‘Prema’ ordinarily means ‘love’. We find this word overused in the material world.
But what is really meant by prema or love?
hladinira sara ‘prema’, prema-sara ‘bhava’
bhavera parama-kastha, nama—‘maha-bhava’
mahabhava-svarupa sri-radha-thakurani
sarva-guna-khani krsna-kanta-siromani
(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrta: Adi-lila, 4.68-69)
“The essence of hladini is prem, the essence of prem is bhava, and the ultimate expression of bhava is mahabhava. Sri Radha Thakurani is the embodiment of mahabhava. She is the mine of all good qualities and the crest jewel of all the lovers of Krishna.”
Love is the topmost manifestation of hladini shakti. Hladini is pure goodness and love is its characteristic. When we perform bhajan and we get Sri Bhagavan’s blessing then our heart becomes clean. It is now ready to receive pure goodness. Then Sri Krishna moves hladini shakti into our heart.
When we put an iron rod in fire, it gains the property of the fire – that is – it becomes red in color and hot to touch. Similarly, our heart becomes one with pure goodness and gets its characteristics. Now pure goodness starts expressing its qualities through our mind. Its main quality is ‘a desire to please Sri Krishna’s senses’. This is love.
atmendriya-priti-vanchha—tare bali ‘kama’
krishnendriya-priti-ichchha dhare ‘prema’ nama
ataeva kama-preme bahuta antara
kama—andha-tamah, prema—nirmala bhaskara
(Śrī Chaitanya-charitamṛta, ādi-līlā, 4.165 and 4.171)
“The desire to gratify one’s senses is called kama. The desire to gratify Krishna’s senses is called prema. Thus there is a vast difference between kāma and prema: kāma is like blinding darkness, and prema is like the shining sun.”
Sri Krishna’s eternal associates always express the desire to please His senses. This means love is eternally present in them. When the sadhaka’s heart is cleansed by hearing, chanting etc. then the same love flows into this material world like the river Mandakini. It rushes down through the channel of devotees and manifests in our hearts.
Now we can understand that although love does express itself in this world it is never worldly.
Love is the characteristic of the transcendental inherent potency of Sri Bhagavan – hladini shakti.
When we perform sadhana, our heart becomes pure. Then bhakti appears in our heart.
When bhakti appears in our heart then we become exceedingly eager for Sri Bhagavan’s darshana.
Bhakti is like blazing fire while the sadhaka’s heart is like gold. The fire (bhakti) melts the especially pure gold (heart) [Srimat Jiva Goswamipad] – in this manner when prema arises, the chitta melts completely and the premika bhakta cries, sings and dances in ecstasy.
Srimad-Bhagavatam says (11.3.31 – 32) –
“When love for Sri Bhagavan appears in the devotees’ hearts, he remembers Sri Hari Who destroys all sins. The devotees also remind each other of Sri Hari. Their sadhan-bhakti ultimately results in prema-bhakti and they express goose bumps. They remember Acyuta Sri Bhagavan and sometimes they laugh and at other times they cry. Every now and then they speak of things thatare out-of-this-world and at other times they dance and sing. By following in the path of Sri Bhagavan Who is without birth, they become supremely blissful and remain silent.”
(Srila Ananta das Babaji, Prema-tattva-vijnana)
Sri Tattva Sandarbha
Anuccheda 47
Prema for the Pūrṇa Puruṣa Self-Manifests Out of Its Own Prior State as Effecting Means
47.1
Next, to make evident the ultimate attainment (prayojana), as discussed previously [in Anuccheda 45], and to affirm that the Pūrṇa Puruṣa mentioned above [in sb 1.7.4] is in fact Śrī Kṛṣṇa, Sūta Gosvāmī reveals another of Śrīla Vyāsadeva’s direct perceptions in the state of samādhi, which is specified by Sūta as the ultimate fruit of hearing Śrīmad Bhāgavatam.
This is spoken of in the verse beginning yasyām (sb 1.7.7).
