Hare Krishna! Symptoms of affection expressed in Srimad Bhagavatam
(From a Srimad Bhagavatam class given Aug 23, 2015 at the Iskcon Chicago temple. )
Malati Devi Dasi: Due to the different types of attraction for Krsna, there are different varieties of devotees. Their symptoms are manifested transparently, just like jewels. It is said that a great devotee brahmana would sometimes address the Supreme Personality of Godhead as master and sometimes joke with the Lord, using different kinds of familiar words. Sometimes he would protect the Lord with a filial affection, sometimes he would cry out to the Lord, addressing the Lord as his beloved, and sometimes he would meditate on the Lord as the Supersoul. This means that the brahmana expressed his ecstatic loving symptoms in different ways at different times. But in each instance, because of ecstatic love, the brahmana merged himself in the ocean of happiness and became situated in pure love. Thus he was a transparent medium, like a jewel that shows reality in varying colors according to its own nature.
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