340
The Nectar of Devotion
all these functions, especially in dancing together. Regarding their wrestling, one friend once asked Krṣṇa, “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.”
All the friends were very daring and would risk any difficulty, because they were confident that Krşna 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 Krşna. 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 Krşna and His friends.
Another important pastime of the friends of Krṣṇa was that they served as messengers to and from the  gopīs ; they introduced the  gopīs  to Krṣṇa and canvassed for Krṣṇa. When the  gopīs  were in disagreement with Krṣṇa, these friends would support Krṣṇa’s side in His presence—but when Krṣṇa was not present, they would support the side of the  gopīs . 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.
The servants of Krṣṇa 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 Krṣṇa. The friends and servants of Krṣṇa were combined together in serving Him, and all of their activities are known as  anubhāva .