Live Caitanya Caritamrta · CC Madhya 6.13
The Extraordinary Intensity of Devotional Love
“Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya considered, “The uncommon ecstatic symptoms of adhirūḍha-bhāva are appearing in the body of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. This is very wonderful! How are they possible in the body of a human being?””
What the purport teaches
- Sārvabhauma marveled at the uncommon symptoms of adhirūḍha-bhāva in Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. He wondered how they could appear in a human body.
- In anurāga, the devotee’s love becomes so ecstatic that even the beloved’s company feels insufficient, and the devotee sees the beloved in different ways. When anurāga reaches its highest limit and becomes perceivable in the body, it is called bhāva.
- When bodily symptoms are not distinct, the state is still called anurāga, not bhāva. Intensified bhāva is mahā-bhāva, whose symptoms appear only in eternal associates like the gopīs.
Try this today
Write down anurāga, bhāva and mahā-bhāva, with a brief description of each from the purport.
Ask yourself
What makes the love described here so extraordinary?
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.