Loving affection

Expressions researched:
"loving affection" |"loving affections"

SB Canto 1

The Lord is fully independent in all His dealings, but He voluntarily accepts obligations by the loving affection of His pure devotees.

SB 1.8.45, Purport:

No one could make Lord Kṛṣṇa stay at Hastināpura when He decided to start for Dvārakā, but the simple request of King Yudhiṣṭhira that the Lord remain there for a few days more was immediately effective. This signifies that the power of King Yudhiṣṭhira was loving affection, which the Lord could not deny. The almighty God is thus conquered only by loving service and nothing else. He is fully independent in all His dealings, but He voluntarily accepts obligations by the loving affection of His pure devotees.

After surpassing the brahminical perfection, one has to become a devotee of the Lord so that His loving affection in the form of proprietor, master, friend, son and lover can be transcendentally achieved.

SB 1.14.34, Purport:

By brahminical culture, the development of the dormant qualities of goodness, namely truthfulness, equanimity, sense control, forbearance, simplicity, general knowledge, transcendental knowledge, and firm faith in the Vedic wisdom, one can become a brāhmaṇa and thus see the Lord as He is. And after surpassing the brahminical perfection, one has to become a devotee of the Lord so that His loving affection in the form of proprietor, master, friend, son and lover can be transcendentally achieved. The stage of a devotee, which attracts the transcendental affection of the Lord, does not develop unless one has developed the qualities of a brāhmaṇa as above mentioned.

SB Canto 5

Even such an exalted personality as Bharata Mahārāja, who had attained loving affection for the Supreme Personality of Godhead, fell down from his position due to his affection for some animal.

SB 5.8.12, Purport:

How Mahārāja Bharata increased his affection for the deer is described herein. Even such an exalted personality as Bharata Mahārāja, who had attained loving affection for the Supreme Personality of Godhead, fell down from his position due to his affection for some animal. Consequently, as will be seen, he had to accept the body of a deer in his next life. Since this was the case with Bharata Mahārāja, what can we say of those who are not advanced in spiritual life but who become attached to cats and dogs? Due to their affection for their cats and dogs, they have to take the same bodily forms in the next life unless they clearly increase their affection and love for the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Unless we increase our faith in the Supreme Lord, we shall be attracted to many other things. That is the cause of our material bondage.

SB Cantos 10.14 to 12 (Translations Only)

SB 10.22.18, Translation:

When the Supreme Lord saw how the gopīs were struck with embarrassment, He was satisfied by their pure loving affection. Putting their clothes on His shoulder, the Lord smiled and spoke to them with affection.

CC Madhya-lila

Among His associates, Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu enjoyed paternal loving affection from Paramānanda Purī.

CC Madhya 2.78, Purport:

Among His associates, Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu enjoyed paternal loving affection from Paramānanda Purī, friendly affection with Rāmānanda Rāya, unalloyed service from Govinda and others, and humors of conjugal love with Gadādhara, Jagadānanda and Svarūpa Dāmodara. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu enjoyed all these four mellows, and thus He remained obliged to His devotees.

CC Madhya 16.137, Translation:

Just to get Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu's association, Gadādhara Paṇḍita gave up his life's vow to engage in Gopīnātha's service. This kind of loving affection can be understood only by very confidential devotees. Ordinarily, no one can understand its purport.

CC Antya-lila

Lalitā-sakhī said, "O Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī, You are very intelligent. How could You have developed such great loving affection for this deceitful debauchee from the neighborhood of the cowherds?"

CC Antya 1.154, Purport:

“"Our hearts are so polluted by miserable conditions that we are certainly going to Pluto"s kingdom. Nevertheless, Kṛṣṇa does not give up His beautiful loving smiling, which is full of cheating tricks. O Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī, You are very intelligent. How could You have developed such great loving affection for this deceitful debauchee from the neighborhood of the cowherds?’"'"

CC Antya 14.114, Translation:

Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu returned to complete external consciousness and immediately offered prayers to them. Then these two elderly gentlemen both embraced the Lord with loving affection.

Nectar of Devotion

Kubjā's loving affection for Kṛṣṇa is called kāma-prāyā, or almost like the gopīs' love for Kṛṣṇa.

Nectar of Devotion 15:

On the other hand, the lusty desire of Kubjā is described by learned scholars as being "almost lusty desire." Kubjā was a hunchbacked woman who also wanted Kṛṣṇa with a great ecstatic love. But her desire for Kṛṣṇa was almost mundane, and so her love cannot be compared to the love of the gopīs. Her loving affection for Kṛṣṇa is called kāma-prāyā, or almost like the gopīs' love for Kṛṣṇa.

When Lord Rāmacandra was residing in Daṇḍakāraṇya, the sages who were engaged in devotional service there became attracted by His beauty and immediately thought of the gopīs at Vṛndāvana, who enjoyed conjugal loving affection with Kṛṣṇa.

Nectar of Devotion 16:

The story of the sages of Daṇḍakāraṇya can be explained as follows. When Lord Rāmacandra was residing in Daṇḍakāraṇya, the sages who were engaged in devotional service there became attracted by His beauty and immediately thought of the gopīs at Vṛndāvana, who enjoyed conjugal loving affection with Kṛṣṇa. In this instance it is clear that the sages of Daṇḍakāraṇya desired conjugal love in the manner of the gopīs, although they were well aware of the Supreme Lord as both Kṛṣṇa and Lord Rāmacandra. They knew that although Rāmacandra was an ideal king and could not accept more than one wife, Lord Kṛṣṇa, being the full-fledged Personality of Godhead, could fulfill the desires of all of them in Vṛndāvana. These sages also concluded that the form of Lord Kṛṣṇa is more attractive than that of Lord Rāmacandra, and so they prayed to become gopīs in their future lives to be associated with Kṛṣṇa.

