Verse 1.17.44

Bengali text, Devanagari and Unicode transliteration of verse 1.17.44:

সর্ব-জগতের ভাগ্যে প্রভু গৌরচন্দ্র প্রেম-ভক্তি-প্রকাশের করিলা আরম্ভ ॥ ৪৪ ॥

सर्व-जगतेर भाग्ये प्रभु गौरचन्द्र प्रेम-भक्ति-प्रकाशेर करिला आरम्भ ॥ ४४ ॥

sarva-jagatera bhāgye prabhu gauracandra prema-bhakti-prakāśera karilā ārambha || 44 ||

sarva-jagatera bhagye prabhu gauracandra prema-bhakti-prakasera karila arambha (44)

English translation:

(44) Lord Gauracandra then began to manifest ecstatic devotional service for the benefit of the entire world.

Commentary: Gauḍīya-bhāṣya by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura:

Śrī Gaurasundara appeared in this world in order to bestow eternal benefit on the universe. So far He had not manifested any sign of awarding loving devotion to the people of this world. But after seeing the lotus feet of the Lord at Gayā, He inaugurated His pastimes of awarding loving

devotion to the people of the world. Understanding that these lotus feet of the Lord had appeared in the material world to give pious persons who are free from the clutches of impersonalism an opportunity to serve the Lord’s lotus feet, the Lord became overwhelmed with the eight transformations of ecstatic love. Being bereft of Kṛṣṇa’s service, persons who are averse to Kṛṣṇa in this world maintain the sinful desire of becoming the Lord or the enjoyer of the material world. After destroying the conditioned souls’ desire for material enjoyment or liberation, when the lotus feet of the Lord appear in the purified hearts of the living entities, then their propensity for serving the Lord is awakened. In order to exhibit and preach this great truth, the Lord accepted the dress of a devotee and had darśana of the transcendental lotus feet of Gadādhara through His service inclined senses. When living entities bound by gross and subtle chains wander throughout the material sky, they remain averse to the service of the Lord. But when their service propensity is awakened on the strength of mercy received from Hari, Guru, and Vaiṣṇava, then the lotus feet of the worshipable Lord Viṣṇu become the object of those servants’ awakened spiritual propensity. Without a service mentality, one cannot become fortunate enough to see the form of the Lord. Without the piety resulting from devotional service, one’s faith does not awaken. On the strength of piety born of the devotees’ mercy, a living entity receives the opportunity to hear topics of Lord Hari. Sometimes on the strength of piety born from Kṛṣṇa’s mercy a living entity becomes freed from the bondage to material sense objects and thus encounters the worshipable Lord Kṛṣṇa—this is spiritual vision. When, after full surrender, a living entity hears and glorifies topics of Lord Kṛṣṇa, the propensity of his consciousness is constantly engaged in the service of Kṛṣṇa—this is the result of piety born of a devotee’s mercy. In spite of being the only worshipable object of all surrendered souls, Śrī Gaurasundara considered Himself a servant of the worshipable object and thus began to propagate transcendental love of Kṛṣṇa by chanting His glories. The eight transformations of ecstatic love manifested in the body of the Lord as a

result of seeing the lotus feet of Gadādhara marked the beginning of His propagation of loving devotional service.