Priya Kunj Ras

Q: It is said that the devotee experiences extreme pain of separation when he develops Prem Bhakti. But he also relishes an inexplicable bliss in his heart. How can these opposite emotions occur together at the same time? “Bahire vishjwala hoye, vitare aanandmay, Krishnapremar advut charit. Ei prem aaswadan, tapta ikshu charvan, mukh jwale na jaye tyajan. Sei prema jar mone, tar vikram sei jane, vishamrite ekatra milan.” (Chaitanya Charitamrita 2.2.50-51) Meaning : Externally, the devotee experiences extreme pain as if he has drunk poison and due to which his every nerve is burning. But deep in his heart, he feels an inexplicable bliss in crying for his beloved. This is the strange nature of Krishna Prem. It feels like munching on a hot sugarcane. Although the mouth gets burned, the person cannot stop eating due to its sweetness. This Prem Bhakti can be understood only by those who have achieved it. The experiences of the devotee are like poison and nectar, which have opposi...

  We have discussed the stages of Bhakti until Bhav dasha. Bhav Bhakti matures into the stage of Prem Bhakti which is the ninth and final stage of Bhakti that is achievable in this human body. The jivatma, who has been wandering in the darkness of illusory Maya through innumerable births, finally finds the light of Prem Bhakti and delves into the exalted bliss of serving Radha Krishna for eternity. The sadhak becomes completely free from ignorance and fully realizes his Manjari Swarup (or the respective Swarupas of sadhaks of different moods of Vraj Bhav). This is Siddhi (perfection) for the sadhaks of Bhakti. This has been described as: “Krishna priti param atyantiki, sharir priti shunya” Meaning: The attachment with Krishna reaches an extreme height, while the attachment to the body gets completely destroyed. Prem Bhakti is the stage where the sadhak becomes “ Nirapad”, meaning the sadhak cannot fall from this stage of Bhakti. The stages before Prem Bhakti are not Nirapad....

A sadhak must never lose motivation and harbour despair irrespective of any circumstances. If he thinks that “I left everything for the sake of bhajan but couldn’t find any bliss here and on the other hand, people living in samsaar are at least happy with their families or various pleasures despite facing some problems, therefore, it’s better to go back to samsaar,” then he will never find the bliss awaiting him on the purification of his heart. The sadhak must think that one day, Radha Krishna will definitely bestow Their mercy on him and he will find the bliss of serving Them with loving devotion. For example, a magnet which is covered with dirt cannot attract a piece of iron. In order to attract iron instantly, the dirt has to be cleaned properly. Similarly, a jivatma has forgotten Sri Bhagwan due to the illusory Maya and his heart has become contaminated by worldly desires. He doesn’t realize that the bliss he seeks in worldly things and relationships is actually the blissful for...