Other Ecstatic Symptoms 238

When the ecstatic symptoms cannot be checked, and they simul-
taneously appear in four or five different categories, this stage of
ecstatic love is called shining. The example is cited, in this connec-
tion, that when the sage Narada saw Lord Krsna standing before him,
his body became so stunned that he stopped playing on his vina.
Because of his faltering voice he could not offer any prayers to Krsna,
and his eyes became filled with tears. Thus, Narada’s ability to see
Krsna was also obstructed.

When similar symptoms were manifest in the body of Srimati
Radharani, some of Her friends criticized Her: “My dear friend, You
are blaming the flavor of the flowers for the tears in Your eyes. You
are rebuking the air for the standing of the hairs on Your body. And
You are cursing Your walking in the forest for Your thighs being
stunned. But Your faltering voice reveals the cause to be different: it
is just Your attachment for Krsna!”

Srila Ripa Gosvami remarks that when various symptoms become
manifest very prominently, the devotee’s condition can be called the
brightest. For example, a friend of Krsna addressed Him as follows:
‘My dear Pitambara, because of separation from You all the residents
of Goloka Vrndavana are perspiring. They are lamenting with differ-
ent words, and their eyes have become moistened with tears. Actual-
ly, all of them are in great confusion.”

There is a supreme symptom of ecstatic love which is called maha-
bhava. This mahabhava expression was possible only in Radharani,
but later on when Sri Krgna Caitanya appeared to feel the mode of
love of Radharani, He also expressed all of the symptoms of maha-
bhava. Sri Ripa Gosvami says in this connection that when the symp-
toms of ecstatic love become the most bright, that stage is accepted
as mahabhava.

Srila Ripa Gosvami further analyzes the ecstatic loving expression
into four divisions which are called sattvabhasa.

Sometimes impersonalists who are not actually in devotional ser-
vice may also exhibit such symptoms of ecstatic love, but this is not
accepted as actual ecstasy. It is a reflection only. For example, some-
times in Varanasi, a holy city for impersonalist scholars, there may
be seen a sannyasi crying from hearing the glories of the Lord. Im-