In this verse, the word bhakti refers to pure love of God, because it is the final attainment (sādhya) to be brought about through its effecting means (sādhana), the devotional practice of hearing.
The verb utpadyate (is generated) here means “[love of God] self-manifests.”
Sūta Gosvāmī also describes a concomitant consequence of the appearance of divine love, namely, that it destroys all lamentation, illusion, and fear, the implication being that even the subconscious psychic imprints (saṁskāras) of these mind states are destroyed.
That this is so is implied in the statement of Śrī Ṛṣabhadeva:
“Therefore, until one has love for Me, Śrī Vāsudeva, he is certainly not delivered from identification with material embodiment” (sb 5.5.6).
[prītir na yāvan mayi vāsudeve na mucyate deha-yogena tāvat]
47.2
In this verse [sb 1.7.7], the words parama-pūruṣe (unto the Supreme Person) refer to the same Pūrṇa Puruṣa (the Complete Person) mentioned earlier [in sb 1.7.4].
And what is the specific form or identity of the Pūrṇa Puruṣa?
Anticipating this question, Śrī Sūta Gosvāmī replies, “He is Kṛṣṇa.” In other words, the Complete Person is expressly identified as Śrī Kṛṣṇa, as He who is immediately present interior to consciousness for particular individuals as soon as they simply hear His name; and also as He whose attention is immediately drawn to the same individuals as soon as they utter the first syllable of His name in mantra-yoga.
Those for whom Śrī Kṛṣṇa is immediately present, or drawn to, through such hearing or chanting of His name include those [great souls, like Sūta Gosvāmī] whose psyches have been imprinted with, and transformed by, thousands of scriptural statements, such as kṛṣṇas tu bhagavān svayam (“Kṛṣṇa is the original Complete Person,” sb 1.3.28), and also those innumerable celebrated [and highly realized] individuals, descending in an authorized line of disciplic succession.
So again, to the question what is the identity of the Complete Person, it is said, “He is Śrī Kṛṣṇa, having the characteristics described above”[which are implied in the statement of the verse that Kṛṣṇa is the one for whom divine love becomes established in certain individuals simply by hearing Śrīmad Bhāgavatam]. That Śrī Kṛṣṇa is specified in this way is made evident by the author of Nāma-kaumudī:
“The conventional meanings of the name Kṛṣṇa are ‘He who is black like a tamāla tree,’ ‘He who was breast-fed by Śrī Yaśodā,’ and ‘the Supreme Brahman.’”
Commentary by Srila Satyanarayana das Babaji:
In Anuccheda 45, Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī summarized Śrīla Vyāsadeva’s realizations concerning prayojana-tattva. Sūta Gosvāmī reaffirms these realizations in sb 1.7.7, wherein he states that simply by attentively hearing Śrīmad Bhāgavatam, love of God (i.e., bhakti) self-manifests in a person’s heart.
The word bhakti here can refer only to prema-bhakti and not sādhana-bhakti, devotion in the stage of practice, since hearing Śrīmad Bhāgavatam is itself the sādhana.
In this verse, the verb utpadyate (is generated) does not mean that love of God is created anew, but that it becomes manifest in the heart. Because prema is an aspect of God’s intrinsic potency, it exists eternally in the heart of perfected devotees, siddha-bhaktas, and, hence, it is never created.
This is confirmed in Caitanya-caritāmṛta (Madhya-līlā 22.107), “Kṛṣṇa-prema is eternally existent. It is never a generated event.” [ nitya-siddha kṛṣṇa-prema’sādhya’kabhu naya]
(see also APPENDIX below)
For the same reason, prema does not stand in a causal relation with sādhana, meaning that ´sādhana does not produce prema. If sādhana were the cause of the appearance of prema, then prema would not be a prior existing, self-manifested condition. Rather, being a conscious potency of Bhagavān, prema manifests of its own accord in the heart which is devotionally turned to Bhagavān through the medium of sādhana.
