Live Caitanya Caritamrta · CC Madhya 24.284
Devotional Service Has Many Varieties
“There is yet another meaning, which is full of a variety of imports. Actually there are two gross meanings and thirty-two subtle meanings.
What the purport teaches
- The two broad meanings refer to regulative devotional service and spontaneous devotional service. Within these are thirty-two subtle meanings.
- The relationships include service as a servant, friend, parent or similar superior, and beloved. They include personal associates, those elevated by spiritual cultivation, and mature and immature practitioners.
- There are sixteen varieties under regulative devotional service and sixteen under spontaneous devotional service. Together they make thirty-two varieties of devotees.
Try this today
Make two headings—regulative devotional service and spontaneous devotional service—and write “sixteen varieties” beneath each.
Ask yourself
What does this variety help you appreciate about devotional service?
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.