Bhakti's Sacred Longing | In Separation, the Beloved Is Found Everywhere
6/4/20261 hr 1 min
How can longing be ecstasy? How can absence be the deepest form of presence? This is one of the great mysteries of love — and bhakti yoga illuminates it. When Ram banished Sita, it looked like abandonment. When Krishna disappeared from the Rāsa Dance, it looked like cruelty. But a saint follower of Rama revealed the secret to Radhanath Swami: love driven inward by separation reaches special depths. In union the beloved is found in one place. In separation the beloved is found everywhere. What looks like pain from the outside is the most profound bliss from the inside.
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First 90 secondsKaustubha Das· Host0:00
If one has but a little love of Godhead, he can perceive its powerful effects. It can only be compared to poison and nectar mixed together.
Raghunath· Host0:10
Ooh.
Kaustubha Das· Host0:10
Lord Chaitanya spoke, "My dear beautiful friend, if one develops love of Godhead, love of Krishna," this, he's speaking like a gopi now, right? He's speaking just like the gopi spoke.
Raghunath· Host0:21
Mm.
Kaustubha Das· Host0:21
He says, "My dear beautiful friend, if one develops love of Godhead, love of Krishna, the son of Nanda Maharaja, all the bitter and sweet influences of this love will manifest in one's heart. Such love of Godhead acts in two ways."
Raghunath· Host0:35
Mm.
Kaustubha Das· Host0:35
"The poisonous effects of love of Godhead defeat the severe and fresh poison of the serpent. Yet, there is simultaneously the transcendental bliss which pours down and defeats the pride of nectar and diminishes its value." In other words, love of Krishna is so powerful that it simultaneously defeats the poison effects of a snake as well as happiness derived from pouring nectar on one's head. It is perceived as doubly effective, simultaneously poison and nectarean.
Raghunath· Host1:08
Phew.
Kaustubha Das· Host1:09
You know, th- if you wanna say, "I love God," or you read the Chaitanya Charitamrita to try to understand what its, the depths of it, the subtleties of it, the nuances of it. It, this is very, very high literature here. And Bhagavatam, of course, it's all b- it's all the culture of the Bhagavatam.
Raghunath· Host1:27
Mm.
Kaustubha Das· Host1:27
It's all derived by and through