TEXT 55

yam krodha-kama-sahaja-pranayadi-bhiti-
vatsalya-moha-guru-gaurava-sevya-bhavaih
sancintya tasya sadrsim tanum apur ete
govindam adi-purusam tam aham bhajami

WORD FOR WORD

yam--upon whom; krodha--wrath; kama--amorous passion; sahaja-pranaya--natural friendly love; adi--and so on; bhiti-- fear; vatsalya--parental affection; moha--delusion; guru-gaurava--reverence; sevya-bhavaih--and with the attitude of willing service; sancintya--meditating; tasya--of that; sadrsim--befitting; tanum--bodily form; apuh--attained; ete--these persons; govindam--Govinda; adi-purusam--the original person; tam--Him; aham--I; bhajami--worship.

TRANSLATION

I adore the primeval Lord Govinda, the meditators of whom, by meditating upon Him under the sway of wrath, amorous passion, natural friendly love, fear, parental affection, delusion, reverence and willing service, attain to bodily forms befitting the nature of their contemplation.

PURPORT

Devotion is of two kinds, viz., (1) of the nature of deference to regulation and (2) constituted of natural feeling. Bhakti is roused by following with a tinge of faith in the rule of the sastras and instruction of the preceptors. Such bhakti is of the nature of loyalty to the scriptural regulations. It continues to be operative as long as the corresponding natural feeling is not roused. If a person loves Krsna out of natural tendency, there is the principle of raga, which is no other than a strong desire to serve, which turns into bhava or substantive feeling. When the substantive feeling is aroused the devotee becomes an object of mercy of Krsna. It takes much time to attain this stage. Devotion which is of the nature of feeling is superior to that con- nected with scriptural regulation, soon attains to the realize state and is attractive to Krsna. Its various aspects are described in this sloka. Santa-bhava, full of reverence to superior, dasya-bhava, full of service for carrying out the commands of the object of worship, sakhya-bhava or natural friendly love, vatsalya-bhava or parental affection and madhura-bhava or amorous love, are all included in the category of devotion of the nature of instinctive attachment. But anger, fear and delusion, though they are of the nature of instinctive impulse, are not devotion in the strict sense of the term, because they are not friendly but hostile to the object. Anger is found in asuras like Sisupala, fear in Kamsa, and delusion in the panditas of the pantheistic school. They have the feelings of anger. fear and instinctive impulse marked by complete self-forgetful identification with the non differentiated Brahman. But as there is no friendly feeling towards the object of devotion there is no bhakti. Again among the feelings of santa, dasya, sakhya, vatsalya and madhura--santa, though indifferent and dormant in raga, is still reckoned as bhakti on account of its being a little friendly. There is an immense volume of raga in the other four varieties of emotion. By the promise of Gita, ye yatha mam prapadyante tams tathaiva bhajamy aham ("l serve one according to his submission"), those, who allow themselves to be actuated by the sentiments of fear, anger and delusion, attain to sayujya-mukti (merging in the Absolute). The santas obtain bodily forms with aptitude for addiction to Brahman and Paramatma. The dasya and sakhya classes of worshipers attain bodily forms characterized by masculine or feminine disposition according to their respective grades of eligibility. The vatsalya class of worshipers get bodily forms befitting fatherly and motherly sentiments. The amorous lovers of Krsna attain the pure forms of gopis (spiritual milkmaids of Vraja).