bhakti swatantra sakala sukha khani - 7

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(contd..)<br><br>A devotee should take DELIGHT in

EVERY ACTION of His BELOVED, and ACCEPT His GRACE in

EVERY GESTURE.<br><br>"krodho'pi te'nugraha eva

saMmataH"<br><br>(Bhagavatam)<br><br>His anger, His indifference, and His Love

are ALL

ASPECTS of His GRACE.<br>True Love is UNCONDITIONAL. One

of the verses in Lord Sri Caitanya's 'Astapadi'

contains the most beautiful expression of SELFLESS DIVINE

LOVE.<br><br>"AzliSya vA pAdaratAM pinaSTu mAm <br>adarzanAn marmahatAM

karotu vA <br>yathA tathA vA vidadhAtu lampaTo <br>mat

prANa nAthas tu sa eva nAparaH" <br><br>"Whether My

BELOVED (Lord Krishna), lovingly EMBRACES me, or TRAMPLES

me under His feet, or TORMENTS me by His

indifference, <br>GRATIFYING HIS AMOURS IN WHATEVER WAY HE

DESIRES, <br>there will be NO ABATEMENT IN MY LOVE FOR

HIM, <br>because HE, and HE ALONE, IS THE LORD OF MY

LIFE!!!" <br>It is also said by Sri Veda Vyasa in the

Scriptures, <br><br>"yad durlabhaM yad aprApyaM manasoyann

agocaram <br>tadpy aprArthito dhyAto dadAti madhu sUdanaH"

<br><br>"That Divine Love, which is RARE, that is UNATTAINABLE,

and that of which the MIND CANNOT EVEN

PERCIEVE,<br>IS AQUIRED WITHOUT ASKING, THROUGH HIS DIVINE

GRACE." <br><br>In Ramayana, Sri Tulasi Dasji also

stresses how to receive the Treasure of Devotion (Prema

Bhakti) to Lord - <br><br>"mana krama vacana chAMDi

caturAyI <br>bhatahiM kRpA karata raghurAyI "

<br><br>"Abandoning all the craftiness of mind, egoism, deceitful

desires and deeds as well as intellectual arrogance, if

ONE should PRACTICE DEVOTION (Sadhana Bhakti) with

body, mind and heart, then ONE WILL BE ABLE TO RECEIVE

GOD'S GRACE, by which is ATTAINED THE ESSENCE OF

HLADINI SAKTI, i.e.PREMA BHAKTI." <br><br>"avirala bhakti

visuddha tava zruti purANa jehi gAva <br>jehi khojata

yogIza muni prabhu prasAda kovu pAva <br>....dehu dayA

kari rAma" <br><br>"The Pure Divine Love (Prema

Bhakti) is SELFLESS and SPOTLESS. <br>All the Scriptures

HIGHLY acclaim the VIRTUES of PREMA BHAKTI! <br><br>All

saints, sages, sadhakas are searching out and SEEKING

that same TREASURE of DEVOTION and a FEW fortunate

SOULS ATTAIN THROUGH HIS DIVINE GRACE!" <br><br>" O

Lord! If You desire to give me SOMETHING, then ALL I

ASK FOR IS PREMA BHAKTI" <br><br>Obviously, the Lord

is HESITANT to GRANT DEVOTION. What is the reason

for this reluctance? <br><br>The answer is that God

BECOMES ETERNALLY BOUND BY this PREMA BHAKTI and SERVES

the PURE DEVOTEE who has tied HIM with the

UNBREAKABLE BONDS OF DIVINE LOVE. <br><br>(An excerpt from

the book - 'Prema Rasa Siddhant' by Jagadguru Sri

Kripaluji Maharaj) <br><br>Jaya Sri Radhey!