View source for The Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu of Rupa Gosvami explains the superexcellent quality of devotional service

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[[Category:Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu]]
[[Category:Rupa Gosvami]]
[[Category:Explain]]
[[Category:Superexcellence of Devotional Service to God]]
[[Category:Qualities of Devotional Service to God]]
[[Category:Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, Adi-lila Chapter 06 Purports - The Glories of Sri Advaita Acarya]]
[[Category:Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, Adi-lila Purports]]
[[Category:Sri Caitanya-caritamrta - 62 Chapters, All Purports]]
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<h2>Sri Caitanya-caritamrta</h2>
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<h3>CC Adi-lila</h3>
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The Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu of Rūpa Gosvāmī explains the superexcellent quality of devotional service as follows:

brahmānando bhaved eṣa cet parārdha-guṇī-kṛtaḥ
naiti bhakti-sukhāmbhodheḥ paramāṇu-tulām api
“If multiplied billions of times, the transcendental pleasure derived from impersonal Brahman realization still could not compare to even an atomic portion of the ocean of bhakti, or transcendental service.” (Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.1.38).
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[[Vanisource:CC Adi 6.42|CC Adi 6.42, Translation and Purport]]
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Śrī Advaita Ācārya, however, considers Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu His master, and He thinks of Himself as a servant of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu.
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The Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu of Rūpa Gosvāmī explains the superexcellent quality of devotional service as follows:

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:brahmānando bhaved eṣa cet parārdha-guṇī-kṛtaḥ 
:naiti bhakti-sukhāmbhodheḥ paramāṇu-tulām api
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“If multiplied billions of times, the transcendental pleasure derived from impersonal Brahman realization still could not compare to even an atomic portion of the ocean of bhakti, or transcendental service.” (Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu 1.1.38) Similarly, the Bhāvārtha-dīpikā states:

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:tvat-kathāmṛta-pāthodhau viharanto mahā-mudaḥ 
:kurvanti kṛtinaḥ kecic catur-vargaṁ tṛṇopamam
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“For those who take pleasure in the transcendental topics of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the four progressive realizations of religiosity, economic development, sense gratification and liberation, all combined together, cannot compare, any more than a straw could, to the happiness derived from hearing about the transcendental activities of the Lord.” Those who engage in the transcendental service of the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa, being relieved of all material enjoyment, have no attraction to topics of impersonal monism. In the Padma Purāṇa, in connection with the glorification of the month of Kārtika, it is stated that devotees pray:

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:varaṁ deva mokṣaṁ na mokṣāvadhiṁ vā
:na cānyaṁ vṛṇe ’haṁ vareśād apīha
:idaṁ te vapur nātha gopāla-bālaṁ 
:sadā me manasy āvirāstāṁ kim anyaiḥ
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:kuverātmajau baddha-mūrtyaiva yadvat

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:tvayā mocitau bhakti-bhājau kṛtau ca
:tathā prema-bhaktiṁ svakāṁ me prayaccha 
:na mokṣe graho me ’sti dāmodareha
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“Dear Lord, always remembering Your childhood pastimes at Vṛndāvana is better for us than aspiring to merge into the impersonal Brahman. During Your childhood pastimes You liberated the two sons of Kuvera and made them great devotees of Your Lordship. Similarly, I wish that instead of giving me liberation You may award me such devotion unto You.” In the Hayaśīrṣīya-śrī-nārāyaṇa-vyūha-stava, in the chapter called Nārāyaṇa-stotra, it is stated:

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:na dharmaṁ kāmam arthaṁ vā
:mokṣaṁ vā vara-deśvara
:prārthaye tava pādābje 
:dāsyam evābhikāmaye
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“My dear Lord, I do not wish to become a man of religion or a master of economic development or sense gratification, nor do I wish for liberation. Although I can have all these from You, the supreme bestower of benedictions, I do not pray for any of these. I simply pray that I may always be engaged as a servant of Your lotus feet.” Nṛsiṁhadeva offered Prahlāda Mahārāja all kinds of benedictions, but Prahlāda Mahārāja did not accept any of them, for he simply wanted to engage in the service of the lotus feet of the Lord. Similarly, a pure devotee wishes to be blessed like Mahārāja Prahlāda by being thus endowed with devotional service. Devotees also offer their respects to Hanumān, who always remained a servant of Lord Rāma. The great devotee Hanumān prayed:

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:bhava-bandha-cchide tasyai spṛhayāmi na muktaye 
:bhavān prabhur ahaṁ dāsa iti yatra vilupyate
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“I do not wish to take liberation or to merge in the Brahman effulgence, where the conception of being a servant of the Lord is completely lost.” Similarly, in the Nārada-pañcarātra it is stated:

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:dharmārtha-kāma-mokṣeṣu necchā mama kadācana 
:tvat-pāda-paṅkajasyādho jīvitaṁ dīyatāṁ mama
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“I do not want any one of the four desirable stations. I simply want to engage as a servant of the lotus feet of the Lord.” King Kulaśekhara, in his very famous book Mukunda-mālā-stotra, prays:

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:nāhaṁ vande tava caraṇayor dvandvam advandva-hetoḥ
:kumbhī-pākaṁ gurum api hare nārakaṁ nāpanetum
:ramyā-rāmā-mṛdu-tanu-latā-nandane nābhirantuṁ 
:bhāve bhāve hṛdaya-bhavane bhāvayeyaṁ bhavantam
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“My Lord, I do not worship You to be liberated from this material entanglement, nor do I wish to save myself from the hellish condition of material existence, nor do I ever pray for a beautiful wife to enjoy in a nice garden. I wish only that I may always be in full ecstasy with the pleasure of serving Your Lordship.” (MM 4) In Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam also there are many instances in the Third and Fourth cantos in which devotees pray to the Lord simply to be engaged in His service, and nothing else ([[Vanisource:SB 3.4.15|SB 3.4.15]], [[Vanisource:SB 3.25.34|SB 3.25.34]], [[Vanisource:SB 3.25.36|SB 3.25.36]], [[Vanisource:SB 4.8.22|SB 4.8.22]], [[Vanisource:SB 4.9.10|SB 4.9.10]] and [[Vanisource:SB 4.20.24|SB 4.20.24]]).
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