Category:Becoming Overwhelmed
Theme Analysis
The state of becoming overwhelmed indicates a point where the living entity’s internal capacity is surpassed by external or internal forces. Śrīla Prabhupāda distinguishes between material being overwhelmed—which is a sign of conditioned weakness and illusion—and spiritual being overwhelmed, which is the peak of devotional ecstasy. While a conditioned soul is overwhelmed by the influence of māyā, the hunger of the body, or the miseries of Kali-yuga, a devotee like Akrūra, Mother Yaśodā, or Lord Caitanya becomes overwhelmed by the fragrance, beauty, or separation of Kṛṣṇa. This spiritual absorption is so intense that it causes physical symptoms like shivering, weeping, and fainting, marking the transition from mundane consciousness to transcendental bliss.
- Overwhelmed by Matter: In the material condition, the living entity is easily overcome by the stringent laws of nature. Śrīla Prabhupāda notes that even a simple toothache can overwhelm a man, exposing the fallacy of those who claim to be God. Furthermore, the influence of Kali-yuga overwhelms the mind, making constant chanting difficult, which necessitates the minimum requirement of sixteen rounds.
- Ecstatic Overwhelmedness: For a devotee, becoming overwhelmed is a symptom of advanced love (prema). The residents of Vṛndāvana, driven by intense affection, would become overwhelmed with joy at Kṛṣṇa's birth or overwhelmed with grief at His perceived danger. These are not material emotions but transcendental "mellows" that manifest when the soul is fully in touch with the Supreme Lord.
- Separation and Reunion: The quotes highlight that both meeting and separation cause a devotee to become overwhelmed. The Gopis were overwhelmed by the fragrance of Kṛṣṇa’s body during the rāsa-līlā, yet they also merged into an "ocean of grief" when He disappeared. Similarly, Ramananda Raya and Sanatana Gosvami experienced overwhelming spiritual ecstasy upon meeting or being separated from Lord Caitanya.
- Explore the synthesized essence of this category in this Vanipedia article: Becoming Overwhelmed - Material Distress vs. Spiritual Ecstasy.
Pages in category "Becoming Overwhelmed"
The following 57 pages are in this category, out of 57 total.
A
- According to the will of the Pandavas, obeying them like a servant and offering obeisances like one younger in years. When he heard this, Maharaja Pariksit became overwhelmed with devotion to the lotus feet of the Lord
- After hearing these words (from goddess Durga), Kamsa became very much overwhelmed with fear. Out of pity, he immediately released Vasudeva and Devaki from the bondage of their shackles and very politely began to address them
- After Lord Caitanya's departure, Ramananda Raya became overwhelmed due to his separation from the Lord, and he immediately decided to retire from service and meet the Lord again at Jagannatha Puri
- After seeing the transcendental Personality of Godhead (Maha-Visnu), Akrura immediately became overwhelmed with joy and great devotion, and all over his body there was transcendental shivering
- Again when people cried that Krsna, the son of Vasudeva, had come, both King Nanda and Mother Yasoda became overwhelmed with affection and expressed their great pleasure
- All the cows, bulls and small calves became overwhelmed with grief, and they began to look at Him with great anxiety. Out of fear they could only cry in agony and stand erect on the bank, unable to help their beloved Krsna
- Arjuna remembered all these (Krsna's relationship with him) one after another, and thus he became overwhelmed with such thoughts
- As soon as they heard that mother Yasoda had given birth to a child, all the cowherd women became overwhelmed with joy, and they also dressed themselves with various kinds of costly garments and ornaments and smeared scented cosmetics on their bodies
D
- Dhruva Maharaja's becoming angry, overwhelmed with grief, and envious of the enemies was not incompatible with his position as a great devotee. It is a misunderstanding that a devotee should not be angry, envious or overwhelmed by lamentation
- Don't very cheaply accept any fool as God. So this is the highest imperfection, that he is in the stringent laws of the material nature. If there is simply a toothache, he becomes overwhelmed, and he himself preaches as God
- During the mourning period all the members of the palace became overwhelmed with lamentation, but Vidura did not become so, because of his knowledge that the Pandavas were alive somewhere
E
- Even though they (gopis) were embracing Krsna only mentally, they became so ecstatic and overwhelmed with joy that for the time being they completely forgot themselves
- Even while describing this incident, Brahma became almost overwhelmed. "And the most astonishing thing," he added, "was that many other Brahmas from many different universes had also come there to worship Krsna and His associates"
H
- Having lost His acquired gem, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu became overwhelmed with lamentation by remembering its attributes
- He (Akrura) became overwhelmed with all the symptoms of ecstasy; he wept, and his body trembled. Out of extreme jubilation upon seeing the dust touched by the lotus feet of Krsna, Akrura fell flat on his face and began to roll on the ground
I
- In the Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu it is stated that all those who attended the pious meeting held by Lord Brahma for the study of Vedic literature like the Upanisads became overwhelmed with ecstatic love for Krsna, the chief of the Yadu dynasty
- In this way he considered woman to be his ultimate life and soul. Becoming thus overwhelmed by the mode of ignorance, he could not understand the meaning of self-realization, of his self or of the Supreme Personality of Godhead
- Intoxicated by ecstatic love for Lord Krsna, he becomes overwhelmed and incessantly dances without clothing and sings about Lord Krsna's qualities and pastimes
- It is described that by hearing the vibration of Krsna's flute Lord Siva becomes very puzzled and begins to cry so loudly into space that the demons become vanquished and the devotees become overwhelmed with joy
O
- One devotee has exclaimed, "Oh, I have not as yet visited the wonderful places where the pastimes of the Lord were performed. But simply by hearing the name of Mathura I have become overwhelmed with joy!"
