Text 165] The Lord Instructs Srila Rapa Gosvami 347
achievements of the yogis are the eight material perfections such as dnifna,
laghima and prapti. Yet these are nothing compared to the eternal bliss of the
devotee who returns back to Godhead and tastes the fruit of devotional service
to the lotus feet of the Lord. The material perfections up to the point of liberation
are very insignificant in comparison; therefore the pure devotee is never in-
terested in such things. His only interest is in perfecting his devotional service to
the Lord. The pleasure of the impersonalist monist philosophers is condemned in
the following verse, which is also found in Srila Rapa Gosvami's Lalita-madhava.
TEXT 165
al fafeas-Faa hie Sieh! ANI fe-
AMAT VHA OAVFAITSIA Stas |
Was caqats ayfag-wats-facaadats
ACH VATS FATATH-AITSTS T AITAPS 1 ve
rddhd siddhi-vraja-vijayita satya-dharma samadhir
brahmanando gurur api camatkdrayaty eva tavat
yavat premnam madhu-ripu-vasikara-siddhausadhinam
gandho ‘py antah-karana-sarani-panthataém na prayati
SYNONYMS
rddha—excellent; siddhi-vraja—of the groups of material perfections of the
yogis (anima, laghima, prapti and so on); vijayita—the victory; satya-dharma—the
religious principles of perfection (satya, sama, titiksa and so on); samadhih—the
yogic perfection of meditation; brahma-dnandah—the spiritually blissful life of
the monist; guruh—very high in material considerations; api—although;
camatkdarayati—they appear very important; eva—only; tavat—that long; yavat—
as long as; premnam—of love of Krsna; madhu-ripu—of Krsna, the enemy of the
Madhu demon; vasikara—in the controlling; siddha-ausadhinam—which is like
perfect herbs that can control snakes; gandhah—a light fragrance; api—even; an-
tah-karana-sarani-panthatam—a traveler on the path of the heart; na prayati—
does not become.
TRANSLATION
“As long as there is not the slightest fragrance of pure love of Krsna, which
is the perfected medicinal herb for controlling Lord Krsna within the heart,
the opulences of material perfection—known as the siddhis, the brahminical
perfections [satya, sama, titiksa and so on], the trance of the yogis and the
monistic bliss of Brahman—all seem wonderful for men.
