(Reflections on Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 10.33.39)

vikrīḍitaṁ vraja-vadhūbhir idaṁ ca viṣṇoḥ
śraddhānvito ’nuśṛṇuyād atha varṇayed yaḥ
bhaktiṁ parāṁ bhagavati pratilabhya kāmaṁ
hṛd-rogaṁ āśv apahinoty acirena dhīraḥ

“Whoever faithfully hears or describes the loving pastimes of Śrī Viṣṇu with the Vraja-gopīs attains the topmost devotion for the Lord. Soon he becomes grave and swiftly gives up the heart’s disease of lust.”
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 10.33.39)

My beloved Gurudeva reveals that in this verse, two kinds of actions (kriyās) are mentioned:

asamāptikā kriyā — an unfinished act, namely bhaktiṁ parām pratilabhya (“he attains the highest devotion”), and samāptikā kriyā — a completed act, hṛd-rogaṁ āśu apahinoti (“he swiftly removes the disease of lust”).

The meaning is subtle and profound:
even before lust is eradicated, the signs of topmost bhakti have already awakened within the heart. Then, through the unstoppable power of that very bhakti, lust — the heart’s disease — is finally destroyed.

The Vaiṣṇava-toṣaṇī clarifies:

atra tu hṛd-rogāpahanāt pūrvaṁ eva parama-bhakti-prāptiḥ,
tasmāt parama-balavad evedaṁ sādhanam iti bhāvaḥ.

“Here, even before the removal of the heart’s disease, the attainment of supreme devotion takes place. Therefore, this is indeed the most powerful process of sādhana.”

Ordinarily, the principle is that purification precedes love.

But in this verse, the natural order is reversed — because hearing or describing the divine rāsa-līlā is not an ordinary practice. It is so potent, so independent, that it bestows prema-bhakti even upon an impure heart. That prema, being self-effulgent, burns away the remaining traces of material desire by its own divine radiance.

Thus, the para-bhakti mentioned here is none other than the prema-bhakti of the Vraja-gopīs, pure, spontaneous, and utterly selfless.

Yet this verse carries a gentle caution.

The Bhāgavata uses the word śraddhānvitaḥ — “endowed with faith.”

Faith (śraddhā) and steadiness in bhajan (niṣṭhitā-bhajana) must be present; without them, hearing such divine līlās may not bring transformation but confusion.

And most essential of all — the shelter of Śrī Gurudeva’s lotus feet.

Only by his mercy can the sādhaka know when the heart is ready to enter the sacred groves of Vilāpa-kusumāñjali and other līlā-granthas.

Until that time, the sādhaka continues to hear, chant, and serve — in faith, humility, and longing — trusting that Śrī Guru’s grace will one day open the door to that eternal realm where the Divine Couple eternally play.