PREMA OR PARA-BHAKTI (ECSTATIC LOVE)

Prema or ecstatic Love comes not before the realisation of God.

In Persian books it is written that within the flesh are the bones, within the bones is the riiarrtfw, and so on,, and within them all is Prema.

Prema is like a string in the hands of the devotee binding him to that Sachchidananda, viz., God, The devotee holds the Lord, so to speak, under his control. God comes to him whenever he calls.

The stage of devotion called Bhava (speechless absorption in God) is like an unripe mango; Prema or ecstatic Love is like the ripe fruit.

The worship from fear of hell fire and the like is intended for the beginner. Some people look upon the sense of sin as the whole of religion. They forget that it marks only the earliest and the lowest stage of spirituality. There is yet a higher ideal, a higher stage of spirituality,. viz., the love of God as bur own Father or Mother.

What is Para-bhakti or the supreme ecstatic love of God? In the stage of ecstatic Love the worshipper contemplates God as his dearest and nearest relative. It is like the love of the Gopis to Lord Krishna. They always knew Him and addressed Him as the Lord of the Gopis and not as the Lord of the universe.

There is such a thing as loving God without knowing why. If this comes, there is nothing more to desire. One endowed with such Bhakti says, " O Lord, I do not want riches, fame, health, happiness or anything else. Grant that I may have pure devotion to Thy lotus feet!

The two characteristics of Premaare; (1) for-getfulness of the external world; (2) forgetfulness of one's own body.

There are two elements in this Prema-bhakti, viz., I-ness and my-ness (i.e., ' I am the devotee and my God is wholly mine'). Yasoda used to think that except herself none else could look after her Gopala; but for her care, her Gopala would fall ill. Yasoda never liked to perceive her Krishna as the Lord of the universe. And the my-ness of the devotee makes him feel, " He is mine, my own; he is my Gopala! Uddhava said to Yasoda, " Mother, your Krishna is the Lord Himself. He is the Chintamani (the wish-yielding gem) of the whole universe. He is not an ordinary person. To that Yasoda replied, No, no, I am not asking about your Chintamani, I am asking how my Gopala is. Not Chintamani, but my Gopala !

Prema or ecstatic Love is attainable only by a few. They are men of extraordinary powers, entrusted with Divine commission. Being heirs of Divine powers and glory, they form a class of their own. To this class belong Incarnations of God like Chaitanya Deva and their -devotees of the highest order who are parts of the Lord.

There are a few who have this ecstatic Love naturally in them, perhaps even from their boyhood. Yes, like Prahlada they weep and long for God even in their childhood. They belong to the class of Nityasiddhas or men perfect from their very birth.