Volume 7 - Prabhupada

Text 178] The Lord Instructs Srila Rupa Gosvami 357awaken one to devotional service. Devotional service is always dormant in everyone'sheart, and by the offenseless chanting of the holy names of the Lord, one'soriginal dormant Krr:ta consciousness is awakened. This awakening to Krna consciousnessis the beginning of sadhana-bhakti. This can be divided into many differentparts, including faith, association with devotees, initiation by the spiritualmaster, engagement in devotional service under the instructions of a spiritualmaster, steadiness in devotional service and the awakening of a taste for devotionalservice. In this way, one can become attached to Krr:ta and His service, andwhen this attachment is intensified, it results in ecstatic love for Kft:Ja. The wordrati is explained in the Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu (1.3.41) as follows:vyaktarh maswatevantarlak$yaterati-lak$af)ammumuk$u-prabhrtinarh cedbhaved e$a ratir na hi"When a tenderness of the heart is manifest, there is rati, or attachment. Thosewho are interested in being liberated from material bondage must manifest thistenderness called rati." This attachment is not like material attachment. When oneis liberated from material contamination, the awakening of attachment for Krr:ta'sservice is called rati. In the material world there is attachment for material enjoyment,but this is not rati. Transcendental rati can be awakened only on thespiritual platform. Ecstatic love for Krr:ta (prema) is described in the Bhaktirasamrta-sindhu(1.41) as follows:samyati maswita-svantomamatvatisayatikitabbhavab sa eva sandratmabudhaib prema nigadyate"When the heart is completely softened and devoid of all material desires andwhen one's emotional feelings become very strong, one becomes very much attachedto Krt:Ja. Such purified emotion is known as pure love."TEXT 178' \lii i{t -·,,.ti{, 't I1ft'$f, '1.1ft'$f,