Namaste Ram Ji,
Sorry to go off track and deviate from the original OP, but to reply to Ram Ji
Could you write a short post about Bhakti in the mood of separation,how it is experienced.)
There were only 8 verses that Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu wrote, here are the last 3 verses of
Shikshashtakam
(6)
nayanam galad-ashru-dharaya
vadanam gadgada-ruddhaya gira
pulakair nichitam vapuh kada
tava nama-grahane bhavishyati
O my Lord, when will my eyes be decorated with tears of love flowing constantly when I chant Your holy name? When will my voice choke up, and when will the hairs of my body stand on end at the recitation of Your name?
(7)
yugayitam nimeshena
chakshusha pravrishayitam
shunyayitam jagat sarvam
govinda-virahena me
O Govinda! Feeling Your separation, I am considering a moment to be like twelve years or more. Tears are flowing from my eyes like torrents of rain, and I am feeling all vacant in the world in Your absence.
(8)
ashlishya va pada-ratam pinashtu mam
adarshanan marma-hatam karotu va
yatha tatha va vidadhatu lampato
mat-prana-nathas tu sa eva naparaha
I know no one but Krishna as my Lord, and He shall remain so even if He handles me roughly by His embrace or makes me brokenhearted by not being present before me. He is completely free to do anything and everything, for He is always my worshipful Lord, unconditionally.
Puri is in fact where Sri Chaitanya showed the more mature spiritual emotions of Bhakti and devotion, sometimes he was calm and peaceful, other times he collapsed in trance and was considered dead by some. He was seen running into the ocean thinking it was Ganga Ma and fishermen caught him while absorbed in deep trance like states of Prema Bhava, other times he hit his head on the wall till blood came when he felt intense separation and finally he merged into the Tota Gopinatha Deity.
As with all shastra and higher teachings there is many things we can take from this, when the Jiva is feeling separation he yearns to be united, if we acquire a small taste of that union then we become mad after it, we become devoted in one way or another, we give everything although that union may not always be present. One has to develop a strong desire to reach the absolute level of full realization, nothing comes cheap. There are many levels of understanding in the Puri lila of Sri Chaitanya, when he was in union and separation both were considered the highest forms of ecstasy and the highest expressions of prem bhakti.
Some say Bhakti is sentimental and that is one of the pitfalls of Bhakti, so Bhakti needs to be supported by Jnana, but once Jnana has served its purpose to rid one of avidya and come to the stage/state of brahma-bhutah prasannatm then the relationship with Sri Krsna Begins in rasa Bhava or pure emotions, there is nothing sentimental or mundane about it, as Jnana has already purified the mundane attachment to the body and anything that is considered to be maya or avidya.
Some consider that it is Bhakti that gets one to the brahma state, some says that Bhakti only really starts once one has realized Brahma, never mind, just continue...... the destination is secured for those how are sincere in both paths. Jnana Marg and Bhakti marg are one and the same.
Sorry for going off track, lets all try with good purpose in whatever ways we can to bring both Indian and non Indians into this wonderful culture and liberating path.
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