Pure Love

“The ultimate result of devotional service is to develop genuine love for the Supreme Personality. Love is a word which is often used in relation with man and woman. And love is the only word that can be properly used to indicate the relation between Lord Krishna and the living entities. The living entities are mentioned as prakrti in the Bhagavad-gita, and in Sanskrit prakrti is a feminine object. The Lord is always described as the parama-purusa, or the supreme male personality. Thus the affection between the Lord and the living entities is something like that between the male and the female. Therefore the term love of Godhead is quite appropriate.” (SB 1.7.7)

Industries thrive on it, popstars sing about it, teenagers dream about it, and people are willing to do practically anything for it. To love and be loved - the everlasting, universal dream. Though we wholeheartedly endeavour for that perfect connection in our material sojourn, for the most part it’s a letdown, and the story of life is more a case of frustrated love. Srimad-Bhagavatam introduces us to a world of pure and selfless loving relationships. Because the accounts of loving exchange are so rich, Srimad-Bhagavatam is described as rasamalayam, ‘the abode of loving relish.’ The narrations described in this section give us an insight into these divine exchanges. In Gopala Champu, Jiva Goswami states that hearing of the love exchanged between Krishna and His devotees helps awaken a similar love within the heart of the sincere hearer.

When the innate desire for loving connection is reposed in Krishna, everything makes perfect sense, we reconnect with our true purpose and life becomes full of joy and happiness. Some think of God as a strict and unforgiving judge; the old man who sits on a grand throne and hurls down thunderbolts every time someone deviates. Others consider Him a crutch for the weak; an imaginary being who brings peace, hope and comfort, but has little to do with objective reality. Some think of God as a mythological tool of the power-hungry elite, used to keep the masses in line and maintain the status quo. For many, God is simply the cosmic order supplier; a convenient port of call in times of need and want.

The Vedic writings paint a radically different picture. Their extraordinary revelation is not simply that God exists, but that He is bursting with colour, character and bliss. According to the Taittiriya Upanisad (2.7.1), God is ‘raso vai sah’ – the perfect embodiment of affectionate relationships, loving relish and transcendental sweetness.