The Two Kinds Of Prema

The Two Kinds Of Prema By Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura

Prema, love of Godhead, is of two kinds: kevalaprema (unalloyed love) and mahīm-jnāna-yukta prema (love mixed with knowledge, awe and reverential worship). The goal of rāgānuga-bhaktisādhana is primarily kevala-prema. Devotees on the path of vaidhi-bhakti-sādhana attain such liberations as sārūpya (equal bodily feature), sālokya (equal facility to live on the same planet with the Lord), sārṣṭi (equal possession of opulence like the Lord), and sāmīpya (equal association with the Lord). According to Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s teachings, kevala-prema, unalloyed devotional surrender is the pinnacle of all attainments and goals. Kevala-prema is further sub-divided as: bhāvottha (sprung from bhāva) and prāsadotha (sprung directly from mercy). Further subdivisions of bhāvottha are: vaidhi and rāgānuga.

Prāsadottha is extremely rare. Bhavottha-prema is more common and is described in the Śrī Caitanyacaritāmṛta Madhya-līlā (23.9-13, 39):

kona bhāgye kona jīvera śraddhā yadi haya tave sei jīva sādhu saṅga karaya
sādhu saṅga haite haya śravaṇa kīrtana sādhana bhaktye haya sarvānartha nivartana
anartha nivṛtti haile bhakti niṣṭha haya niṣṭha haite śravaṇādye ruci upajaya
ruci bhakti haite haya aśakti pracura aśakti haite citte janme kṛṣṇe prīty aṅkura
sei rati gāḍha haila dhare prema nāma sei prema prayojana sarvānanda dhāma
yāṅra citte kṛṣṇa prema karaye udaya tāṅra vākya, kriyā, mudrā vijneha na bujhaya

“If, by good fortune, a living entity develops faith in Krishna he begins to associate with pure devotees. Inspired by that association he begins the process of devotional service by hearing and chanting which cleanses his heart of all unwanted contamination. Freed from all contamination, his devotion advances to the stage of firm, undeviating faith. When firm faith awakens, taste for hearing and chanting blossoms. From taste for devotional service arises deep attachment, leading to the appearance in the heart of the seed of love, which begins to grow. When that stage of ecstasy intensifies, it is called love of Godhead, prema. kṛṣṇa-prema is the prime human necessity, life’s ultimate goal and the reservoir of all pleasure. Even the most learned man could not understand the words, activities and symptoms of a person situated in love of Godhead.”

The Kārikā, Explanatory Verse

ākarṣa sannidhau lauhaḥ pravṛtto dṛśyate yathā
aṇor mahati caitanye pravṛttiḥ prītir eva sā
pratiphalana-dharmatvāt baddha-jive nisargataḥ
itareṣu ca sarveṣu rāgo’sti viṣayādiṣu
liṅga-bhaṅgottarā bhaktiḥ śuddha-prītir anuttamā
tat pūrvam ātmānikṣepāt bhaktiḥ prītimayī satī

“When iron is placed near a magnet the iron, acting according to its properties, is drawn to the magnet. Similarly, when the infinitesimal living entity comes in front of Krishna, the infinite Supreme Being, its exhibits its innate characteristics— unalloyed spiritual love. This spontaneous spiritual
emotion is self-perfected and self-manifesting in the transcendental realm. This material world is merely a perverted reflection of the spiritual abode.

The living entity (jīva) has been forced to accept an alien nature in this material world, contrary to its original spiritual nature. Thus , he has developed an aberrant attachment for the base and gross material things—this becoming his second nature. “As long as the jīvas subtle material body
(consisting of mind, intelligence and false-ego) is not purified, pure spiritual emotions, which are transcendental and self-perfected, cannot awaken. The symptoms of bhakti exhibited after the dismantling of the jīvas subtle material body are indeed pure love of Godhead. Preceding this stage, the jīva must attempt to discard his material identity. He acknowledges his transcendental nature as a rarely attained gift and offers himself in full surrender. At this point, devotion can at best be affectionate, but not profound spontaneous love.”

These matters described by Srila Krishnadasa Kaviraja in his immortal Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta Madhya-līlā (22.149, 153, 156-157, 159):

rāgatmikā bhakti mukhyavrajavāsī jane tā’raanugatabhaktirarāgānuganāme
lobhevrajavāsīrabhāvekareanugati śāstrayuktinahimānerāgānugāraprakṛti
bāhya, abhyantara, ihāra dui ta’sādhana bahyesādhakadehekareśravaṇakīrtana
mānenija siddha dehakariyabhāvan ratri dine karevrajekṛṣṇerasevana
nijābiṣṭhaKrishnapreṣthapāche ta’ lāgiyaṣ nirantarasevākareantarmanāhaṣā

“The original inhabitants of Vrindavana are attached to Krishna spontaneously in devotional service. Nothing can compare to their devotional service, which is called rāgātmikā-bhakti. When a devotee follows in the footsteps of the devotees of Vrindavana his devotion is called rāgānugabhakti. If one is a follower of an eternal inhabitant of Vrindavana and develops covetousness (lobha) for his mood of surrender then he does not care for the injunctions and reasoning of the śāstras. That is the way of spontaneous love. One may execute this rāgānuga-bhakti by two processes—external and internal. The self-realised, advanced devotee externally remains like a neophyte and executes all the śāstric injunctions, especially hearing and chanting. However, within his mind, in his original purified self-realised position, he serves Krishna in Vrindāvana in his particular way. He serves Krishna ceaselessly, throughout the day and night. Actually, the inhabitants of Vrindavana are very dear to Krishna. If one wants to engage in spontaneous loving service, he must follow the inhabitants of Vrindavana and constantly engage in devotional service within his mind.

The Kārikā, Explanatory Verse
kṛṣṇa-bahirmukhe sā ca viṣaya-prītir eva hi
sā caiva kṛṣṇa-sammukhyāt kṛṣṇa-prītiḥ sunirmalā
raty ādi-bhāva-paryantaṁ svarūpa-lakṣaṇaṁ smṛtam
dāsya-sakhyādi-sambandhāt sa caiva rasatāṁ vrajet

“The difference between love of Godhead, kṛṣṇaprema, and love of matter is profound. As soon as the loving propensity is withdrawn from matter and dovetailed towards Krishna, it becomes love of Godhead (prema). On the other hand, when the jīva turns his back to Krishna and observes matter with the intent of enjoyment, he develops material attachment and love for matter. When the symptoms of the soul’s original identity begin to manifest, they start on the level of rati and can reach the heights of mahābhāva. Sthāyi-bhāva is the jīvas steady constitutional emotion and it evokes the individual spiritual moods of dāsya, sakhya, vātsalya and mādhurya. It becomes a catalyst, helping the ecstatic symptoms to manifest, creating rasa, spiritual relish.”

—The Ten Esoteric Truths of the Vedas, Oṁ Viṣṇupāda Śrīla Bhaktivinode Ṭhākura, Translated by Śrīman Sarvabhāvana Dāsa ·