Live Caitanya Caritamrta · CC Madhya 23.93
Kṛṣṇa and the Shelters of Devotional Love
“Just as Lord Kṛṣṇa and Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī are the object and shelter of the mellow of conjugal love, respectively, so in the mellow of servitorship, Kṛṣṇa, the son of Mahārāja Nanda, is the object, and servants like Citraka, Raktaka and Patraka are the shelter. Similarly, in the transcendental mellow of friendship, Lord Kṛṣṇa is the object, and friends like Śrīdāmā, Sudāmā and Subala are the shelter. In the transcendental mellow of parental affection, Kṛṣṇa is the object, and mother Yaśodā and Mahārāja Nanda are the shelter.
What the purport teaches
- In conjugal love, Lord Kṛṣṇa is the object and Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī is the shelter. In servitorship, Kṛṣṇa is the object, and servants like Citraka, Raktaka and Patraka are the shelter.
- In transcendental friendship, Lord Kṛṣṇa is the object. Friends like Śrīdāmā, Sudāmā and Subala are the shelter.
- In parental affection, Kṛṣṇa is the object. Mother Yaśodā and Mahārāja Nanda are the shelter.
Try this today
Make a small list of the four relationships named here, noting Kṛṣṇa as the object and the devotees who are their shelter.
Ask yourself
What remains the same across these different loving relationships?
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.