A Sadhak's Question - What is the difference between attachment and love?
Shri Maharaj Ji's answer -
There is one body and eleven faculties. In that, there are ten senses, one mind, one intellect, and one soul. These are collectively referred to as the senses, mind, and intellect. More concisely, they are referred to simply as "the mind."
Based on its state at any point, your intellect will direct the mind, and the mind will direct the senses, which will act accordingly. As a result, the traveler - the soul - will move in that direction.
There are only two possible directions - one towards the East, the realm of God, and one towards the West, the realm of Māyā.
The realm of Māyā consists of the material world, which is of two types:
- Inert - such as food, drinks, material possessions, etc., and
- Conscious - such as mother, father, children, spouse, etc., who are all bound by Māyā.
Getting attached to anything in either of these categories is called attachment. Its result is endless wandering through the cycle of 8.4 million life forms, accompanied by sorrow, restlessness, dissatisfaction, incompleteness, and bondage. This is poison. Hence, it is condemned and referred to as 'preya'.
The second domain consists of God and God-realized saints. God, His names, forms, pastimes, qualities, abodes, and His saints - if your mind becomes attached to any of these, it is called love. This is nectar, through which you attain immortality, eternal divine knowledge, and divine bliss forever. This is called 'shreya'.
The difference between the two is vast; they are complete opposites. As Gaurāng Mahāprabhu said -
kāma aṃdhatama, prema nirmala bhāskara
Love is like the sun, and attachment is deep darkness. People in the world say to one another, "I love you,” but they do not even know the definition of true love. Love is the very form of God. What they feel is not love but attachment, and that too in the wrong place.
The human body is rare even for celestial beings. If you experience sorrow even when you have cooked meals ready at home, imagine the suffering in the life of a dog, cat, or donkey. Consider how much greater their suffering must be. Animals wander all day just to satisfy their hunger. They have no home, no shelter from heat, cold, or rain, and no provision for food. Despite enduring such hardships, humans capture and exploit them for their own comfort, using horses, bulls, cows, and buffaloes for labor. Humans even beat them with sticks to fulfill their selfish motives. You have gone through these life forms countless times. If you do not practice devotion now, you will have to enter those same forms again. Think about the magnitude of that suffering.
Loving God is no different in practice than loving someone in the world. Just as Laila loved Majnū, Meera loved Shri Krishna, and so did the Gopis love Shri Krishna. They, too, had the same senses as you. If you surrender your body, mind, and soul to the world, you will receive worldly outcomes. But if you offer them to God and His saints, you will transcend Māyā and attain divine bliss and knowledge. The act of surrender remains the same; only the result differs. You will attain the power and qualities of the one you love - it is that simple.
And you will definitely love someone and will have to love someone, if not today, then tomorrow. No one can escape this. You must attain the one whom you love after death.
Therefore -
śreyaḥ ādadānasya sādhu bhavati
He who chooses 'shreya', who loves the divine realm, attains the supreme goal. The fruit of this love is eternal, divine bliss.
Recommended books by Jagadguru Shri Kripalu Ji Maharaj related to this topic:
Prema Rasa Siddhanta - English
A Sadhak's Question - What is the difference between attachment and love?
Shri Maharaj Ji's answer -
There is one body and eleven faculties. In that, there are ten senses, one mind, one intellect, and one soul. These are collectively referred to as the senses, mind, and intellect. More concisely, they are referred to simply as "the mind."
Based on its state at any point, your intellect will direct the mind, and the mind will direct the senses, which will act accordingly. As a result, the traveler - the soul - will move in that direction.
There are only two possible directions - one towards the East, the realm of God, and one towards the West, the realm of Māyā.
The realm of Māyā consists of the material world, which is of two types:
Getting attached to anything in either of these categories is called attachment. Its result is endless wandering through the cycle of 8.4 million life forms, accompanied by sorrow, restlessness, dissatisfaction, incompleteness, and bondage. This is poison. Hence, it is condemned and referred to as 'preya'.
The second domain consists of God and God-realized saints. God, His names, forms, pastimes, qualities, abodes, and His saints - if your mind becomes attached to any of these, it is called love. This is nectar, through which you attain immortality, eternal divine knowledge, and divine bliss forever. This is called 'shreya'.
The difference between the two is vast; they are complete opposites. As Gaurāng Mahāprabhu said -
kāma aṃdhatama, prema nirmala bhāskara
Love is like the sun, and attachment is deep darkness. People in the world say to one another, "I love you,” but they do not even know the definition of true love. Love is the very form of God. What they feel is not love but attachment, and that too in the wrong place.
The human body is rare even for celestial beings. If you experience sorrow even when you have cooked meals ready at home, imagine the suffering in the life of a dog, cat, or donkey. Consider how much greater their suffering must be. Animals wander all day just to satisfy their hunger. They have no home, no shelter from heat, cold, or rain, and no provision for food. Despite enduring such hardships, humans capture and exploit them for their own comfort, using horses, bulls, cows, and buffaloes for labor. Humans even beat them with sticks to fulfill their selfish motives. You have gone through these life forms countless times. If you do not practice devotion now, you will have to enter those same forms again. Think about the magnitude of that suffering.
Loving God is no different in practice than loving someone in the world. Just as Laila loved Majnū, Meera loved Shri Krishna, and so did the Gopis love Shri Krishna. They, too, had the same senses as you. If you surrender your body, mind, and soul to the world, you will receive worldly outcomes. But if you offer them to God and His saints, you will transcend Māyā and attain divine bliss and knowledge. The act of surrender remains the same; only the result differs. You will attain the power and qualities of the one you love - it is that simple.
And you will definitely love someone and will have to love someone, if not today, then tomorrow. No one can escape this. You must attain the one whom you love after death.
Therefore -
śreyaḥ ādadānasya sādhu bhavati
He who chooses 'shreya', who loves the divine realm, attains the supreme goal. The fruit of this love is eternal, divine bliss.
Recommended books by Jagadguru Shri Kripalu Ji Maharaj related to this topic:
Prema Rasa Siddhanta - English
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