20211209 Definition of Love of Kṛṣṇa

Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Book Compilation

By His Holiness Jayapatākā Swami Mahārāja on 9^th December 2021 in

Śrīdhāma Māyāpur, India

mūkaṁ karoti vācālaṁ paṅguṁ laṅghayate girim
yat-kṛpā tam ahaṁ vande śrī-guruṁ dīna-tāraṇam
paramānandaṁ mādhavaṁ śrī caitanya iśvaram

hariḥ oṁ tat sat

Hare Kṛṣṇa! Dear Devotees! Today is the compilation of Caitanya līlā book, the chapter today is entitled:

Definition of Love of Kṛṣṇa
Under the section: Life’s Ultimate Goal — Love of Godhead

Caitanya Caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 23.1

anarpitacara-nāmapremadātā māhāvadānya gaurera praṇāma—

cirād adattaṁ nija-gupta-vittaṁ sva-prema-nāmāmṛtam aty-udāraḥ
ā-pāmaraṁ yo vitatāra gauraḥ kṛṣṇo janebhyas tam ahaṁ prapadye

Translation: The most munificent Supreme Personality of Godhead, known as Gaurakṛṣṇa, distributed to everyone — even the lowest of men — His own confidential treasury in the form of the nectar of love of Himself and the holy name. This was never given to the people at any time before. I therefore offer my respectful obeisances unto Him.

Jayapatākā Swami: How Lord Caitanya was giving out His pure love to everyone freely is that something never happened before. Even Kṛṣṇa to get His pure love, one had to surrender but Lord Caitanya was so merciful that He gave out His love to fallen people, just by chanting the holy names of Kṛṣṇa.

Caitanya Caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 23.3

śrī-sanātana-śikṣā-(3) prayojana (kṛṣṇa-prema)-varṇana; abhidheya ‘sādhana-bhakti’ra phale prayojana-rūpa ‘sādhya’-prema-bhaktiḥ—

ebe śuna bhakti-phala ‘prema’-prayojana
yāhāra śravaṇe haya bhakti-rasa-jñāna

Translation: Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu continued, “Now hear, O Sanātana, about the result of devotional service, which is love of Godhead, life’s ultimate goal. One who hears this description will be enlightened in the transcendental mellows of devotional service.

Jayapatākā Swami: Every religion says that we should love God. Lord Jesus Christ gave as His first commandment, like this we find in all the bonafide religions, the idea that one should love God but Lord Caitanya by giving this process of bhakti-yoga, unalloyed devotional service, spontaneously offered, one gets Love of Kṛṣṇa, Love of God. This is the highest perfection of human life.

Caitanya Caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 23.4

bhāva vā rati—premera tarala vā aṅkurāvasthā; gāḍha vā pakkāvasthāya uhāi ‘prema’:—

kṛṣṇe rati gāḍha haile ‘prema’-abhidhāna
kṛṣṇa-bhakti-rasera ei ‘sthāyi-bhāva’-nāma

Translation: “When affection for Kṛṣṇa becomes deeper, one attains love of Godhead in devotional service. Such a position is called sthāyi-bhāva, permanent enjoyment of the mellows of devotional service to Kṛṣṇa.

Jayapatākā Swami: Actually, people are searching, how to be happy. What Lord Caitanya is giving this world is the highest happiness, that we should understand. The love of Godhead is the highest enjoyment.

Caitanya Caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 23.5

bhāvera saṁjñā; svarūpa o taṭastha-lakṣaṇa – Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu (1.3.1)

śuddha-sattva-viśeṣātmā prema-sūryāṁśu-sāmya-bhāk
rucibhiś citta-masṛṇya-kṛd asau bhāva ucyate

Translation: “When devotional service is executed on the transcendental platform of pure goodness, it is like a sun-ray of love for Kṛṣṇa. At such a time, devotional service causes the heart to be softened by various tastes, and one is then situated in bhāva [emotion].’

Purport: by His Divine Grace Śrīla Prabhupāda This verse is found in the Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu (1.3.1).

Jayapatākā Swami: So, one who wants to get pure love for Kṛṣṇa, doesn’t ask Kṛṣṇa anything material in place of their devotional service. They simply offer their service to Kṛṣṇa and in this way they develop spontaneous love or bhāva or emotion.

Caitanya Caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 23.6

premera lakṣaṇa varṇanaḥ—

e dui,—bhāvera ‘svarūpa’, ‘taṭastha’ lakṣaṇa
premera lakṣaṇa ebe śuna, sanātana

Translation: “Bhāva [emotion] has two different symptoms — constitutional and marginal. Now, My dear Sanātana, listen to the symptoms of love.

