116 Teachings of Lord Chaitanya

of becoming an adherent of Me alone. They consider that I am their Soul,
I am their Freind, I am their Son, I am their Master, I am their Well-wisher,
I am their God, and I am their Supreme Goal. My dear Mother, there is no
action of time upon such devotees.” In the Bhakti Rasamrita Sindhu, the author
offers his respectful obeisances to such persons who always think of Krishna
as He is, as when He is Son, Well-wisher, Brother, Father, Friend, or any such
relationship. Anyone following the principles of devotional service with
attachment, and in terms of a particular devotee in Vrajabhumi certainly
achieves the highest perfectional love of Godhead in that spirit.

There are two developmental characteristics for such seeds of love of
Godhead. They are known as Rati, or attachment, and Bhava, the condition
immediately preceding love of Godhead. By these two characteristics the
Supreme Lord Sri Krishna is conquered by such devotees. These two charac-
teristics are there before any symptoms of love of Godhead. This was explained
by Lord Chaitanya to Sanatan Goswami. Lord Chaitanya said that there is
really no end to describing the system of devotional service with attachment,
and He is simply trying to offer a sampling of such devotional service.

Lord Chaitanya then said to Sanatan Goswami that He would describe
the ultimate goal of devotional service, that which is meant for such a person
who wants to attain perfection. When one’s attachment for Krishna becomes
very deep, this condition is called love of Godhead. Such a state of being is
called the permanent situation of the devotee. Kaviraj Goswami has offered
in this connection his respectful obeisances unto Lord Chaitanya for His
sublime teachings of love of Godhead. It is stated in the Chaitanya Charitamrita:
“O You Supreme Personality of Godhead, whoever awarded such pure devo-
tional service to anyone else? O most magnanimous Incarnation of the Per-
sonality of Godhead, for my part I offer my respectful obeisances to this
Incarnation, known as Gaura Krishna.”

In the Bhakti Rasamrita Sindhu the state of being in love of Godhead is
compared to the sunshine emanating from the Sun of love for Godhead;
and this shining makes the devotee’s heart more and more lovely. The heart
of such a devotee is situated in a transcendental position, beyond the modes
of goodness of material Nature. And the process of making the heart further
and further sterilized by the sunshine of love is called Bhava. This description
of Bhava is given by Rupa Goswami. Bhava is called the permanent charac-
teristic; and the crucial point of progress for Bhava is called the marginal state
of love of Godhead. When the Bhava state becomes deeper and deeper, the
learned devotees call that state of being love of Godhead. In the Narada Pan-
