Indifference and Separation 315

lotus feet of the Lord, has thrown himself into the fire of lamenta-
tion, and because of this fire the water of his life has almost dried
away. Let us now pour the nectar of the holy name through his ears,
and by doing so the swan of his life may again show signs of life.”

When Lord Krsna went to the city of Sonitapura to fight with
Bali’s son Bana and to cut off all his hands, Uddhava, being separated
from Krsna and thinking of His fight, was almost completely stunned
into unconsciousness.

When a devotee is fully in love with the Supreme Personality of
Godhead, there may be the following symptoms due to his feelings
of separation from the Lord: feverish condition of the body, wither-
ing of the body, lack of sleep, nonattachment, inertness, appearing
diseased, madness, unconsciousness and sometimes death.

As far as the feverish condition of the body is concerned, Uddhava
once told Narada, ‘““My dear great sage, the lotus flower that is a
friend of the sun may be a cause of distress for us; and the fire in the
ocean may cause us some burning sensation; and Indivara, the friend
of a demon, may distress us in various ways—we do not mind. But
the most regrettable factor is that all of them remind us of Krsna,
and this is giving us too much distress!” This is an instance of the
feverish condition which is due to being separated from Krsna.

Some of the devotees who went to see Krsna at Dvaraka and were
detained at the door said: ‘My dear Krsna, O friend of the Pandus, as
the swan loves to dive into the water amongst the lily flowers and
would die if he were taken from the water, so we only wish to be
with You. Our limbs are being shrunken and faded because You have
been taken away from us.”

The King of Bahula, although very comfortably situated in his
palace, began to think the nights very long and distressing because of
his separation from Krsna.

King Yudhisthira once said, “Krsna, the chariot driver of Arjuna,
is the only relative of mine within the three worlds. Therefore, my
mind is becoming maddened day and night with separation from His
lotus feet, and I do not know how to situate myself or where I shall
go to attain any steadiness of mind.” This is another example of lack
of sleep.

Some of the cowherd friends of Krsna said, ““My dear Krsna, O
