122 Sri Caitanya-caritamrta [Madhya-lila, Ch. 8

TRANSLATION

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 re-
quested him to explain what was beyond. Simply executing the duties of all var-
nas 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 at-
tains sva-dharma-tydga, 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 ac-
tivities 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, aban-
dons prescribed duties and accepts the renounced order of life. Such devotional
service is situated on a higher platform than that of empiric philosophical specula-
tion with a mixture of bhakti. This is verified by Srila Rapa Gosvami in his Bhakti-
rasamrta-sindhu (1.1.11):

anyabhilasita-sGnyam
jfidna-karmady-anavrtam

dnukdlyena krsnanu-
silanann 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 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 (jfdne praydsam) 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