Thus, sādhana is not the cause of prema; yet, it is normally the prior condition for prema’s own self-manifestation. Sādhana is itself the same conscious intrinsic potency of Bhagavān in its immature aspect, revealing itself but partially in correspondence to the eligibility of the performer. In that sense, sādhana is not something distinct from or exterior to prema that causes its appearance.
Rather, there is but one essential potency of bhakti revealing itself in two different stages of completion. Hence, the relevance of the statement, „Bhakti [in the form of prema] is born of bhakti [in the form of sādhana]” (sb 11.3.31). [bhaktyā sañjātayā bhaktyā]
As a concomitant effect of love of God, the devotee is freed from all lamentation, delusion, and fear. Indeed, even the subconscious psychic imprints (saṁskāras) of these conditional states are destroyed, so powerful is love of Kṛṣṇa.
The root cause of a jīva’s misery is forgetfulness of the Lord, but when love of God is wholly submitted to, i.e., when it is unobstructed and, hence, self-revealed, forgetfulness of the Lord becomes impossible. One who attains love for Kṛṣṇa loses interest in all other kinds of pleasure, including even the bliss of impersonal realization.
For such a person, all doubts are vanquished and all aspirations are completely fulfilled. Nothing can disturb him or deviate his mind from devotional service.
In this regard, Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī writes in Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu:
Even among the single-minded devotees of Śrī Hari, the best are those whose hearts have been captured by Śrī Govinda. Indeed, even the favor of Śrī Nārāyaṇa, the husband of the supreme Goddess of Fortune, cannot steal away their hearts. (brs 1.2.58) [tatrāpy ekāntināṁ śreṣṭhā govinda-hṛta-mānasāḥ yeṣām śrīśa-prasādo’pi mano hartuṁ na śaknuyāt]
A concomitant result of such pure love of Kṛṣṇa, as Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī mentions in Anuccheda 47.1, is that even the seeds (saṁskāras) of lamentation, delusion, and fear are destroyed.
These seeds are rooted deeply in the soil of bodily attachment, and by quoting Śrī Ṛṣabhadeva here, Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī emphasizes that there is no way to eradicate this bodily attachment other than by the self-manifestation of love for Śrī Kṛṣṇa.
One easily attains this prayojana of love for Kṛṣṇa by hearing Śrīmad Bhāgavatam. Vyāsadeva witnessed all this in the state of samādhi. Śrī Kṛṣṇa, referred to in sb 1.7.7 as Parama Pūruṣa, the Supreme Person, is identical with the Pūrṇa Puruṣa, the Complete Person, whom Vyāsa saw along with His potencies.
In Anuccheda 30, Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī has already explained that this Pūrṇa Puruṣa is the original Complete Person. Now he identifies that Complete Person as Bhagavān Śrī Kṛṣṇa.
Immediately following this, Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī specifies who that Kṛṣṇa is, because history records various Kṛṣṇas.
For example, Arjuna was also called Kṛṣṇa, as shown in sb 1.8.43, where Śrīmatī Kuntīdevī addresses Śrī Kṛṣṇa as Kṛṣṇa-sakhā, “the friend of Kṛṣṇa [Arjuna].” And Vyāsadeva was also sometimes called Kṛṣṇa. Nonetheless, as soon as Vaiṣṇavas coming in the authorized lines of disciplic succession hear the name “Kṛṣṇa,” the form that immediately comes to mind is Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s, not Arjuna’s or Vyāsa’s or that of any other person or object of the same name. According to Śrīla Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa, this is the spontaneous experience of eminent sages like Sūta Gosvāmī, Śaunaka Ṛṣi, and Jayadeva Gosvāmī.
Thus, the conventional meaning of the name Kṛṣṇa is the two-handed Śrī Kṛṣṇa who appeared as a cowherd in Vraja.
