8.68
prabhu kahe,--“eho haya, age kaha ara”
raya kahe, “prema-bhakti--sarva-sadhya-sara”
SYNONYMS
prabhu kahe—the Lord said; eho haya—this is all right; age kaha ara—speak something more; raya kahe—Raya replied; prema-bhakti—ecstatic love in devotional service to the Lord; sarva-sadhya-sara—the essence of all perfection.
At this point, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu replied, “This is all right, but still you can speak more on the subject.” Ramananda Raya then replied, “Ecstatic love for the Supreme Personality of Godhead is the essence of all perfection.”
PURPORT
In this connection, Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura in his Amrta-pravaha-bhasya says that after hearing Ramananda Raya, Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu said, eho haya, age kaha ara.
This means that this is the process accepted in devotional service, but there is something more than this.
Therefore Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu requested him to explain what was beyond.
Simply executing the duties of all varnas and asramas is not as good as offering all the results of one’s activities to the Lord.
When one gives up all fruitive activity and fully surrenders to the Lord, he attains sva-dharma-tyaga, wherein he abandons the social order and takes to the renounced order.
That is certainly better.
However, better than the renounced order is cultivation of knowledge mixed with devotional service.
Yet all these activities are external to the activities of the spiritual world.
There is no touch of pure devotional service in them.
Pure devotional service cannot be attained by empiric philosophy, nor can perfection be attained simply by good association.
Devotional service by self-realization is a different subject matter.
It is untouched by fruitive activity, for one surrenders the results of activities to the Lord, abandons prescribed duties and accepts the renounced order of life.
Such devotional service is situated on a higher platform than that of empiric philosophical speculation with a mixture of bhakti.
This is verified by Srila Rupa Gosvami in his Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu (1.1.11):
anyabhilasita-sunyam
jnana-karmady-anavrtam
anukulyena krsnanu-
silanam bhaktir uttama “One should render transcendental loving service to the Supreme Lord Krsna favorably and without desire for material profit or gain through fruitive activities or philosophical speculation.
That is called pure devotional service.” Devotional activities, however, sometimes appear to be impure in the neophyte stage, but in the mature stage they are completely pure, or free from material activity.
Therefore Ramananda Raya replied after hearing the last statement of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu: prema-bhakti-sarva-sadhya-sara.
Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu actually accepted this verse (jnane prayasam) as the basic principle of perfection.
One has to practice this principle in order to make further progress.
When further progress is actually made, one comes to the platform of ecstatic loving service to the Lord.
This first stage is technically called sadhana-bhakti, or devotional service in practice.
The result of sadhana-bhakti must be ecstatic love, attachment for the Supreme Personality of Godhead, which is also called prema-bhakti.
In the neophyte stage, sadhana-bhakti includes faith, association with devotees, and practicing devotional service.
Thus one is freed from all unwanted things.
One then becomes fixed in devotional service and increases his desire to act in devotional service.
Thus one becomes attached to the Lord and His devotional service.