CC Madhya 6.268 (1975)
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
Below is the 1996 edition text, ready to be substituted with the 1975 one using the compile form.
TEXT 268
- ‘sāyujya’ śunite bhaktera haya ghṛṇā-bhaya
- naraka vāñchaye, tabu sāyujya nā laya
SYNONYMS
sāyujya—liberation by merging into the effulgence; śunite—even to hear; bhaktera—of the devotee; haya—there is; ghṛṇā—hatred; bhaya—fear; naraka—a hellish condition of life; vāñchaye—he desires; tabu—still; sāyujya—merging into the effulgence of the Lord; nā laya—never accepts.
TRANSLATION
“A pure devotee does not like even to hear about sāyujya-mukti, which inspires him with fear and hatred. Indeed, the pure devotee would rather go to hell than merge into the effulgence of the Lord.”
PURPORT
Śrīla Prabodhānanda Sarasvatī has sung, kaivalyaṁ narakāyate. The impersonalist’s conception of becoming one with the effulgence of the Lord is exactly like hell. Therefore, of the five types of liberation, the first four (sālokya, sāmīpya, sārūpya and sārṣṭi) are not so undesirable because they can be avenues of service to the Lord. Nonetheless, a pure devotee of Lord Kṛṣṇa rejects even these types of liberation; he aspires only to serve Kṛṣṇa birth after birth. He is not very interested in stopping the repetition of birth, for he simply desires to serve the Lord, even in hellish circumstances. Consequently the pure devotee hates and fears sāyujya-mukti, merging into the effulgence of the Lord. This merging is due to an offense committed against the transcendental loving service of the Lord, and therefore it is not at all desirable for a pure devotee.