dadäti pratigåhëäti
guhyam äkhyäti påcchati
bhuìkte bhojayate caiva
ñaò-vidhaà préti-lakñaëam
Offering gifts in charity, accepting charitable gifts, revealing one's mind in confidence, inquiring confidentially, accepting prasäda and offering prasäda are the six symptoms of love shared by one devotee and another.
PURPORT
In this verse Çréla Rüpa Gosvämé explains how to perform devotional activities in the association of other devotees. There are six kinds of activities: (1) giving charity to the devotees, (2) accepting from the devotees whatever they may offer in return, (3) opening one's mind to the devotees, (4) inquiring from them about the confidential service of the Lord, (5) honoring prasäda, or spiritual food, given by the devotees, and (6) feeding the devotees with prasäda. An experienced devotee explains, and an inexperienced devotee learns from him. This is guhyam äkhyäti påcchati. When a devotee distributes prasäda, remnants of food offered to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, in order to maintain our spirit of devotional service we must accept this prasäda as the Lord's grace received through the pure devotees. We should also invite pure devotees to our home, offer them prasäda and be prepared to please them in all respects. This is called bhuìkte bhojayate caiva.
Even in ordinary social activities, these six types of dealings between two loving friends are absolutely necessary. For instance, when one businessman wishes to contact another businessman he arranges a feast in a hotel, and over the feast openly expresses what he wishes to do. He then inquires from his business friend how he should act, and sometimes presents are exchanged. Thus whenever there is a dealing of préti, or love in intimate dealings, these six activities are executed. In the previous verse, Çréla Rüpa Gosvämé advised that one should renounce worldly association and keep company with the devotees (saìga-tyägät sato våtteù). The International Society for Krishna Consciousness has been established to facilitate these six kinds of loving exchanges between devotees. This Society was started single-handedly, but because people are coming forward and dealing with the give—and—take policy, the Society is now expanding all over the world.
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