As described earlier, words may have various secondary meanings in addition to their primary ones. The primary meaning of a word is the image that springs to mind upon first hearing or reading the word, before any related thought or analysis can modify its meaning. Thus, the primary meaning of the name “Kṛṣṇa” is Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Person. Śrī Lakṣmīdhara Paṇḍita, while commenting on the meanings of various names of Bhagavān in Nāma-kaumudī, defines Kṛṣṇa as, “He who is black like a tamāla tree.” In Vaiṣṇava literature, Kṛṣṇa’s bodily hue is often likened to the color of the tamāla tree, which is commonly found in the Vṛndāvana area. Just defining Kṛṣṇa in terms of His complexion, however, leaves open the possibility that the Kṛṣṇa referred to could be the son of Devakī in Mathurā and Dvārakā.
Therefore, Lakṣmīdhara further specifies the meaning as, “He who was suckled by Śrīmatī Yaśodā.”
´This fixes the primary meaning of Kṛṣṇa as the young cowherd son of Yaśodā in Vṛndāvana, since the grown-up Kṛṣṇa of Mathurā does not drink mother Yaśodā’s breast milk. If doubts still linger that this Kṛṣṇa is Bhagavān— since there could always be someone else named Kṛṣṇa from Vṛndāvana who has a blackish complexion and a mother named Yaśodā— Lakṣmīdhara further distinguishes the meaning of Kṛṣṇa as “the Supreme Brahman,” the Complete Personal Absolute Reality.
In Sanskrit, words have a derived, or etymological meaning (yaugika), which may sometimes differ from its conventional usage (rūḍhi). The rūḍhi, or conventional meaning, is always the primary meaning.
In cases where the primary meaning differs from the derived meaning, the former always takes precedence over the latter: yogād rūḍhirbalīyasī. In the case of the name “Kṛṣṇa,” the derived meaning is also the Supreme Person, as Mahābhārata explains: The syllable kṛṣ denotes existence, and the syllable ṇa denotes bliss. When affiliated with these two meanings, the name “Viṣṇu” signifies the eternal Śrī Kṛṣṇa. (Mahābhārata, Udyoga-parva 70.5) [kṛṣir bhū-vācakaḥ śabdo ṇaś ca nirvṛti-vācakaḥ viṣṇus tad-bhāva-yogāc ca kṛṣṇo bhavati śāśvataḥ]
The Amara-kośa Sanskrit dictionary (1.18) states, “The names Viṣṇu, Nārāyaṇa, Kṛṣṇa, and Vaikuṇṭha are synonymous” (viṣṇur nārāyaṇaḥ kṛṣṇo vaikuṇṭha viṣṭara-śravāḥ). One may claim that these are names of Viṣṇu, but after listing thirty-nine such names, the Amara-kośa states, “His father is Vasudeva” (vasudevo’sya janakaḥ).
By way of further confirmation that Kṛṣṇa is Supreme, the author then immediately lists the names of Śrī Balarāma, Kṛṣṇa’s brother. Śrīla Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa quotes the following verse in his commentaryon Śrī Viṣṇu-sahasra-nāma 20, while defining the name “Kṛṣṇa”: The syllable kṛṣ means “existence,” and the syllable ṇa means “bliss.”
The combination of these two is kṛṣṇa, the name of the Supreme Personal Absolute.
[kṛṣir bhū-vacakaḥ śabdo ṇaś ca nirvṛti-sañjñakaḥ tayor aikyaṁ paraṁ brahma kṛṣṇa ity abhidhīyate]
In this way, both the conventional and the derived meanings of the name “Kṛṣṇa” are identical— the two-handed cowherd boy who is the son of mother Yaśodā and the Supreme Personal Absolute Truth.
Since Vyāsadeva directly perceived this specific form of Kṛṣṇa in the supracognitive state of samādhi, the ultimate goal of life is self-evidently disclosed as unconditional love for Kṛṣṇa.
The next point Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī makes is that when the word kṛṣṇa is uttered in a mantra, as in the Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra, this sound attracts the attention of Śrī Kṛṣṇa Himself the very moment the first syllable is vibrated.