It has been stated, "Although Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī developed a deep loving affection for Kṛṣṇa, She hid Her attitude in the core of Her heart so that others could not detect Her actual condition."

Nectar of Devotion 30:

It has been stated, "Although Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī developed a deep loving affection for Kṛṣṇa, She hid Her attitude in the core of Her heart so that others could not detect Her actual condition." This is an instance of concealment caused by gentleness.

In this instance there is a mixture of laughter and compassion, but there is no incompatibility, because by both of these rasas the loving affection for Kṛṣṇa is increased.

Nectar of Devotion 50:

There are many other instances of contradictory mellows where there is no perverted experience of rasābhāsa. Once some minor demigod of the heavenly planets remarked, "Kṛṣṇa, whose joking words were once the source of so much laughter for the residents of Vraja, has now been attacked by the serpent king, Kāliya, and He has become the object of everyone's overwhelming lamentation!" In this instance there is a mixture of laughter and compassion, but there is no incompatibility, because by both of these rasas the loving affection for Kṛṣṇa is increased.

Krsna, The Supreme Personality of Godhead

In this way Sātyaki, Vikarṇa, Hārdikya, Vidura, Santardana and Bhūriśravā, the son of Bāhlīka, were all engaged in different departments for managing the affairs of the Rājasūya sacrifice. They were all so bound in loving affection for King Yudhiṣṭhira that they simply wanted to please him.

Krsna Book 75:

Śukadeva Gosvāmī said, “My dear King Parīkṣit, your grandfather King Yudhiṣṭhira was a great soul. His congenial disposition attracted everyone to be his friend, and therefore he was known as ajāta-śatru, one who never created an enemy. He engaged all the members of the Kuru dynasty in taking charge of different departments for the management of the Rājasūya sacrifice. For example, Bhīmasena was put in charge of the kitchen department, Duryodhana in charge of the treasury department, Sahadeva in charge of the reception department, Nakula in charge of the store department, and Arjuna in charge of looking after the comforts of the elder persons. The most astonishing feature was that Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, took charge of washing the feet of all the incoming guests. The Queen, the goddess of fortune Draupadī, was in charge of administering the distribution of food, and because Karṇa was famous for giving charity, he was put in charge of the charity department. In this way Sātyaki, Vikarṇa, Hārdikya, Vidura, Santardana and Bhūriśravā, the son of Bāhlīka, were all engaged in different departments for managing the affairs of the Rājasūya sacrifice. They were all so bound in loving affection for King Yudhiṣṭhira that they simply wanted to please him.

Kṛṣṇa said to the gopīs,“Fortunately, you have developed loving affection for Me, which is the only way to achieve the transcendental position of association with Me."

Krsna Book 82:

“Fortunately, you have developed loving affection for Me, which is the only way to achieve the transcendental position of association with Me. Any living entity who develops such unalloyed devotional affection for Me certainly at the end goes back home, back to Godhead. In other words, unalloyed devotional service and affection for Me are the cause of supreme liberation."

Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures

Only the devotees who have loving affection for Kṛṣṇa can see Him.

Lecture on BG 2.25 -- Hyderabad, November 29, 1972:

When it is night, I cannot see the sun, but the sun is there. Similarly, Kṛṣṇa is always there. We have to make our eyes to see Him. That's all. And that, how that eyes are made?

premāñjana-cchurita-bhakti-vilocanena

santaḥ sadaiva hṛdayeṣu vilokayanti

yaṁ śyāmasundaram acintya-guṇa-svarūpaṁ

govindam ādi-puruṣaṁ tam ahaṁ bhajāmi

(Bs. 5.38)

Only the devotees who have loving affection for Kṛṣṇa, who has developed loving propensity... The loving propensity's there already. But we have transferred, the loving propensity to Kṛṣṇa, we have transferred the loving propensity to the māyā.

So whole Kṛṣṇa consciousness process is again transferring the loving propensity from māyā to Kṛṣṇa. This is the simple method.

1967 Correspondence

There is competition of loving Krishna even in the party of Srimati Radharani. It is a kind of rasa to compete in loving affection centering around Krishna.

Letter to Brahmananda -- Calcutta 18 November, 1967:

This personal grudge is not inhuman and as I have told many times, that individualism is the cause of personal misunderstanding. When such individualism is employed in the center of Krishna there is no harm even if there is personal misunderstanding. Personal misunderstanding exists even in the higher levels. There is competition of loving Krishna even in the party of Srimati Radharani. It is a kind of rasa to compete in loving affection centering around Krishna. We shall, therefore, try to bring back Hayagriva and Kirtanananda to their senses.

1976 Correspondence

I am very much pleased to understand that although you are now living away from Vrndavana, your mind is here. This is the symptom of loving affection for Krishna.

Letter to Dixit -- Vrindaban 18 September, 1976:

Please accept my blessings. I am in due receipt of your kind letter dated 14th Sept. 1976 and have noted the contents with care. I am very much pleased to understand that although you are now living away from Vrndavana, your mind is here. That is a very good sign. This is the symptom of loving affection for Krishna.