rasabhasa

According to Bhagavad-gita the characteristics of pure devotees are wonderful (Bg. 10.9). The complete functional activities of a pure devotee are always engaged in the service of the Lord, and thus they exchange feelings of ecstasy between themselves and relish transcendental bliss. This transcendental bliss is experienced even in the stage of devotional practice (sadhana-avastha), if properly undertaken under the guidance of a bona fide spiritual master. And in the mature stage the developed transcendental feeling culminates in realization of the particular relationship with the Lord by which a living entity is originally constituted (up to the relationship of conjugal love with the Lord, estimated as highest transcendental bliss). Thus bhakti-yoga, being the only means of God realization is called kaivalya. Srila Jiva Gosvami quotes the Vedic version (eko narayano devaḥ, paravaranam parama aste kaivalya-sangitaḥ) in this connection and establishes that Narayana, the Personality of Godhead, is known as kaivalya, and the means which enables one to approach the Lord is called the kaivalya-pantha, or the only means of attainment of Godhead. This kaivalya-pantha begins from sravana, or hearing those topics that relate to the Personality of Godhead, and the natural consequence of hearing such hari-katha is attainment of transcendental knowledge, which causes a detachment from all mundane topics, for which a devotee has no taste at all. For a devotee, all mundane activities, social and political, become unattractive, and in the mature state such a devotee becomes disinterested even in his own body, and what to speak of bodily relatives. In such a state of affairs one is not agitated by the waves of the material modes. There are different modes of material nature, and all mundane functions in which a common man is very much interested or takes part become unattractive for the devotee. This state of affairs is described herein as pratinivrtta-gunormi, and it is possible by atma-prasada, or complete self-satisfaction without any material connection. The first-class devotee of the Lord attains this stage by devotional service, but despite his loftiness, still, for the matter of the Lord's satisfaction, he may play the voluntary part of a preacher of the Lord's glory and dovetail all into devotional service, even mundane interest, just to give a chance to the neophytes to transform mundane interest into transcendental bliss. Srila Rūpa Gosvami has described this action of a pure devotee as "nirbandhaḥ krsna-sambandhe yuktam vairagyam ucyate." Even mundane activities dovetailed with service of the Lord are also calculated to be transcendental or approved kaivalya affairs.    (More...)