Srimad Bhagavatam Canto 3 Chapter 28 Verse 34

Canto 3: The Status Quo | Chapter 28: Kapila's Instructions on the Execution of Devotional Service

Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 3.28.34

evaḿ harau bhagavati pratilabdha-bhāvo

bhaktyā dravad-dhṛdaya utpulakaḥ pramodāt

autkaṇṭhya-bāṣpa-kalayā muhur ardyamānas

tac cāpi citta-baḍiśaḿ śanakair viyuńkte

SYNONYMS

evam — thus; harau — towards Lord Hari; bhagavati — the Personality of Godhead; pratilabdha — developed; bhāvaḥ — pure love; bhaktyā — by devotional service; dravat — melting; hṛdayaḥ — his heart; utpulakaḥ — experiencing standing of the hairs of the body; pramodāt — from excessive joy; autkaṇṭhya — occasioned by intense love; bāṣpa-kalayā — by a stream of tears; muhuḥ — constantly; ardyamānaḥ — being afflicted; tat — that; ca — and; api — even; citta — the mind; baḍiśam — hook; śanakaiḥ — gradually; viyuńkte — withdraws.

TRANSLATION

By following this course, the yogī gradually develops pure love for the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Hari. In the course of his progress in devotional service, the hairs on his body stand erect through excessive joy, and he is constantly bathed in a stream of tears occasioned by intense love. Gradually, even the mind, which he used as a means to attract the Lord, as one attracts a fish to a hook, withdraws from material activity.

PURPORT

Here it is clearly mentioned that meditation, which is an action of the mind, is not the perfect stage of samādhi, or absorption. In the beginning the mind is employed in attracting the form of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, but in the higher stages there is no question of using the mind. A devotee becomes accustomed to serving the Supreme Lord by purification of his senses. In other words, the yoga principles of meditation are required as long as one is not situated in pure devotional service. The mind is used to purify the senses, but when the senses are purified by meditation, there is no need to sit in a particular place and try to meditate upon the form of the Lord. One becomes so habituated that he automatically engages in the personal service of the Lord. When the mind forcibly is engaged upon the form of the Lord, this is called nirbīja-yoga, or lifeless yoga, for the yogī does not automatically engage in the personal service of the Lord. But when he is constantly thinking of the Lord, that is called sabīja-yoga, or living yoga. One has to be promoted to the platform of living yoga.

One should engage in the service of the Lord twenty-four hours a day, as confirmed in the Brahma-saḿhitā. The stage of premāñjana-cchurita can be attained by developing complete love. When one's love for the Supreme Personality of Godhead in devotional service is fully developed, one always sees the Lord, even without artificially meditating on His form. His vision is divine because he has no other engagement. At this stage of spiritual realization it is not necessary to engage the mind artificially. Since the meditation recommended in the lower stages is a means to come to the platform of devotional service, those already engaged in the transcendental loving service of the Lord are above such meditation. This stage of perfection is called Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

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His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, Founder Ācārya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness