235 The Nectar of Devotion

Krsna, the body changes color. The gopis therefore addressed the
Lord thusly: ““My dear Krsna, due to separation from You, all of the
denizens of Vrndavana have changed their color. And because of this
change of color even the great sage Narada was thinking of Vrn-
davana as a white island in the ocean of milk.”

When Krsna and Balarama were present in the arena of Kamsa,
Kamhsa’s body changed color. Similarly, Indra’s face changed color
when he saw that Krsna was protecting all the denizens of Braja by
lifting Govardhan Hill. If the color change takes place due to ex-
cessive jubilation, the hue turns red. Because such change of color is
so rare, Srila Rupa Gosvami does not further discuss this point.

Tears

Out of jubilation, anger, or separation there may be the pouring
down of tears from the eyes. When such tears are very cold they are
due to jubilation, and when they are due to anger the tears become
hot. In all cases there is a severe movement of the eyes, and the eyes
generally become reddish. There is also an itching sensation which
causes the sufferer to rub his eyes.

When the lotus-eyed Rukmint, the first queen of Krsna in Dvaraka,
was shedding tears out of ecstatic jubilation, she did not like the
tears. There is a passage in the Hari-varisa wherein Satyabhama begins
to shed tears because of her great affection for Krsna.

An example of shedding tears because of anger was exhibited by
Bhima when he saw that Sigupala was insulting Krsna in the raja-siya
arena of sacrifice. Bhima wanted to kill Sigupala immediately, but
because Krsna did not order him to do so, he became morose with
anger. It is described that there were hot tears covering his eyes, as a
thin cloud sometimes covers the evening moon. In the evening, when
the moon is slightly covered by a thin cloud, it looks very nice, and
when Bhima was shedding tears on account of his anger, he also look-
ed very nice.

In the Tenth Canto of Srimad-Bhagavatam, Chapter 68, verse 23,
there is a nice example of Rukmini shedding tears of lamentation.
When Krsna and Rukmini were talking, Rukmini became frightened
of separation from Krsna, and therefore she began scratching the
