Verse 2.4.230

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration, Word-for-word and English translation of verse 2.4.230:

स्वभावतोऽथापि महार्ति-शोक-सन्ताप-चिह्नानि बहिस् तनोति ।
बाह्यापि स प्रेष्ठतमस्य सोढुं दशा न शक्येत कदापि तेन ॥ २३० ॥

svabhāvato'thāpi mahārti-śoka-santāpa-cihnāni bahis tanoti |
bāhyāpi sa preṣṭhatamasya soḍhuṃ daśā na śakyeta kadāpi tena || 230 ||

sva-bhāvataḥ–naturally; atha api–however; mahā–great; ārtti–of distress; śoka–lamentation; santāpa–of great pain; cihnāni–the symptoms; bahiḥ–outwardly; tanoti–manifests; bāhyā–externally; api–also; sā–that; preṣṭha-tamasya–of His most dearly beloved; soḍhum–to tolerate; daśā–the condition; na–not; śakyeta–may be able; kadā api–ever; tena–by Him.

In the state of mahā-bhāva, external symptoms such as great distress, lamentation, and pain manifest naturally. Even though indescribable happiness also enters the hearts of His beloved devotees, Śrī Kṛṣṇa cannot tolerate seeing this pained external condition. Therefore, He does not easily grant His prema-bhakti.

Commentary: Dig-darśinī-ṭīkā with Bhāvānuvāda

(By Śrīla Sanātana Gosvāmī himself including a deep purport of that commentary)

Śrī Nārada says, “However, the treasured mahābhāva naturally manifests the external symptoms of extreme distress, lamentation, and pain, as well as pathetic crying and bitter weeping, in the devotees. Yet, in their hearts, they experience great bliss, as premabhakti is supremely blissful by nature. If this were not the case, then that treasured mahā-bhāva would be found reprehensible for claiming that it can definitely make the experience of brahmānanda seem insignificant by its very nature.

“Although the signs of the devotees’ suffering and lamentation are only external, Śrī Bhagavān still cannot tolerate seeing them. Why not? The lover cannot bear even the false distress of his beloveds.” Here, the word Bhagavān means ‘the most loving.’