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The Nectar of Devotion
boys headed by Subala were feeling great separation, and that was unhearable for them.
Another friend addressed Krṣṇa thus: “My dear Krṣṇa, O killer of Aghāsura, when You left Vrṇdāvana to kill King Kamsa in Mathurā, 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 Krṣṇa went to Mathurā 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 Krṣṇa left Vrṇdāvana, they were always anxious about what would happen in His fight with King Kamsa.
Another friend once informed Krşna, "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 Krşna'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 Krşna.
An example of helplessness is described in the following statement: “Due to Kṛṣṇa’s departure from Vṛndāvana to Mathurā, Kṛṣṇa’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 Kṛṣṇa’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 Kṛṣṇa went to Mathurā. Out of the sorrow of