Prema-bhakti

atha śrutau—‘bhaktir evainaṁ nayati, bhaktir evainaṁ darśayati bhakti-vaśaḥ puruṣo bhaktir eva bhūyasī’ iti śrūyate | tasmād evaṁ vivicyate—yā caivaṁ bhagavantaṁ svānandena madayati, sā kiṁ-lakṣaṇā syāt? iti | … hlādiny-ākhya-tadīya-svarūpa-śakty-ānanda-rūpaiveti avaśiṣyate, yayā khalu bhagavān svarūpānandam anubhavati, yad-ānandenānanda-viśeṣī-bhavati, yayaivaṁ taṁ tam ānandam anyān apy anubhāvayatīti | … tasyā hlādinyā eva kāpi sarvānandātiśāyinī vṛttir nityaṁ bhakta-vṛndeṣv eva nikṣipyamāṇā bhagavat-prīty-ākhyayā vartate | atas tad-anubhavena śrī-bhagavān api śrīmad-bhakteṣu prīty-atiśayaṁ bhajata iti | ata eva tat-sukhena bhakta-bhagavatoḥ parasparam āveśam āha—sādhavo hṛdayaṁ mahyaṁ sādhūnāṁ hṛdayaṁ tv aham | mad-anyat te na jānanti nāhaṁ tebhyo manāg api || … atyantāveśenaikatāpattyā jvalal-lohādāv agni-vyapadeśavad atrāpy abheda-nirdeśa ity arthaḥ | tenaiva parasparaṁ vaśavartitvam āha—ajita jitaḥ sama-matibhiḥ sādhubhir bhavān jitātmabhir bhavatā | vijitās te’pi ca bhajatām akāmātmanāṁ ya ātmado’ti-karuṇaḥ ||
(Prīti Sandarbha: 65)

“Now, in the Śruti [i.e., Māṭhara-śruti], it is heard, ‘Bhakti certainly attracts him. Bhakti certainly reveals him. The Puruṣa is captivated by bhakti. Bhakti is certainly [thus] supreme.’ Therefore, the following is to be considered: what could be the character of that which in this way maddens Bhagavān with its own bliss? … Only the bliss aspect of his [i.e., Bhagavān’s] svarūpa-śakti, known as hlādinī—(1) by which Bhagavān verily experiences the bliss of his own nature (svarūpa), (2) by the bliss of which he becomes possessed of the particular bliss [i.e., by virtue of which he possesses bliss as an inherent attribute], and (3) by which he similarly causes others as well to experience bliss—remains [as an acceptable conclusion]. [Thus,] Some particular vṛtti of the hlādini [-śakti], abounding in all bliss and being eternally cast only into bhaktas, exists by the name of prīti for Bhagavān. Then, by experience thereof [i.e., by experience of this vṛtti of the hlādinī-śakti known as prīti, when it is expressed to Bhagavān by the bhaktas into whom Bhagavān has cast it], Śrī Bhagavān also feels pleasure in profusion from his beautiful bhaktas. Therefore, Śrī Bhagavān [in SB 9.4.63] describes the mutual absorption of the bhakta and Bhagavān [in one another that occurs] because of that happiness, ‘The sādhus are my heart, and I am the heart of the sādhus. They do not know anyone other than I, and I do not know anyone other than them in the least.’ … As a red-hot iron or another object is called fire because of an acquisition of oneness [with fire] as a result of extreme immersion [i.e., as a red-hot iron is sometimes referred to as fire because fire has become completely infused into it], here too a description of non-difference is made [i.e., Śrī Bhagavān says he is the heart of sādhus and they are his heart because their hearts have acquired a state of oneness as a result of the intense absorption of their hearts in one another produced by the joy of prīti for one another, that is, produced by the effect of the supreme vṛtti of Śrī Bhagavān’s hlādinī-śakti, viz., prīti, or prema-bhakti; the sādhus, however, are not literally Bhagavān’s heart, and Bhagavān is not literally the sādhus’ heart]. This is the meaning. Specifically because of this [i.e., because of the happiness and consequent mutual absorption felt by Śrī Bhagavān and his bhaktas by virtue of prīti], Citraketu describes their mutual captivation [of another in SB 6.16.34], ‘O Unconquerable One! You are conquered by sādhus [i.e., bhaktas] who are of equal mind and conquered heart, and they are also fully conquered by you, who are highly gracious and give yourself to those who perform worship with hearts free from [extraneous] desire.’”

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