Verse Text
kiṁ ca—
bhāvo ’py abhāvam āyāti kṛṣṇa-preṣṭhāparādhataḥ |
ābhāsatāṁ ca śanakair nyūna-jātīyatām api ||54||
Translation
Moreover, it should be stated: By an offense against the dearest devotee of the Lord, even real bhāva will be destroyed, if the offense is grave. If the offense is medium, the bhāva will turn to bhāvābhāsa. If the offense is slight, the bhāva will become an inferior type.
Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Bhāva will be destroyed by aparādha to the dearest devotees of Kṛṣṇa. An example is Dvivida the monkey, a follower of Rāma. By aparādha to Lakṣmaṇa, his bhāva disappeared. By medium aparādha, bhāva becomes bhāvābhāsa. If the aparādha is slight, the bhāva changes type. Madhura-rati becomes dāsya-rati. Dāsya-rati becomes śānta-rati.
Purport (Jiva Goswami)
By two types of grave offenses—offense to the dearest devotee, or to Kṛṣṇa Himself (kṛṣṇa-pṛeṣṭha aparādhataḥ)—even real bhāva is destroyed. By medium offense, bhāva becomes bhāvābhāsa. By slight offense, the bhāva degrades in category. Becoming an inferior type means that there will be degradation in term of the five rasas and the eight stages from mahā-bhāva to rati. [Note: Sādhya-rūpa or hārda-rūpa-bhakti has five types: bhāva, prema, praṇaya, sneha and rāga. In Ujjvala-nīla-maṇi three more types are mentioned: māna, anurāga and mahā-bhāva. Thus, there are eight types of sādhya-bhakti. This is explained in Jīva Gosvāmī’s commentary on BRS 1.2.1. However, since the topic is bhāva-bhakti, the lowest of the eight types, that bhāva could simply decrease in intensity. Furthermore, those at the level of bhāva still have impurities, and could make mistakes because of anarthas, whereas those at the level of prema are pure and could never commit real offense.] Thus, change in bhāva will take place according to the seriousness of the offense.
Purport (Nectar of Devotion)
Transcendental attachment, either shadow or parā, can be nullified by different degrees of offenses at the lotus feet of pure devotees. If the offense is very serious, then one’s attachment becomes almost nil, and if the offense is not very serious, one’s attachment can become second class or third class.