Characteristics of Pure Devotional Service 15

Lord Nrsimhadeva by his prayers, says: ‘““My dear Lord of the uni-
verse, I am feeling transcendental pleasure in Your presence and have
become merged in the ocean of happiness. I now consider the happi-
ness of brahmdnanda to be no more than the water in the impression
left by a cow’s hoof in the earth, compared to this ocean of bliss.”
Similarly, it is confirmed in the Bhavartha-dipika, Sridhara Svami’s
commentary on the Srimad-Bhagavatam: “My dear Lord, some of
the fortunate persons who are swimming in the ocean of Your nectar
of devotion, and who are relishing the nectar of the narration of Your
pastimes, certainly know ecstasies which immediately minimize the
value of the happiness derived from religiousness, economic develop-
ment, sense gratification and liberation. Such a transcendental devo-
tee regards any kind of happiness other than devotional service as no
better than straw in the street.”

Attracting Krsna

Srila Ripa Gosvami has stated that devotional service attracts even
Krsna. Krsna attracts everyone, but devotional service attracts Krsna.
The symbol of devotional service in the highest degree is Radharani.
Krsna is called Madana-mohana, which means that He is so attractive
that He can defeat the attraction of thousands of Cupids. But
Radharani is still more attractive, for She can even attract Krsna.
Therefore devotees call Her Madana-mohana-mohani-the attractor of
the attractor of Cupid.

To perform devotional service means to follow in the footsteps of
Radharani, and devotees in Vrndavana put themselves under the
care of Radharani in order to achieve perfection in their devotional
service. In other words, devotional service is not an activity of the
material world; it is directly under the control of Radharani. In
Bhagavad-gita it is confirmed that the mahdtmas, or great souls, are
under the protection of daivi prakrti, the internal energy—Radharani.
So, being directly under the control of the internal potency of Krsna,
devotional service attracts even Krsna Himself.

This fact is corroborated by Krsna in the Eleventh Canto of
