Sometimes we hear the statement: “First the heart must be completely pure, only then prema can enter and shine.”

But this is not the conclusion of our ācāryas. It is actually the opposite.

The Effect of Prema

Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura, in his Mādhurya Kādambinī (Eighth Shower), beautifully describes how prema works on the heart of the devotee:“In the stage of sādhana 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.”

So, prema does not wait for a perfectly clean and empty heart to descend. Prema itself purifies, transforms, and binds the heart to Śrī Kṛṣṇa.

The Best Medicine

The Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam gives an even stronger medicine. While narrating the rāsa-līlā, the crest jewel of all divine pastimes, Śukadeva Gosvāmī proclaims:

vikrīḍitaṁ vraja-vadhūbhir idaṁ ca viṣṇoḥ
śraddhānvito ’nuśṛṇuyād atha varṇayed yaḥ
bhaktiṁ parāṁ bhagavati pratilabhya kāmaṁ
hṛd-rogam āśv apahinoty acireṇa dhīraḥ
(Bhāg. 10.33.39)

“Whoever faithfully hears and narrates the loving pastimes of Śrī Kṛṣṇa with the ladies of Vraja will attain the topmost devotion for the Lord, and will swiftly give up the heart’s disease of lust.”

The Order is Revealing

Here lies the secret:

Bhaktiṁ parām pratilabhya — first one attains the seed of the topmost devotion. Kāmam hṛd-rogam āśv apahinoti — and afterwards, lust and the disease of the heart are driven away.

Our ācāryas explain this in detail. In the Vaiṣṇava-toṣaṇī commentary it is said:

“Here, before the heart’s disease is destroyed, the attainment of the topmost bhakti is described. Therefore this sādhana is extremely powerful.”

Normally, the common principle is: first lust and material desires are destroyed, then prema manifests. But here, the Bhāgavata turns the order upside down. By the sheer force of bhakti, prema appears even before lust is gone, and then prema itself purifies the heart.

The Conclusion

So, the claim that the heart must be perfectly pure before prema can enter is wrong. Prema is not the result of our cleaning; it is the powerful purifier itself.

It descends, it transforms, it binds, and it illuminates. Just as the sun does not wait for the sky to be rid of darkness, but automatically destroys the darkness by rising, so prema rises in the heart and dispels all impurities.

The best medicine is to faithfully hear and describe the pastimes of Śrī Kṛṣṇa, especially the rāsa-līlā. By this, prema-bhakti awakens, and the disease of lust vanishes — not the other way around.

Prema first, purification follows. This is the sweet truth of bhakti.