340 The Nectar of Devotion

all these functions, especially in dancing together. Regarding their
wrestling, one friend once asked Krsna, “‘My dear friend, O killer of
the Agha demon, You are very proudly wandering among Your
friends trying to exhibit Your arms as very strong. Is it that You are
envious of me? I know that You cannot defeat me in wrestling, and
I also know that You were sitting idly for a long time because You
were hopeless of defeating me.”

All the friends were very daring and would risk any difficulty, be-
cause they were confident that Krsna would help them to be vic-
torious in all adventures. They used to sit together and advise one
another what to do, sometimes inducing one another to be engaged
in welfare work. Sometimes they would offer betel nuts to one
another, decorate one another’s faces with tilaka or smear pulp of
candana on one another’s bodies. Sometimes, for the sake of amuse-
ment, they used to decorate their faces in strange ways. Another
business of the friends was that each of them wanted to defeat Krsna.
Sometimes they used to snatch His clothing or snatch away the
flowers from His hands. Sometimes one would try to induce another
to decorate his body for him, and failing this, they were always ready
to fight, challenging one another to combat in wrestling. These were
some of the general activities of Krsna and His friends.

Another important pastime of the friends of Krsna was that they
served as messengers to and from the gopis; they introduced the
gopis to Krsna and canvassed for Krsna. When the gopis were in dis-
agreement with Krsna, these friends would support Krsna’s side in
His presence—but when Krsna was not present, they would support
the side of the gopis. In this way, sometimes supporting one side,
sometimes the other, they would talk very privately, with much
whispering in the ears, although none of the business was very
serious.

The servants of Krsna were sometimes engaged in collecting flow-
ers, decorating His body with valuable ornaments and _ trinkets,
dancing before Him, singing, helping Him herd the cows, massaging
His body, preparing flower garlands and sometimes fanning His body.
These were some of the primary duties of the servants of Krsna. The
friends and servants of Krsna were combined together in serving
Him, and all of their activities are known as anubhdava.
