Verse 1.7.43

Bengali text, Devanagari and Unicode transliteration of verse 1.7.43:

প্রভু দেখি’ ভক্ত-মোহ স্বভাবেই হয বিনা অনুভবেও দাসের চিত্ত লয ॥ ৪৩ ॥

प्रभु देखि’ भक्त-मोह स्वभावेइ हय विना अनुभवेओ दासेर चित्त लय ॥ ४३ ॥

prabhu dekhi’ bhakta-moha svabhāvei haya vinā anubhaveo dāsera citta laya || 43 ||

prabhu dekhi’ bhakta-moha svabhavei haya vina anubhaveo dasera citta laya (43)

English translation:

(43) Devotees are by nature overwhelmed on seeing their Lord; indeed, even before the devotees realized His identity, the Lord stole away their hearts.

Commentary: Gauḍīya-bhāṣya by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura:

Although pure living entities and conditioned living entities are by nature both devotees of the Lord, the consciousness of the former has been awakened so they can feel the love of their eternal worshipable sac-cid- ānanda Lord Viṣṇu, while the later are under the control of māyā and cannot do so. When the conditioned state is overcome, or when all anarthas are destroyed, a living entity under the shelter of service to Lord Viṣṇu can remain pure even while residing in this material world. At that time he is called a mahā-bhāgavata. The madhyama-bhāgavata is a pure servant of the mahā-bhāgavata. Unless the kaniṣṭha-bhāgavata reaches the stage of madhyama-bhāgavata, he remains the servant of the madhyama-bhāgavata even though he is serving a mahā-bhāgavata. Since the kaniṣṭha-bhāgavata desires his own spiritual progress and is traveling on the eternal perfect path to Vaikuṇṭha, he is superior to the conditioned souls who are desirous of material enjoyment and liberation. But he has faith only in Viṣṇu as the transcendental Absolute Truth, and this realization qualifies him as a kaniṣṭha-adhikārī. When one attains the level of kaniṣṭha-adhikāra, he can understand that his spiritual master is situated as a madhyama-adhikārī. But when he attains the level of madhyama-adhikāra, he can accept his spiritual master as a mahā- bhāgavata and qualify himself to become a pure devotee. The mahā- bhāgavatas have no engagement other than the service of Lord Hari and His devotees. Being attached to objects not related to Kṛṣṇa, ordinary conditioned souls engage in the service of the external world due to their impure intelligence. When such persons advance to the level of kaniṣṭha- adhikāra, they dovetail the fruits of their activities with the Lord and thus

cultivate mixed devotional service. In the eternal nature of the living entities there is an eternal propensity called hari-bhakti. As a foolish conditioned soul is attracted to material objects, a pure living entity situated in devotional service, his constitutional propensity, is similarly attracted to the Lord. In the opinion of some unfortunate persons, “Even devotional service, the eternal propensity of the living entities, is a mundane, perverted, abominable, illusory propensity.” Those who argue, or the foolish persons who are expert in material consideration, cannot realize the pure form of devotional service, which is eternally full of knowledge and bliss and which is the goal of the liberated, self-satisfied, swanlike personalities; rather they accept devotional service, which is the eternally perfect transcendental propensity of the living entities, as a mental concoction. Due to this misconception ordinary people consider the eternal attraction of Śukadeva Gosvāmī, the crest jewel of learned scholars, for Kṛṣṇa as material illusion, or moha. Keeping in mind the transcendental happiness derived from serving the Lord, the author at this juncture uses the word moha, illusion, for the understanding of ordinary people. It is natural for the eternal servants of Kṛṣṇa to serve Kṛṣṇa with love and ecstasy. In other words, the living entity in his constitutional position eternally worships Kṛṣṇa as his natural propensity. The conditioned soul with the mood for enjoyment cannot realize Kṛṣṇa’s love in this material world, but Kṛṣṇa who attracts the self-satisfied souls, unknowingly attracts the hearts of His servants, who have renounced material enjoyment, whose consciousness is awakened, and who are knowers of the Absolute Truth. This is what is meant by Kṛṣṇa attracting His servants who are under the shelter of śānta-rasa. The servants who are under the shelter of śānta-rasa, like the cows, sticks, horn, and flute of Vraja, although not situated in dāsya-rasa, unknowingly serve Kṛṣṇa, while externally appearing less-intelligent.