Verse Text
prāktany ādhunikī cāsti yasya sad-bhakti-vāsanā |
eṣa bhakti-rasāsvādas tasyaiva hṛdi jāyate ||6||
Translation
The taste for bhakti-rasa arises in the heart of a person who has had experiences of pure bhakti in previous and present life.
Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Though there are recent impressions for giving rise to rati, past life impressions also are needed to give a taste of rati. Though in this life itself rati appears in persons who have surrendered to guru, performed bhakti, and destroyed all offenses, the taste for rati arises from experiences and actions in previous lives.
Purport (Jiva Goswami)
Even though there are impressions in this life for giving rise to rasa from the presence of rati in this life, it is necessary to seek out impressions from previous life as well to explain the occurrence of rasa. This distinction between past life experiences of rati and present life experiences of rati applies to those persons subject to disappearance (and not the nitya-siddhas). This is the rule for most cases discussed in the book. The import is that rati has to be intense for bhakti-rasa to appear.
Purport (Nectar of Devotion)
This relishing of transcendental mellow in discharging devotional service cannot be experienced by all classes of men, because this sweet loving mood is developed only from one’s previous life’s activities or by the association of unalloyed devotees. As explained above, association with pure devotees is the beginning of faith in devotional service. Only by developing such faith in the association of a pure devotee, or by having in one’s previous life executed devotional activities, can one actually relish the mellow of devotional service. In other words, this transcendental bliss is not to be enjoyed by any common man unless he is so extraordinarily fortunate as to be in association with devotees or to be continuing his previous birth’s devotional activities.