Q. 233. CAN ONE MANIFEST ECSTATIC LOVE IN DISCHARGING DEVOTIONAL SERVICE ?
A. BY SRILA PRABHUPADA.
yaj jñātvā matto bhavati stabdho bhavaty ātmārāmo bhavati
SYNONYMS
yat — which; jñātvā — having known; mattaḥ — intoxicated; bhavati — becomes; stabdhaḥ — stunned (in ecstasy); bhavati — becomes; ātma-ārāmaḥ — self-content (because of being engaged in the service of the Lord); bhavati — becomes.
TRANSLATION
One who understands perfectly the process of devotional service in love of Godhead becomes intoxicated in its discharge. Sometimes he becomes stunned in ecstasy and thus enjoys his whole self, being engaged in the service of the Supreme Self. (Narada Bhakti Sutra).
PURPORT
The Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam states:-
sūta uvāca
ātmārāmāś ca munayo
nirgranthā apy urukrame
kurvanty ahaitukīḿ bhaktim
ittham-bhūta-guṇo hariḥ
SYNONYMS
sūtaḥ uvāca — Sūta Gosvāmī said; ātmārāmāḥ — those who take pleasure in ātmā (generally, spirit self); ca — also; munayaḥ — sages; nirgranthāḥ — freed from all bondage; api — in spite of; urukrame — unto the great adventurer; kurvanti — do; ahaitukīm — unalloyed; bhaktim — devotional service;ittham-bhūta — such wonderful; guṇaḥ — qualities; hariḥ — of the Lord.
TRANSLATION
All different varieties of ātmārāmas [those who take pleasure in ātmā, or spirit self], especially those established on the path of self-realization, though freed from all kinds of material bondage, desire to render unalloyed devotional service unto the Personality of Godhead. This means that the Lord possesses transcendental qualities and therefore can attract everyone, including liberated souls.
When Lord Caitanya explained this ātmārāma verse to Śrīla Sanātana Gosvāmī, He described sixty-one meanings, and all of them point toward the devotional service of the Lord.
How one becomes intoxicated in devotional service is very nicely described in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam:-
evaḿ-vrataḥ sva-priya-nāma-kīrtyā
jātānurāgo druta-citta uccaiḥ
hasaty atho roditi rauti gāyaty
unmāda-van nṛtyati loka-bāhyaḥ
SYNONYMS
evam-vrataḥ — when one thus engages in the vow to chant and dance; sva — own; priya — very dear; nāma — holy name; kīrtya — by chanting; jāta — in this way develops; anurāgaḥ — attachment; druta-cittaḥ — with a melted heart; uccaiḥ — loudly; hasati — laughs; atho — also; roditi — cries; rauti — becomes agitated; gāyati — chants; unmāda-vat — like a madman; nṛtyati — dancing; loka-bāhyaḥ — without caring for outsiders.
TRANSLATION
By chanting the holy name of the Supreme Lord, one comes to the stage of love of Godhead. Then the devotee is fixed in his vow as an eternal servant of the Lord, and he gradually becomes very much attached to a particular name and form of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. As his heart melts with ecstatic love, he laughs very loudly or cries or shouts. Sometimes he sings and dances like a madman, for he is indifferent to public opinion.
These are the signs of becoming intoxicated in devotional service. This stage, called the ātmārāma stage, is possible when the Lord bestows His mercy upon a devotee for his advanced devotional activity. It is the highest perfectional stage because one cannot reach it unless one has attained pure love of God.
Neither formal religious rituals, economic development, sense gratification, nor liberation can compare with this sweet stage of perfection of love of Kṛṣṇa, love of the Supreme Lord.
The Caitanya-caritāmṛta describes this stage of ecstasy and intoxication as being far above the ecstasy of realizing oneself as Brahman, or the supreme spirit :-
kṛṣṇa-nāme ye ānanda-sindhu-āsvādana
brahmānanda tāra āge khātodaka-sama
SYNONYMS
kṛṣṇa-nāme — in the holy name of the Lord; ye — which; ānanda — transcendental bliss; sindhu — ocean; āsvādana — tasting; brahma-ānanda — the transcendental bliss of impersonal understanding; tāra — its; āge — in front; khāta-udaka — shallow water in the canals; sama — like.
TRANSLATION
"Compared to the ocean of transcendental bliss that one tastes by chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra, the pleasure derived from impersonal Brahman realization [brahmānanda] is like the shallow water in a canal.
Lord Caitanya says that the ecstasy of bhakti (love of Godhead) is so vast that it is like an ocean compared to the drop of pleasure derived from understanding oneself as one with Brahman. In all Vedic literature, the highest perfectional stage is said to be the state of intoxication of devotional service. It is not achieved by ordinary persons, the nondevotees.
In the stage of perfection, one's heart becomes slackened and one becomes more and more attached to attaining the lotus feet of the Lord. Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī, a great ācārya in the line of devotional service, has described this stage as follows:-
"Although appearing just like a madman, a person in the ecstasy of devotional service is not mad in the material conception of the term; this ecstasy is the manifestation of the pleasure potency of the Supreme Lord."
The Lord has various potencies, one of which is called āhlādinī-śakti, His internal pleasure potency. Only one who becomes a little conversant with this potency can taste such ecstasy. The Vedānta-sūtra states, ānanda-mayo 'bhyāsāt: "By nature the Lord is always joyful." This joyfulness of the Lord is due to His pleasure potency.
One who becomes affected by the pleasure potency of the Supreme Lord manifests various symptoms of ecstasy, such as slackening of the heart, laughing, crying, shivering, and dancing. These symptoms are not material. However, exhibiting such ecstatic symptoms just to get credit from the public is not approved by pure devotees.
Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Prabhupāda says, "Persons without attainment of the highest perfectional stage of loving service cannot achieve any auspiciousness simply by artificially laughing, crying, or dancing without any spiritual understanding. Artificial movement of the body... must always be rejected. One should wait for the natural sequence within devotional service, and at that time, when one cries or dances or sings, it is approved. A person artificially showing symptoms of the pleasure potency creates many disturbances in the ordinary way of life."
One who attains the perfectional stage of devotional service under the guidance of a bona fide spiritual master may preach the science of devotion as Lord Caitanya did. When Lord Caitanya preached, He danced and showed other symptoms of ecstasy.
Once, in Benares, a Māyāvādī sannyāsī named Prakāśānanda Sarasvatī objected to these activities. He said that since Lord Caitanya had taken sannyāsa, the renounced order of life, He should not act in such an intoxicated way.
The Lord explained that these symptoms of intoxication had automatically arisen when He had chanted the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra, and that upon seeing this His spiritual master had ordered Him to preach devotional service all over the world.
While speaking with Prakāśānanda, Lord Caitanya quoted an important verse from the Hari-bhakti-sudhodaya:-
tvat-sākṣāt-karaṇāhlāda-viśuddhābdhi-sthitasya me
sukhāni goṣpadāyante brāhmāṇy api jagad-guro
"My dear Lord, O master of the universe, since I have directly seen You, my transcendental bliss has taken the shape of a great ocean. Thus I now regard the happiness derived from understanding impersonal Brahman to be like the water contained in a calf's hoofprint."."
In this way, one who reaches the perfectional stage of devotional service becomes so satisfied that he does not want anything more, and thus he always engages in pure devotional service.
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