his kingdom, and he feelingly expressed his love<\/em> for Me.\u201d*<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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*\u00a0Bali was a king of the demons who waged war against the demigods and nearly conquered the universe. When the demigods prayed for help, the Lord appeared as V\u0101mana-deva, a dwarf br\u0101hma\u1e47a,<\/em> and asked Bali for three paces of land. Bali agreed, and V\u0101mana covered all the worlds with His first two steps. Then He demanded to know where His third pace was to be. Bali offered his own head beneath the Lord\u2019s foot and thus became a mah\u0101jana,<\/em> or great devotee.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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When such a feeling of love becomes intensified, it is called affection. In that affectional stage, one cannot bear separation from K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a even for a moment.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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One devotee told D\u0101ruka, the servant of K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a, \u201cMy dear D\u0101ruka, when you become like wood because of your separation from K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a, it is not so wonderful. Whenever any<\/em> devotee sees K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a, his eyes become filled with water, and in separation any devotee like you would become stunned, standing just like a wooden doll. That is not a very wonderful thing.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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There is a statement about Uddhava\u2019s symptoms of love. When he saw Lord K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a his eyes filled with tears and created a river that flowed down toward the sea of K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a to offer tribute, as a wife offers tribute to her husband. When his body erupted with goose pimples, he appeared like the kadamba<\/em> flower, and when he began to offer prayers, he appeared completely distinct from all other devotees.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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When affection is symptomized by direct happiness and distress, it is called attraction. In such an attracted state of ecstatic love, one can face all kinds of disadvantages calmly. Even at the risk of death such a devotee is never bereft of the transcendental loving service of the Lord. A glorious example of this ecstatic love was exhibited by King Par\u012bk\u1e63it when he was at the point of death. Although he was bereft of his entire kingdom, which spread over all the world, and although he was accepting not even a drop of water in the seven days remaining to him, because he was engaged in hearing the transcendental pastimes of the Lord from \u015aukadeva Gosv\u0101m\u012b he was not in the least distressed. On the contrary, he was feeling direct transcendental ecstatic joy in association with \u015aukadeva Gosv\u0101m\u012b.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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One devotee has confidently expressed this opinion: \u201cIf a drop of Lord K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a\u2019s mercy can be bestowed upon me, then I shall feel completely carefree, even in the midst of a fire or an ocean. But if I become bereft of His causeless mercy, then even if I became the king of Dv\u0101rak\u0101, I would simply be an object for pinpricks.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Devotees such as Mah\u0101r\u0101ja Par\u012bk\u1e63it and Uddhava are all situated in ecstatic attraction on the basis of affection, and in that state of affection a feeling of friendship becomes manifest. When Uddhava was freed from all material contamination, he saw the Lord and his throat became choked up and he could not speak. By the movements of his eyebrows alone he was embracing the Lord. Such ecstatic love has been divided by great scholars into two groups\u00a0\u2013 addition and subtraction. If a devotee is not directly associated with the Lord, it is called subtraction. In this state of love, one is constantly fixed with his mind at the lotus feet of the Lord. A devotee in this state becomes very eager to learn of the transcendental qualities of the Lord. The most important business of such a devotee is attaining the association of the Lord.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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In the N\u1e5bsi\u1e41ha Pur\u0101\u1e47a<\/em> there is a statement about King Ik\u1e63v\u0101ku which illustrates this state of ecstatic love. Because of his great affection for K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a, King Ik\u1e63v\u0101ku became greatly attached to the black cloud, the black deer, the deer\u2019s black eyes and the lotus flower, which is always compared to the eyes of the Lord. In the Tenth Canto, thirty-eighth chapter, verse 10 of the Bh\u0101gavatam<\/em><\/a>,<\/em> Akr\u016bra thinks, \u201cSince the Lord has now appeared to diminish the great burden of the world and is now visible to everyone\u2019s eyes in His personal transcendental body, when we see Him before us, is that not the ultimate perfection of our eyes?\u201d In other words, Akr\u016bra realized that the perfection of the eyes is fulfilled when one is able to see Lord K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a. Therefore, when Lord K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a was visible on the earth by direct appearance, everyone who saw Him surely attained perfection of sight.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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In the K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a-kar\u1e47\u0101m\u1e5bta,<\/em> written by Bilvama\u1e45gala \u1e6ch\u0101kura, there is this expression of eagerness in ecstatic love: \u201cHow miserable it is, my dear K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a, O friend of the hopeless! O merciful Lord, how can I pass these thankless days without seeing You?\u201d A similar sentiment was expressed by Uddhava when he wrote a letter to K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a and said, \u201cMy dear Supreme King of Vraja, You are the vision of nectar for the eyes, and without seeing Your lotus feet and the effulgence of Your body, my mind is always morose. I cannot perceive any peace under any circumstance. Besides that, I am feeling every moment\u2019s separation to be like the duration of many, many long years.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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In the K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a-kar\u1e47\u0101m\u1e5bta<\/em> it is also said, \u201cMy dear Lord, You are the ocean of mercy. With my arms placed upon my head I am bowing down before You with all humility and sincerity. I am praying unto You, my Lord. Would You be pleased just to sprinkle a little of the water of Your glance upon me? That will be a great satisfaction.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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A devotee of Lord K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a said, \u201cWhen even \u015aa\u015bi\u015bekhara [Lord \u015aiva] is unable to see You, what chance is there for me, who am lower than an ordinary worm? I have only committed misdeeds. I know that I am not at all fit to offer my prayers to You, but because You are known as D\u012bnabandhu, the friend of the fallen, I humbly pray that You will kindly purify me by the beams of Your transcendental glance. If I become thoroughly bathed by Your merciful glance, then I may be saved. Therefore, my Lord, I am requesting You to please bestow upon me Your merciful glance.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0   Library \u00bb The Nectar of Devotion CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN Impetuses for K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a\u2019s Service The causeless mercy of K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a, the dust of His lotus feet, His pras\u0101da and association with His devotees are some impetuses toward … Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":81,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-57680","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-english"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-03 11:15:31","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.isvara.org\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57680","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.isvara.org\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.isvara.org\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.isvara.org\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/81"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.isvara.org\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=57680"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.isvara.org\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57680\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.isvara.org\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=57680"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.isvara.org\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=57680"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.isvara.org\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=57680"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}