This is so because the name “Kṛṣṇa” is identical with the person Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Person. This is verified by the experience of many realized devotees who attained perfection by chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra. The Viṣṇudūtas stated this to the Yamadūtas: When a person chants the name of Śrī Viṣṇu, the Lord’s attention is drawn toward the chanter. (sb 6.2.10)
[nāma-vyāharaṇaṁ viṣṇor yatas tad viṣayā matiḥ]
In the next anuccheda, Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī explains that the bliss inherent within love of God far exceeds that innate to Brahman realization.
APPENDIX:
nitya-siddha kṛṣṇa-prema ‘sādhya’ kabhu naya
śravaṇādi-śuddha-citte karaye udaya
– Caitanya Caritamrta Madhya 22.107
“Krsna prema is eternally perfect (nitya-siddha kṛṣṇa-prema).
It can not be generated by anything (sādhya’ kabhu naya).
It arises within the heart that has become purified by practices such as hearing, etc…
(śravaṇādi-śuddha-citte karaye udaya)”
Again, the understanding is that prema bhakti (sadhya – that which is to be attained) is not created by sadhana bhakti. Prema bhakti is not like that, it is eternally perfect and is the nature of the svarupa sakti which comes into the heart of the sadhaka. If it were dormant, we would find use of the word jagrita (awaken) and not arise (udaya) in the sloka. Or the sastra could use the terms supta/nidrita prema (sleeping prema) to indicate the stage before it awakes. Rather there is no such explanation because prema arises in the heart, just like the moon in the night sky.
This verse relates to a verse in Bhakti rasamrta sindhu
Krsnadasa Kaviraja Goswami in his Caitanya Caritamrta usually cites a Sanskrit verse and then composes a Bengali verse translation of it. This “nitya siddha krsna prema” verse is no different. In this chapter, just 2 verses prior, he has quoted Rupa Goswami’s original Sanskrit verse from Bhakti Rasamrta Sindhu. We will now look at the commentaries of the verse to confirm our understanding.
tatra sādhana-bhaktiḥ – “Now sadhana bhakti will be defined”:
kṛti-sādhyā bhavet sādhya-bhāvā sā sādhanābhidhā |
nitya-siddhasya bhāvasya prākaṭyaṁ hṛdi sādhyatā || – BRS 1.2.2
“Devotion which is enacted through the senses and which leads
to the self-manifestation of bhāva-bhakti, is called sādhana-bhakti.
The self-manifestation within the heart [of the practitioner] of the eternally existing transcendental affect of devotion (bhāva) is known as the completion stage of devotion.”
(Bhakti Rasamrita Sindhu 1.2.2)
Srila Jiva Gosvami’s Durgama sangamani commentary:
bhāvasya sādhyatve kṛtrimatvāt parama-puruṣārthatvābhāvaḥ syād ity āśaṅkyāha—nityeti |
bhagavac-chakti-viśeṣa-vṛtti-viśeṣatvenāgre sādhayiṣyamāṇatvād iti bhāvaḥ
“A doubt may arise that since this state is achieved [sadhya], implying that it is artificially produced, it is not the ultimate goal. The second line responds to this doubt by saying that is is eternal, and simply appears within the heart. That is because its appearance [and not its creation] will be accomplished in the future by the special actions of the most excellent transformations [samvit and hladini aspects] of Bhagavan’s svarupa sakti [which are perfect and eternal].
Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura’s Bhakti sara pradarsini commentary:
tena dharmārthādi-puruṣārthāntara-sādhaka-bhaktiś ca parākṛtā, uttamāyā eva upakrāntatvāt | bhāvādīnāṁ sādhyatve kṛtrimatvāt parama-puruṣārthatvābhāvaḥ syād ity āśaṅkyāha—nityeti |
bhāvasyety upalakṣaṇaṁ śravana-kīrtanādayo’pi grāhyāḥ |
teṣām api karṇa-jihvādau prākaṭya-mātram, yathā śrī-kṛṣṇo vasudeva-gṛhe’vatatāra |
bhaktīnāṁ bhagavac-chakti-vṛtti-viśeṣatvenāgre sādhayiṣyamāṇatvād iti bhāvaḥ
“This may give rise to the fear that, though bhava bhakti has been mentioned as supreme, it may not actually be the supreme goal of human endeavour, because it is created by sadhana or achieved [i.e. it is not eternal]. The answer is given in the second line. This bhava is eternal, and merely appears within the heart of the devotee. Bhava also includes hearing, chanting and other actions [not just emotions]. These actions of bhava [limbs of bhakti] also appear on the tongue or in the ear, but are not created, just as Krsna appears in the house of Vasudeva. The emotions and actions of bhava are all eternal and spiritual and not material because their appearance in the future will be accomplished by the extraordinary actions of the most excellent transformations [samvit and hladini] of Bhagavan’s svarupa sakti.”