Purport: The word śuddha-sattva-viśeṣātmā means “situated on the transcendental platform of pure goodness.” In this way the soul is purified of all material contamination, and this position is called svarūpa-lakṣaṇa, the constitutional symptom of bhāva, emotion. By various tastes, one’s heart is softened, and there is an awakening of one’s loving propensity to render spontaneous service to the Lord. This is called taṭastha-lakṣaṇa, the marginal symptom of bhāva.

Jayapatākā Swami: One’s constitutional position of love of Godhead is when one is free from all material identification, and the marginal symptom is that one is awakened to rendering spontaneous devotional service to the Lord.

Caitanya Caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 23.7

premera saṁjñā – Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu (1.4.1)

samyaṅ-masṛṇita-svānto mamatvātiśayāṅkitaḥ
bhāvaḥ sa eva sāndrātmā budhaiḥ premā nigadyate

Translation: “When that bhāva softens the heart completely, becomes endowed with a great feeling of possessiveness in relation to the Lord and becomes very much condensed and intensified, it is called prema [love of Godhead] by learned scholars.

Purport: This verse is also found in the Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu (1.4.1).

Jayapatākā Swami: So, bhāva is manifested with the eight ecstatic symptoms that gradually softens the heart and one is further purified and very possessive of the Supreme Lord and that is considered as prema.

Caitanya Caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 23.8

pañca-rātramate premera saṁjñāḥ— Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu (14.2)- dhṛta nāradapañcarātra-vacana—

ananya-mamatā viṣṇau mamatā prema-saṅgatā
bhaktir ity ucyate bhīṣma-prahlādoddhava-nāradaiḥ

Translation: “When one develops an unflinching sense of ownership or possessiveness in relation to Lord Viṣṇu, or, in other words, when one thinks Viṣṇu and no one else to be the only object of love, such an awakening is called bhakti [devotion] by exalted persons like Bhīṣma, Prahlāda, Uddhava and Nārada.’

Purport: by His Divine Grace Srila Prabhupāda This verse, quoted from the Nārada-pañcarātra, is found in the Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu (1.4.2).

Jayapatākā Swami: So, in the material world we love so many things, our parents, our society, our culture, our nation, some people love cars and machines but when you actually only love Kṛṣṇa or Lord Viṣṇu the Supreme Lord and then that is considered as pure love of Godhead.

Caitanya Caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 23.9

prema-bhaktilābhera kramapanthā; prathame ‘śraddhā’ haite ‘āsakti’ paryanta abhidheya ‘sādhana-bhakti’ o paścāt rati vā ‘bhāva-bhakti’ra udaya; rati ghanībhūta haile prayojana ‘prema-bhakti’—

kona bhāgye kona jīvera ‘śraddhā’ yadi haya
tabe sei jīva ‘sādhu-saṅga’ ye karaya

Translation: “If, by good fortune, a living entity develops faith in Kṛṣṇa, he begins to associate with devotees.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, here Lord Caitanya is expressing the step by step process, first one has faith, then one associates with devotees.

Caitanya Caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 23.10

sādhu-saṅga haite haya ‘śravaṇa-kīrtana’
sādhana-bhaktye haya ‘sarvānartha-nivartana’

Translation: “When one is encouraged in devotional service by the association of devotees, one becomes free from all unwanted contamination by following the regulative principles and chanting and hearing.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, one by associating with devotees starts to practice devotional service specifically hearing and chanting and thus gets purified as explained above.

Caitanya Caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 23.11

anartha-nivṛtti haile bhaktye ‘niṣṭhā’ haya
niṣṭhā haite śravaṇādye ‘ruci’ upajaya

Translation: “When one is freed from all unwanted contamination, he advances with firm faith. When firm faith in devotional service awakens, a taste for hearing and chanting also awakens.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, this explains how one should get rid of all the unwanted habits and become fixed up and steady in devotional service. By performing that one gets taste or ruci for devotional service.

Caitanya Caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 23.12

ruci haite bhaktye haya ‘āsakti’ pracura
āsakti haite citte janme kṛṣṇe prīty-aṅkura

Translation: “After taste is awakened, a deep attachment arises, and from that attachment the seed of love for Kṛṣṇa grows in the heart.

Jayapatākā Swami: So, this explains how one develops taste or ruci, how one becomes attached, āsakti and he gets attached to love of Kṛṣṇa and that seed of love of Kṛṣṇa gradually grows in the heart.

Caitanya Caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 23.13

sei ‘bhāva’ gāḍha haile dhare ‘prema’-nāma
sei premā ‘prayojana’ sarvānanda-dhāma

Translation: “When that ecstatic emotional stage intensifies, it is called love of Godhead. Such love is life’s ultimate goal and the reservoir of all pleasure.

