Neutral Love of God
291
understanding is the Supreme Person. The impersonalistic commentary on the  Bhagavad-gītā  is therefore disastrous because, without understanding the transcendental pleasure of the  Gītā , the impersonalist wants to interpret it in his own way. If an impersonalist can, however, come in contact with a pure devotee, his transcendental position can be changed for greater elevation. Great sages are therefore recommended to worship the form of the Lord in order to achieve that highest transcendental pleasure.
Without worshiping the  arcā-vigraha , the form or Deity of the Lord, one cannot understand such literature as the  Bhagavad-gītā  and  Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam . For those great sages situated in the position of transcendental neutrality, the beginning should be to take shelter of Lord Viṣṇu, the four-handed eternal form of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The mystic  yogīs  are therefore advised to meditate on the form of Lord Viṣṇu as recommended by Kapila Muni in the  sāṅkhya-yoga  system. Unfortunately, many mystic  yogīs  try to meditate on something void, and as is stated in the  Gītā , the result is that they simply undergo trouble and do not achieve any tangible result.
When some great saintly persons who had undergone penances and austerities saw the four-handed transcendental form of Viṣṇu, they began to remark as follows: “This four-handed form of the Lord, manifested in a bluish color, is the reservoir of all pleasure and the center of our living force. Actually, when we see this eternal form of Viṣṇu, we, along with many other  paramahaṁsas , become immediately captivated by the beauty of the Lord.” This appreciation of Lord Viṣṇu by saintly persons is an instance of situation in  śānta-rasa , or the neutral stage of devotional service. In the beginning, those who are aspiring for salvation try to get out of the material entanglement by performing painful austerities and penances, and ultimately they come to the impersonal status of spiritual realization. At this  brahma-bhūta  stage of liberation from the material entanglement, the symptoms, as explained in the  Bhagavad-gītā , are that one becomes joyous beyond any hankering or lamentation and gains a universal vision. When the devotee is situated in the  śānta-rasa , or neutral stage of devotional service, he appreciates the Viṣṇu form of the Lord.
Actually, all Vedic culture is aiming at understanding Lord Viṣṇu. In the  Rg Veda  one  mantra  says that any advanced saintly person is