Mukunda dasa Goswami’s Artha-ratnalpa-dipika commentary:
This 3rd popular commentator and disciple of Krsnadasa Kaviraja Goswami states that the term “nitya-siddhasya bhavasya” in the BRS 1.2.2 sloka here means the bhava of the nitya siddha associates of Bhagavan and not that it is within the jiva or “pure love for Kṛṣṇa is eternally established in the hearts of the living entities”.
Satyanarayana dasa Babaji (disciple of Sri Haridas Sastriji Maharaja) from Gadadhara parivara confirms this and says in this regard:
“Mukunda Das Gosvāmī clearly writes that nitya-siddha bhāva here refers to the bhāva of nitya-siddha bhaktas”.
Mukunda dasa Gosvami says:
nitya-siddha-bhakteṣu śuddha-sattva-viśeṣa-rupatayā sadā vartamānasyātra svayaṁ sphuraṇān na kṛtrimatva-śaṅkā) –
“The pure sattva which is ever present in the nitya siddha devotees manifests itself [in the heart of the practitioner devotee] and thus should not be seen as artificial.”
Visvanatha Cakravarti further confirms, “That is because by the association of devotees, the sprout of bhakti, which is very rare, appears.” – BRS 1.2.228.
CONCLUSION:
So we can see here that this nitya siddha prema is that which belongs to Bhagavan’s associates and not that which lies dormant in the hearts of conditioned jivas.
This prema then enters (arises) in our hearts just as Krsna appeared in the prison where Vasudeva and Devaki were being held as per Visvanath Cakravarti’s tika.
It was never there, nor was it created.
It is simply the eternally perfect bhava of Bhagavan’s associates that enters the heart of fortunate jivas.
The jiva has the potential to receive this most wonderful and eternal love.
Although the jīva is beginninglessly deluded, it ever retains the inherent capacity (i.e., the as yet unactualized potential) to know and love Bhagavān.
Its condition is somewhat like that of an unused light bulb. Even in the unused state the bulb retains the capacity to be lit up, but can do so only when connected to a power source. Similarly, although the conditioned jīva’s capacity to know and love Bhagavān is unactualized, it is ever present as a potential of consciousness itself. When consciousness is attuned to its Source, the inherent capacity to know and love Bhagavān becomes an accomplished event.
It is in this sense that the jīva is referred to as an eternal servant of Kṛṣṇa, nitya kṛṣṇa-dāsa.
In the conditioned state the jīva’s dāsatva, its state of liberated or constitutional servitorship, remains in a potential state, which is actualized specifically through the descent of the intrinsic potency, which dissolves the empirical conditioning through unconditional devotion.
In the conditioned state, however, the jīva misdirects root attention into phenomenal identity and appearance, and thus the instruments of knowing—the mind and senses—are misapplied in service of a separative ego point of reference. In this way, the inherent potential of consciousness to be devotionally whole-bodily attuned to its Source remains undiscovered. Thus the jīva suffers.
But when the jīva redirects the mind and senses to repose in their conscious Source, effected through the transmutational power of sādhana-bhakti, then through the descent or pervasion of divine power, the self’s true potential is brought forth into functionality.
If one perseveres on the path of bhakti, he becomes aware of his original nature and is established in the unending bliss of prema-bhakti.
Thanks to
* Srila Satyanarayana das Babaji
* Radhacharan das.
Amrita-Tarangini 