Live Caitanya Caritamrta · CC Ādi 7.89-90
Pure Love Requires Purity of Purpose
“ ‘Perspiration, trembling, standing on end of one’s bodily hairs, tears, faltering voice, fading complexion, madness, melancholy, patience, pride, joy and humility — these are various natural symptoms of ecstatic love of Godhead, which causes a devotee to dance and float in an ocean of transcendental bliss while chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra.
What the purport teaches
- Transcendental love of Godhead belongs to the Supreme Lord’s pleasure potency, not the material energy. It melts the heart and brings natural ecstatic symptoms while chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra.
- Ecstatic symptoms alone do not establish complete perfection in devotional life. Improper personal dealings or continuing attraction to material affairs show that perfection has not yet been reached.
- Āśaya-śuddhi means the perfection of existence: freedom from material enjoyment and absorption in transcendental love of Godhead. At this stage, devotional service has no material cause and is purely spiritual.
Try this today
Chant the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra today with the intention to serve rather than gain a material reward.
Ask yourself
Do your everyday dealings and motives support the devotion you express while chanting?
Carry the question through the day, then answer it in your own words before sleep.
The study points are short summaries drawn from Śrīla Prabhupāda's translation and purport; the practice and question are plain words for trying the verse today.