Every verse of Vilāpa Kusumāñjali shows the sweetness of Śrīla Raghunātha Dāsa Gosvāmī’s love for Śrīmatī Rādhikā. The sweetness of each of Her limbs constantly causes a stir in his heart.

Although he is eternally liberated, he still relishes the sweetness of devotion-in-practice. That shows how relishable devotion is, even in the stage of practice (sādhanā bhakti), and that some prema is already present even in that initial stage.

There is sādhana bhakti, bhāva bhakti and prema bhakti and they are qualitatively included in each other, although each stage is quantitatively superior to the previous. If it were not so, then how could the desire to relish rasa arise in the heart of the eternally perfect devotees? Their quality of prema will also exist to some extent in a practising devotee who follows them. The savour that comes from sādhana removes all consciousness of the external world and all external endeavours will then be connected with the heart’s eagerness to attain the beloved deity.

Thirst for loving devotion is the very life-force of sādhana, and if one performs one’s sādhana well this thirst will surely arise. How eager a person like me is for sense-gratification! Even in my dreams I see only sense-objects! Those who do bhajana will think only of their beloved deity.

Śrīla Visvanātha Cakravartī describes the effect of prema on a loving devotee’s heart as follows: tataś cāsya bhaktajanasyātmātmīya gṛha vittādiṣu śata sahasraśo bhavatyo yāś citta vṛttayo mamatā rajjubhis teṣu teṣu nibaddha eva pūrvamāsan tā eva citta vṛttīḥ sarvā eva tatas tato’vahelayaivonmocya sva śaktyā māyikīr api tā mahā rasakūpa spṛśyamāna padārtha mātrāṇīva sākāra cidānanda jyotirmayīkṛtya tābhir eva mamatābhiḥ sarvābhis tatas tato vicitābhiḥ sva śaktyaiva tathābhūtī kṛtābhiḥ śrī bhagavad rūpa nāma guṇa mādhuryeṣu yo nibadhnāti so’yaṁ prema mahā kiraṇamālīva udayiṣyamāna eva nikhila puruṣārtha nakṣatra maṇḍalīḥ sahasaiva vilāpayati:

„In the stage of sādhanā the devotee is still bound by hundreds of thousands of ropes of possessiveness towards possessions, money, family and friends, but when prema appears these ropes will easily become spiritualised and will tightly bind the devotee to the beauty of the Lord’s transcendental forms, qualities and pastimes. prema rises like the sun, making the darkness of ignorance and the stars of all other human pursuits fade from the sky of the heart.”

In any good life of sādhana there must be some experience like this. “How many things don’t I always miss in my life, but I never miss Rādhārāṇī! My mind is absorbed in thinking of sense-objects, I am not enthusiastic to do bhajana and I don’t experience how insignificant this world is. I could not establish a sweet relationship with Rādhārāṇī – what kind of a devotee am I?”

A practising devotee should rebuke himself like that. When taste for bhajana arises, the material world seems like a burning forest-fire and the devotee weeps for want of the service of his beloved deity.

Srila Ananta das Babaji

Srila Ananda Gopal Goswami