प्रेमोद्रेकपरीपाकमहिमा केन वर्ण्यताम् ।
यः कुर्यात्परमेशं तं सद्बन्धुमिव लौकिकम् ॥
premodreka-parīpāka-mahimā kena varṇyatām |
yaḥ kuryāt parameśaṁ taṁ sad-bandhum iva laukikam ||
(Bṛhad Bhāgavatāmṛta: 2.5.75)
“[Śrī Nārada along with Uddhava to Gopa Kumāra:] By whom can be described the greatness of the complete maturation of an abundance of prema which can make him, the Supreme Īśa, [act] like an excellent kinsmen (bandhu) of the world?
Commentary
Śrī Sanātana Gosvāmīpāda introduces this verse as follows in his commentary,
nanv etan-māyayā vañcanāpi ghaṭeta? nety āha—premeti |
“[A question is raised in regard to the point made in the previous verse that for the sake of satisfying his bhaktas’ desires Śrī Bhagavān engages in a profusion of sport resembling that of a worldly villager absorbed in enjoyment, that is, in the behavior of a worldly kinsman (bandhu)] ‘Well, shall deceit too occur as a result of this illusion? (nanv etan-māyayā vañcanāpi ghaṭeta)’ The import of this question is that if Śrī Bhagavān acts like a worldly kinsman, then does he not by doing so deprive those he relates to in this way of knowledge and experience of his aiśvarya and thus deceive them? [To this, the answer is] No [i.e., that is certainly not the case]. Thus, he [i.e., Śrī Nārada] says premodreka … [i.e., he speaks this verse].”
Śrī Gosvāmīpāda explains that the word “maturation” (parīpāka) means a special form of fixity (niṣṭhā-viśeṣaḥ) and that the word “abundance” (udreka) means longing (aukaṇṭhyam); the sense of the statement in the verse is thus that the greatness of the special form of fixity that manifests from the longing of the prema of bhaktas for Śrī Bhagavān and the prema of Bhagavān for his bhaktas cannot be described by anyone (api tu na kenacid api varṇayituṁ śakyata ity arthaḥ). The reason this greatness cannot be described (tatra hetuḥ) is that it causes even the Supreme Īśa, that is, Bhagavān, to act like a great kinsman (sad-bandhuṁ parama-bāndhavam iva) whose behavior follows the behavior of the people in the world (laukikaṁ loka-vyavahārānugataṁ).
Śrī Gosvāmīpāda concludes his commentary by clarifying how the aforementioned question is answered by the statement in the verse:
ato bhagavato bhaktānāṁ ca mithaḥ premodreka-parīpākād eva bhagavato nijaiśvaryādi-parityāgenāpi kevalaṁ bhaktābhīṣṭa-paripūraṇāya laukika-bandhuvad-vyavahāraḥ, na tu māyayā vañcanāya, tādṛśa-bhakteṣu tad-asambhavād iti bhāvaḥ |
“Thus, Bhagavān’s behavior similar to that of a worldly kinsman (bandhu) [performed] by means of completely relinquishing his own aiśvarya and so forth purely on account of the complete maturation of an abundance of Bhagavān’s and [his] bhaktas’ mutual prema [for one another, i.e., the special form of fixity that manifests from the longing of their prema for one another] is solely for the sake of completely fulfilling the desired ends of [his] bhaktas, and [it is] not, rather, for the sake of deceit [i.e., for the sake of deceiving his bhaktas] by means of [his] māyā because of the impossibility of that [i.e., of his acting deceitfully] in relation to such bhaktas [i.e., in relation to those are endowed with prema for him].”