Verse Text
tathā hi saptame—kāmād dveṣād bhayāt snehād yathā bhaktyeśvare manaḥ |
āveśya tad aghaṁ hitvā bahavas tad-gatiṁ gatāḥ ||274||
gopyaḥ kāmād bhayāt kaṁso dveṣāc caidyādayo nṛpāḥ |
sambandhād vṛṣṇayaḥ snehād yūyaṁ bhaktyā vayaṁ vibho ||275||
Translation
These two types of rāgātmika-bhakti are illustrated in the Seventh Canto: Just as by vaidhi-bhakti one can attain one’s spiritual goals, many persons have attained suitable forms, according to their type of absorption, after absorbing their minds in the Lord out of lust, hatred, fear and affection, and after giving up their sinful mentality (in the case of hatred and fear). SB 7.1.30 My dear King Yudhiṣṭhira, the gopīs by their conjugal desires, Kaṁsa by his fear, Śiśupāla and other kings by envy, the Vṛṣṇis of Vraja (see footnote 115) by their relationship with Kṛṣṇa, you Pāṇḍavas by your great affection for Kṛṣṇa, and we (Nārada), by our vaidhi-bhakti, have obtained the mercy of Kṛṣṇa. SB 7.1.31
Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
One should not say, “How can the nitya-siddha devotees such as the gopīs be described as attaining kāma and other relationships since those relations are eternal.” The intention is to show the state of pūrva-rāga that they experience during Kṛṣṇa’s earthly pastimes. The same applies to the Vṛṣṇis.
Purport (Jiva Goswami)
Because of the impossibility of regulating the feelings that arise spontaneously according to their own taste, those persons filled with conjugal attraction and other emotions mentioned in the verse, cannot be classed as practitioners of vaidhi-bhakti.
The following statement has been made:
tasmād vairānubandhena nirvaireṇa bhayena vā |
snehāt kāmena vā yuṣjyāt kathaṣcin nekṣate pṛthak ||
Therefore, by constant enmity or by devotional service, by fear, by affection or by lusty desire — by all of these or by any one of them — if a conditioned soul somehow or other happens to concentrate his mind upon the Lord, the result is the same, for the Lord, because of His blissful position, is never affected by enmity or friendship. SB 7.1.26
In this verse the verb yuṣjyāt, in the potential mood, indicating possibility (rather than injunction, which belongs to vaidhi-bhakti). The meaning is thus: “it is possible to concentrate on the Lord through enmity, devotion, fear, affection or conjugal love,” rather than, “one should concentrate on the Lord through enmity, devotion, fear, affection or conjugal attraction.” (One cannot order a person to have these emotions) But then in the sequence of verses it is also said:
tasmāt kenāpy upāyena manaḥ kṛṣṇe niveśayet
Therefore, one may become absorbed in Kṛṣṇa by any favorable method. SB 7.1.32
In this statement, the potential mood indicates approval (one may become absorbed in Kṛṣṇa.). Yathā in verse 274 means yathāvat, “correspondingly.” Tad-gatim means “an appropriate form.” Therefore, the meaning of verse 274 is: “Many persons, absorbing their minds in the Lord out of conjugal feelings, hatred, fear, affection and devotion, attained, according to their type of absorption (yathāvat), a suitable form (tad-gatim).” [Note: Those who intensely concentrate on the Lord with hatred or fear can attain liberation, but not prema.] Among those persons, those with hatred or fear gave up their sins or impurity by the power of absorbing their minds in the Lord. This statement however does not apply to those persons with conjugal feelings (kāma). (They have no sin. The kāma mentioned is not material.) The supreme nature of the gopīs’ kāma is shown in the following statement:
dviṣann api hṛṣīkeśaṁ kim utādhokṣaja-priyāḥ
Since even Śiśupāla, who hated Kṛṣṇa, achieved perfection, then what to speak of the Lord’s dear gopīs? SB 10.29.13
This statement praises the kāma of the gopīs, showing how it is superior, even though, in verse 275, it is mentioned alongside fear and hatred exhibited by people opposed to Kṛṣṇa. The gopīs with lust mentioned in verse 275 are understood to be the gopīs in the state of pūrva-rāga, prior to meeting Kṛṣṇa directly (during earthly pastimes). [Note: The love in separation of the two lovers, before they ever meet each other, is called pūrva-rāga. BRS 3.5.26] The same applies to the Vṛṣṇis. [Note: Later it will be explained that the Vṛṣṇis refers to the inhabitants of Vraja, who are rāgātmika-bhaktas having relationships (sambandha) other than kāma rather than the Vṛṣṇis of Dvārakā, who do not have rāgātmika-bhakti. During earthly pastimes, even the Yadus of Mathurā and the Pāṇḍavas experience separation from Kṛṣṇa before He leaves Vraja. Later they meet Him when He leaves Vraja. This state of separation is called utkaṇṭhita in the case of rasas other than madhura-rasa. Thus after meeting Him, they are said to “have attained the Lord.”]
Purport (Nectar of Devotion)
Devotional service under the heading of rāgātmikā can be further divided into two categories: one category is called “sensual attraction,” and the other is called “relationship.”
In this connection, there is a statement by Nārada Muni to Yudhiṣṭhira in the Seventh Canto, First Chapter, verse 30, of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. There Nārada says, “My dear King, there are many devotees who first become attracted to the Personality of Godhead for purposes of sense gratification, from being envious of Him, out of fear of Him or from desiring to associate affectionately with Him. Ultimately these attractions become freed from all material contamination, and gradually the worshiper develops spiritual love and achieves that ultimate goal of life desired by the pure devotee.”
The gopīs may be considered to be examples of spontaneous love in sensual attraction. The gopīs are young girls, and Kṛṣṇa is a young boy. Superficially it seems that the gopīs are attracted to Kṛṣṇa on grounds of sex. Similarly, King Kaṁsa was attracted to Kṛṣṇa because of fear. Kaṁsa was always fearful of Kṛṣṇa, because it had been foretold that his sister’s son, Kṛṣṇa, would kill him. Śiśupāla was also always envious of Kṛṣṇa. And the descendants of King Yadu, due to their family relationship with Kṛṣṇa, were always thinking of Him as one of their members. All of these different kinds of devotees have a spontaneous attraction for Kṛṣṇa, in different categories, and they achieve the same desired goal of life.