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Teachings of Lord Chaitanya
and the subjects of restriction as they are stated in the Vedic language, he asked, “Why is it that from the Vedic hymns one is enlivened in the matter of material enjoyment, while, from the instruction of Vedas, one also is freed from all illusion and is encouraged to have liberation?” The rules are supposed to be ordained by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, but apparently there are contradictions, and so Uddhava inquired about how to be free from these contradictory statements of the Vedas.
In reply to this, Lord Krishna informed him about the superexcellence of devotional service: “For persons who are already engaged in devotional service to Me, and who are fixed in their minds about Me, endeavoring for the cultivation of knowledge and renunciation are not practical or necessary.”
The purport is that devotional service is by itself independent of any other process. The processes of cultivating knowledge and renunciation, or meditation, may be a little helpful in the beginning, but they cannot be considered paraphernalia for discharging devotional service. In other words, devotional service can be discharged independently of the cultivation of knowledge and renunciation. In this connection, there is a verse from  Skanda Purana , in which Parbut Muni said to a hunter tribesman: “O hunter, the qualifications which you have now acquired, such as nonviolence and others, are not astonishing, because one who is engaged in devotional service to the Supreme Lord cannot be the source of any trouble for anyone under any circumstances.”
The Lord next said to Sanatan Goswami: “So far I have explained devotional service under regulative principles. Now I shall explain devotional service to you in terms of transcendental attachment.”
The inhabitants of Vrindaban, Vrajabhumi, are practical living examples of devotional service. Theirs is ideal devotional service with attachment. Such devotion cannot be found anywhere else except in Vrajabhumi, Vrindaban. If one develops devotional service and attachment by following in the footsteps of the inhabitants of Vrajabhumi, that is called  Raga Marga Bhakti , or devotional service in pursuance of attachment for the Lord. There is a statement in the  Bhakti Rasamrita Sindhu  about this: “Devotional service with ecstatic attachment for that service, which becomes a natural factor for the devotee, is called  Raga , or transcendental attachment.” The devotional service discharged in that standard of Raga is called  Ragatmika , devotion. Deep attachment and complete absorption in the object of love is called  Raga atmika , devotion. Examples can be seen in the activities of the residents of Vrajabhumi, and one who becomes attracted to Krishna by hearing of such attachment is certainly very fortunate. When he becomes deeply affected by such devo-