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Mutual Affection

Śrīla Bhakti Siddhānta Saraswatī Ṭhākur’s commentary on the fourth verse of Śrī Upadeśāmṛta.

The following is a translation of Śrīla Bhakti Siddhānta Saraswatī Ṭhākur’s poetic Bengali translation, Bhāṣā, and Bengali prose commentary, Anuvṛtti, on Śrīla Rūpa Goswāmī Prabhu’s Śrī Upadeśāmṛta.

These texts were published in Śrī Gauḍīya Darśan, in Volume 2, Issue 11, 10 June 1957,  Volume 2, Issue 12, 12 July 1957, and Volume 3, Issue 1, 12 August 1957. In combination with Śrīla Bhakti Vinod Ṭhākur’s Pīyūṣa-varṣiṇī-vṛtti, they were also published as a book from Śrī Chaitanya Sāraswat Maṭh by Śrīla Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswāmī Mahārāj in 1970.

The Upadeśāmṛta of Śrīla Rūpa Goswāmī is also extremely good for us.”

Śrīla Bhakti Sundar Govinda Dev-Goswāmī Mahārāj,
Affectionate Guidance

Śrī Upadeśāmṛta Verse Four

দদাতি প্রতিগৃহ্নাতি গুহ্যমাখ্যাতি পৃচ্ছতি ।
ভুঙ্ক্তে ভোজয়তে চৈব ষড়্বিধং প্রীতি-লক্ষণম্ ॥৪॥

dadāti pratigṛhṇāti guhyam ākhyāti pṛchchhati
bhuṅkte bhojayate chaiva ṣaḍ-vidhaṁ prīti-lakṣaṇam [4]

dadāti–Giving, pratigṛhṇāti–accepting, guhyam ākhyāti–speaking confidentially, pṛchchhati–asking, bhuṅkte–eating, cha–and bhojayate–feeding— [these are] eva–certainly ṣaḍ–six vidham–types lakṣaṇam–of characteristics prīti–of love.

Giving and accepting gifts, discussing and enquiring about confidential matters, and giving and partaking of foods are six types of characteristics of love.

Bhāṣā

দ্রব্যের প্রদান, আর আদান করিলে ।
গোপনীয়-বাক্যব্যয়, আর জিজ্ঞাসিলে ॥১॥
ভোজন করিলে, আর ভোজ্য খাওয়াইলে ।
প্রীতির লক্ষণ হয়, যবে দুই মিলে ॥২॥

dravyera pradāna āra ādāna karile
gopanīya vākya-vyaya āra jijñāsile [1]

bhojana karile āra bhojya khāoyāile
prītira lakṣaṇa haya yabe dui mile [2]

lakṣaṇa–The characteristics prītira–of love haya–appear yabe–when dui–two [devotees] mile–meet, karile–engage pradāna–in giving āra–and ādāna–acceptance dravyera–of articles, vākya-vyaya–speaking āra–and jijñāsile–enquiring [about] gopanīya–confidential matters, [and] bhojana karile–eating āra–and bhojya khāoyāile–feeding [one another]. [1–2]

Love is expressed when two devotees meet, give and accept articles, speak and enquire about confidential matters, and eat and feed one another.

ভক্তজন সহ প্রীতি-সঙ্গ ছয় এই ।
অভক্তে অপ্রীতি করে ভাগ্যবান্ যেই ॥৩॥

bhakta-jana saha prīti saṅga chhaya ei
abhakta aprīti kare bhāgyavān yei [3]

ei–These [are the] chhaya–six [types of] prīti–loving saṅga–association saha–with bhakta-jana–devotees. [Those] yei–who [are] bhāgyavān–fortunate aprīti kare–do not express [such] love abhakta–towards non-devotees. [3]

These are the six types of loving association with devotees. Those who are fortunate do not express such love towards nondevotees.

Anuvṛtti

The characteristics of love have been described as an illustration of association. Illusionists, seekers of liberation; materialists, seekers of prosperity, enjoyers of the fruits of their actions; and anyābhilāṣīs—if one develops affection for these three groups, then one’s devotion is destroyed by the faults produced by their association. One should not give advice, articles, or anything else to these three groups; giving the Name of the Lord to those who have no faith is an offence, and if one accepts advice regarding liberation or enjoyment from them, one will develop affection for them. One should not advise them about the service of Kṛṣṇa. Ṭhākur Narottam (Pbc: 9.19) has said,

āpana bhajana-kathā nā kahibe yathā tathā

[“Do not speak anywhere and everywhere about your personal service.”] 

They do not need to hear about confidential secrets because those who oppose the Lord are self-destructive. One should not eat anything that has been touched by any of them. If one does, then one has to take in some part of their tendency to enjoy matter separately from Kṛṣṇa.

viṣayīra anna khāile malina haya mana
malina mana haile nahe kṛṣṇera smaraṇa
(Śrī Chaitanya-charitāmṛta: Antya-līlā, 6.278)

[“If you eat materialistic people’s food, your mind becomes contaminated, and if your mind is contaminated, you cannot remember Kṛṣṇa.”] 

One should not feed these three types of materialists. Mutual affection increases by the acts of both feeding and eating. When souls develop affection for persons who are loving and like-minded, then they develop in those respects. The practices of accepting and giving articles, speaking and hearing about confidential topics, and eating and feeding should be given up with persons who are not like-minded.

Reference

Read Śrīla Bhakti Siddhānta Saraswatī Ṭhākur’s commentary on Śrī Upadeśāmṛta: verses onetwo, and three.

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