भ्रातः प्रेम्णः स्वरूपं यत्तद्धि जानन्ति तद्विदः ।
यस्य चित्तार्द्रताजातं बाह्यं कम्पादिलक्षणम् ॥
bhrātaḥ premṇaḥ svarūpaṁ yat tad dhi jānanti tad-vidaḥ |
yasya cittārdratā-jātaṁ bāhyaṁ kampādi-lakṣaṇam ||
(Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 2.5.226)
“Brother, only the experiencers thereof know that which is the essential nature of prema and of which the external characteristics of trembling and so on are produced by meltedness of the heart.”
Commentary
nanu dainya-janitatvena premṇo’pi parama-dainyātmakaṁ svarūpam, kiṁ vā sarva-sādhya-nicayotkṛṣṭatayāśeṣa-duḥkha-dhvaṁsa-pūrvaka-paramānanda-viśeṣātmakam iti vivicya kathayeti cet, tatrāha—bhrātar iti | tat prema vidanti anubhavantīti tathā ta eva jānanti, ataḥ svarūpa-lakṣaṇaṁ tasya vaktuṁ na śakyate kevalaṁ taṭastha-lakṣaṇenaiva tad uddiśyata iti bhāvaḥ |
(Excerpt from the Dig-darśinī-ṭīkā)
“If [the inquiry is raised,] ‘Well, please consider and explain whether the essential nature (svarūpam) even of prema is constituted of paramount humility (dainya) [i.e., distress] because of [its] being produced by humility (dainya), or, constituted of a special form of paramount bliss preceded by the dissolution of all suffering on account of [its] being supreme among all objects to be attained (sādhyas),’ to that he says bhrātaḥ … [i.e., he speaks this verse]. [‘The experiencers thereof’ (tad-vidaḥ) means] They experience (vidanti) that (tat), prema, and thus, they alone know [that]. Therefore, the intrinsic characteristic (svarūpa-lakṣaṇa) of it [i.e., prema] is not possible to describe; it can be pointed out only by means of extrinsic characteristics (taṭastha-lakṣaṇas). This is the purport.”