- One may sometimes become overwhelmed with joy by seeing a devotee of the Lord
- Others (Gopis) immediately fainted due to separation from Krsna. Remembering His attractive smile and His talks with them, the gopis became overwhelmed with grief
- Out of their great affection for Krsna, and being unaware of the extent of His potencies, they (the inhabitants of Vrndavana) became overwhelmed with grief and anxiety because they had nothing dearer than Krsna
S
- She (mother Yasoda) took Him (Krsna) on her lap and became overwhelmed with maternal affection
- Sometimes a person who is very attached to his family becomes overwhelmed with hunger, and due to his miserable condition he becomes furious with his family members
- Such persons treat all living entities equally. They never become overwhelmed by anger like animals, who can see nothing without differentiation
- Sukadeva Gosvami said, "At first they were planning to chastise their sons for stealing butter, but as soon as the sons came before their eyes, they lost all of their angry attitudes and became overwhelmed with affection"
- Suppose, some way or other, the car is damaged, is lost. Then I do not become overwhelmed, because I know that I am not this car. I can get another car. That's all
T
- The baby in the lap of his mother is naturally attached to the mother, and the mother is attached to the child. But when the child grows up and becomes overwhelmed by circumstances, he gradually becomes detached from the mother
- The bhaktas, by their transcendental devotional service unto the lotus feet of the Lord, become so overwhelmed with transcendental bliss that automatically their desires for material enjoyment stop
- The demigods became overwhelmed with joy and showered flowers on the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krsna, and thus they worshiped Him. The denizens of heaven danced in jubilation, and the denizens in Gandharvaloka offered various kinds of prayers
- The gopis became overwhelmed simply at seeing those marks (marks of Krsna's sole) on the ground
- The Mayavada theory holds that the living entity was formerly God but has now become overwhelmed by the influence of maya
- The real explanation is that because we are little Krsna... Just like the father and the little child, if there is fight, the father may come out victorious, the child may become overwhelmed, similarly, we are also Krsna, a small particle of Krsna
- There was a tumultuous noise as they all chanted the holy names "Hari" and "Krsna." Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu became overwhelmed with ecstatic love
- They (the inhabitants of Vrndavana) had dedicated everything to Krsna: their lives, property, affection, activities - everything was for Krsna - and when they saw Him in that condition, they became overwhelmed with fear and fell down on the ground
- They became still more overwhelmed with grief. While Balarama was smiling to see their lamentation, all the inhabitants of Vrajabhumi merged into the ocean of grief because they thought that Krsna was finished
- This verse (CC Madhya 8.81) is from SB 10.32.2. When the rasa dance was going on, Krsna suddenly disappeared, and the gopis became so overwhelmed, due to His separation and their intense love for Him, that Krsna was obliged to appear again
U
- Upon reaching the temple of Bindu Madhava, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, seeing the beauty of Lord Bindu Madhava, became overwhelmed in ecstatic love. He then began to dance in the courtyard of the temple
- Upon seeing each other, they both became overwhelmed. Seeing the Lord's head without hair, mother Saci became greatly agitated
- Upon touching the lotus feet of the SP of Godhead (Krsna), he (Akrura) became overwhelmed with transcendental bliss; his voice choked up, and he could not speak. Due to his transcendental pleasure, incessant torrents of tears fell from his eyes
W
- We become hungry, we become thirsty. We become overwhelmed with regret, soka moha, illusion, then birth, death, so many currents. We are being carried away. I am spirit soul. I am put into the material ocean
- When Maharaj Pariksit heard of this wonderful victory, he immediately rubbed the tears from his eyes and became overwhelmed with joy. This instance is an example of astonishment in devotional service by indirect perception through aural reception
- When the gopis heard that Akrura had come to take Krsna and Balarama away to Mathura, they became overwhelmed with anxiety. Some of them became so aggrieved that their faces turned black and they began to breathe warmly and had palpitations of the heart
- When the Lord embraced him, Sanatana became overwhelmed with spiritual ecstasy, and he said, "My dear Lord, please do not touch me." But both of them embraced each other and began to cry
- When the son of Kunti, Arjuna, saw all these different grades of friends and relatives, he became overwhelmed with compassion and spoke thus: BG 1.27 - 1972
- When they (the gopis) placed their hands on Krsna's shoulder they became overwhelmed by the fragrance of His body, which emanated from the lotus, other aromatic flowers and the pulp of sandalwood
- When Uddhava saw Maharaja Nanda and Yasoda so extraordinarily overwhelmed with thoughts of Krsna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and when he experienced their extraordinary affection for Him, he also became overwhelmed
- While describing all this, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu became a little overwhelmed, but just to finish bidding farewell to the devotees, He remained patient
- While describing the uncommon activities of Krsna before Uddhava, Nanda Maharaja gradually became overwhelmed and could no longer speak
- While Nanda Maharaj was giving protection to His transcendental son in this way, all of a sudden there were drops of tears in his eyes, and he became overwhelmed with joy