Purport: by His Divine Grace Srila Prabhupāda Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura summarizes this growth of love of Godhead as a gradual process. A person becomes interested in devotional service by some good fortune. Eventually he becomes interested in pure devotional service without material contamination. At that point, a person wants to associate with devotees. As a result of this association, he becomes more and more interested in discharging devotional service and hearing and chanting. The more one is interested in hearing and chanting, the more he is purified of material contamination. Liberation from material contamination is called anartha-nivṛtti, indicating a diminishing of all unwanted things. This is the test of development in devotional service. If one actually develops the devotional attitude, he must be freed from the material contamination of illicit sex, intoxication, gambling and meat-eating. These are the preliminary symptoms. When one is freed from all material contamination, his firm faith in devotional service awakens. When firm faith develops, a taste arises, and by that taste one becomes attached to devotional service. When this attachment intensifies, the seed of love of Kṛṣṇa fructifies. This position is called prīti or rati (affection) or bhāva (emotion). When rati intensifies, it is called love of Godhead. This love of Godhead is actually life’s highest perfection and the reservoir of all pleasure.

Thus devotional life is divided into two stages — sādhana-bhakti and bhāva-bhakti. Sādhana-bhakti refers to the development of devotional service through the regulative principles. The basic principle for the execution of devotional service is faith. Above that, there is association with devotees, and after that there is initiation by a bona fide spiritual master. After initiation, when one follows the regulative principles of devotional service, one becomes freed from all unwanted things. In this way one becomes firmly fixed and gradually develops a taste for devotional service. The more the taste grows, the more one desires to render service to the Lord. In this way one becomes attached to a particular mellow in the Lord’s service — śānta, dāsya, sakhya, vātsalya or madhura. As a result of such attachment, bhāva develops. Bhāva-bhakti is the platform of purified goodness. By such purified goodness, one’s heart melts in devotional service. Bhāva-bhakti is the first seed of love of Godhead. This emotional stage is there before one attains pure love. When that emotional stage intensifies, it is called prema-bhakti, or transcendental love of Godhead. This gradual process is also described in the following two verses, which are found in the Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu (1.4.15-16).

Jayapatākā Swami: So, Lord Caitanya had instructed Sanātana Gosvāmī how by practicing the regulative principles of sādhana-bhakti, one can gradually rise to the stage of bhāva-bhakti where one feels transcendental emotions and how the bhāva-bhakti gradually intensifies to prema-bhakti.

Caitanya Caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 23.14-15

śāstra pramāṇa:— Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu (1.4.15-16)—

ādau śraddhā tataḥ sādhu-
saṅgo ’tha bhajana-kriyā
tato ’nartha-nivṛttiḥ syāt
tato niṣṭhā rucis tataḥ
athāsaktis tato bhāvas
tataḥ premābhyudañcati
sādhakānām ayaṁ premṇaḥ
prādurbhāve bhavet kramaḥ

Translation: “In the beginning there must be faith. Then one becomes interested in associating with pure devotees. Thereafter one is initiated by the spiritual master and executes the regulative principles under his orders. Thus one is freed from all unwanted habits and becomes firmly fixed in devotional service. Thereafter, one develops taste and attachment. This is the way of sādhana-bhakti, the execution of devotional service according to the regulative principles. Gradually emotions intensify, and finally there is an awakening of love. This is the gradual development of love of Godhead for the devotee interested in Kṛṣṇa consciousness.’

Caitanya Caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 23.16

śrī-bhāgavata-pramāṇa— Śrīmad-Bhāgavate (3.25.22)—

satāṁ prasaṅgān mama vīrya-saṁvido
bhavanti hṛt-karṇa-rasāyanāḥ kathāḥ
taj-joṣaṇād āśv apavarga-vartmani
śraddhā ratir bhaktir anukramiṣyati

Translation: “The spiritually powerful message of Godhead can be properly discussed only in a society of devotees, and it is greatly pleasing to hear in that association. If one hears from devotees, the way of transcendental experience quickly opens, and gradually one attains firm faith that in due course develops into attraction and devotion.’

Purport: This is a quotation from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (3.25.25).

Jayapatākā Swami: So, these teachings of Lord Caitanya to Sanātana Gosvāmī about the gradual development of love of Kṛṣṇa are also found in various scriptures. What He is saying is a completely authorized science of Godhead, and if one follows this process, they can advance step by step to the ultimate goal of pure love for Godhead.

Thus ends the chapter entitled, Definition of Love of Kṛṣṇa
Under the section: Life’s Ultimate Goal — Love of Godhead

Haribol!