322 The Nectar of Devotion

There are two kinds of devotees engaged in devotional service with
awe and veneration, and the servitors in the abode of Dvaraka always
worship Krsna as the most respectable and revered Personality of
Godhead. They are captivated by Krsna because of His super-excellent
opulences. The members who always thought themselves protected
by Krsna could readily convert their conviction into practical demon-
stration, because it was sometimes found that the sons of Krsna acted
very unlawfully in various places. Nonetheless they were given full
protection by Krsna and Balarama.

Even Balarama, the elder brother of Krsna, sometimes unknowingly
offered respect to Him. Once when Krsna came before Lord Balarama,
He was anxious to offer His respects to His elder brother, but at that
time Balarama’s club was lowered down upon Krsna’s lotus feet. In
other words, the club in Balarama’s hand offered its own respects to
Krsna. These feelings of subordination, as explained above, are some-
times manifested as anubhava.

When demigods from the heavenly planets came to Sri Krsna, all
of Krsna’s sons followed them, and Lord Brahma sprinkled water
from his kamandalu upon them. When the demigods came before
Krsna, instead of sitting on golden chairs, the sons sat down on the
floor, which was covered with deerskin.

Sometimes the behavior of Krsna’s sons appears similar to the be-
havior of His personal servants. For example, the sons used to offer
their obeisances, they were silent, submissive and gentle, and they
were always ready to carry out Krsna’s orders, even at the risk of life.
When present before Krsna, they bowed down on the ground. They
were very silent and steady, and they used to restrain coughing and
laughing before the Lord. Also, they never discussed Krgna’s pastimes
in conjugal love. In other words, devotees who are engaged in rever-
ential devotional service should not discuss the conjugal love affairs
of Krsna. No one should claim his eternal relationship with Krsna un-
less he is liberated. In the conditioned state of life, the devotees have
to execute the prescribed duties as recommended in the codes of de-
votional service. When one is mature in devotional service and is a
realized soul, he can know his own eternal relationship with Krsna.
One should not artificially try to establish some relationship. In the
