215 The Nectar of Devotion

name is also Krsna. Krsna’s fame is also Krsna. Krsna’s entourage is
also Krsna. Krsna and everything related with Krsna which gives
stimulation to love of Krsna are all Krsna, but for our understanding
these items can be considered separately.

Krsna is the reservoir of all transcendental pleasure. Therefore, the
impetuses to love of Krsna, although seemingly different, are not ac-
tually distinct from Krsna Himself. In the technical Sanskrit terms,
such qualities as Krsna’s name, fame, etc., are accepted both as reser-
voirs of and stimulation for love of Krsna.

Krsna’s age is considered in three periods: from His appearance day
to the end of His sixth year is called kaumara; from the beginning of
the sixth year up to the tenth year is called pauganda; and from the
tenth to the sixteenth year is called kaisora; after the beginning of the
sixteenth year, Krsna is called a yawvana or a youth, and this con-
tinues with no change.

As far as Krsna’s transcendental pastimes are concerned, they are
mostly executed during the kaumara, pauganda and kaisora periods.
His affectionate pastimes with His parents are executed during His
kaumara age. His friendship with the cowherd boys is exhibited dur-
ing the pauganda period. And His friendship with the gopis is exhib-
ited during the age of kaisora. Krsna’s pastimes at Vrndavana are
finished by the end of His fifteenth year, and then He is transferred
to Mathura and Dvaraka, where all other pastimes are performed.

Srila Ripa Gosvami gives us a vivid description of Krsna as the
reservoir of all pleasures in his Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu. Here are some
parts of that description.

Krsna’s kaisora age can be divided into three parts. In the beginning
of His kaisora age—that is, at the beginning of His eleventh year, the
luster of His body becomes so bright that it becomes an impetus for
ecstatic love. Similarly, there are reddish borders around His eyes,
and a growth of soft hairs on His body. In describing this early stage
of His kaisora age, Kundalata, one of the residents of Vrndavana, said
to her friend, ‘“‘My dear friend, I have just seen an extraordinary
beauty appearing in the person of Krsna. His blackish bodily hue
appears just like the indranila jewel. There are reddish signs on His
eyes, and small soft hairs are coming out on His body. The appear-
