273 The Nectar of Devotion

ceremonies shows practically no attachment for Krsna. There is an-
other hopelessness, however, which shows attachment for Krsna.
When the bull demon attacked the damsels of Braja, they began to
cry out, ““My dear Krgsna—please save us! We are now gone!” This is
hopelessness with attachment for Krsna.

When the Kesi demon was assassinated by Krsna, Karhsa became
hopeless. He began to say, ““Kegidaitya was as dear to me as my own
life, but he has been killed by some cowherd boy who is crude, un-
educated and ignorant of fighting. Even though I have defeated the
King of heaven without difficulty, still I do not know the value of
life.” Because this hopelessness has a slight touch of attraction for
Krsna, it is considered to be a reflection of ecstatic love in hopeless-
ness.

Kamsa once rebuked Akrura by saying, “You are such a fool that
you are accepting the Supreme Personality of Godhead to be a cow-
herd boy, simply because He has defeated some harmless water snake!
The boy may have lifted one pebble called Govardhan Hill, but what
is more surprising than that is your statement that this boy is the
Personality of Godhead!” This is an instance of a maliciously op-
posing element, caused by hopelessness in ecstatic love for Krsna.

One devotee tried to console a kadamba tree when the tree was
lamenting because Krsna had not touched even its shadow. The devo-
tee said, ““My dear kadamba tree, do not be worried. Just after de-
feating the Kaliya snake in the Yamuna River, Krsna will come and
satisfy your desire.” This is an instance of inappropriate hopelessness
in ecstatic love for Krsna.

Garuda, the eagle, the carrier of Visnu, once said, “Who can be
more pure than I? Where is there a second bird like me, so able and
competent? Krsna may not like me; He may not wish to join my
party, but still He has to take advantage of my wings!” This is an
instance of hopelessness in the neutral mood of ecstatic love.

The symptoms of ecstatic love are sometimes grouped under four
headings—namely, generation, conjunction, aggregation and satisfac-
tion.

Krsna once told Radharani, ““My dear friend, when You tried to
meet Me alone in the morning, Your friend Mekhala remained hungry
with envy. Just look at her!’” When Krsna was joking with Radharani
