30 Sri Caitanya-caritamrta [Madhya-lila, Ch. 1

ordinary devotee, the symptoms of philosophical speculation, the symptoms
of self-worship, or ahangrahopasand, the symptoms of devotional service, the
symptoms of imaginary perfection, the acceptance of regulative principles,
service to the spiritual master, the mahd-bhagavata (liberated devotee) and
service to him, service to Vaisnavas in general, the principles of hearing,
chanting, remembering and serving the lotus feet of the Lord, offenses in wor-
ship, offensive effects, prayers, engaging oneself as an eternal servant of the
Lord, making friendships with the Lord and surrendering everything for His
pleasure. There is also a discussion of raganuga-bhakti (spontaneous love of
Godhead), of the specific purpose of becoming a devotee of Lord Krsna, and
a comparative study of other perfectional stages.

The sixth sandarbha is called Priti-sandarbha, a thesis on love of Godhead.
Here it is stated that through love of Godhead, one becomes perfectly liber-
ated and attains the highest goal of life. A distinction is made between the
liberated condition of a personalist and that of an impersonalist, and there is a
discussion of liberation during one’s lifetime as distinguished from liberation
from material bondage. Of all kinds of liberation, liberation in loving service to
the Lord is described as the most exalted, and meeting the Supreme Per-
sonality of Godhead face to face is shown to be the highest perfection of life.
Immediate liberation is contrasted with liberation by a gradual process. Both
realization of Brahman and meeting with the Supreme Personality of God-
head are described as liberation within one’s lifetime, but meeting with the
Supreme Personality of Godhead, both internally and externally, is shown to
be superexcellent, above the transcendental realization of the Brahman
effulgence. There is a comparative study of liberation as salokya, samipya and
sardpya. Sdmipya is better than sdlokya. Devotional service is considered to
be liberation with greater facilities, and there is a discussion of how to obtain
it. There are also discussions of the transcendental state one achieves after at-
taining the devotional platform, which is the exact position of love of God-
head; the marginal symptoms of transcendental love, and how it is
awakened; the distinction between so-called love and transcendental love
on the platform of love of Godhead; and different types of humors and
mellows enjoyed in relishing the lusty affairs of the gopis, which are different
from mundane affairs, which in turn are symbolical representations of pure
love for Krsna. There are also discussions of bhakti mixed with philosophical
speculation, the superexcellence of the love of the gopis, the difference be-
tween opulent devotional service and loving devotional service, the exalted
position of the residents of Gokula, the progressively exalted position of the
friends of Krsna, the gopas and the gopis in parental love with Krsna, and
finally the superexcellence of the love of the gopis and that of Srimatt
