Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu .3.10
ratyā tu bhāva evātra na tu premābhidhīyate |
[ratyaa tu bhaava evaatra na tu premaabhidheeyate |]
mama bhaktiḥ pravṛtteti vakṣyate sa yad agrataḥ ||10||
[mama bhaktih pravritteti vakshyate sa yad agratah ||10||]
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
ratyā tu bhāva evātra na tu premābhidhīyate |
mama bhaktiḥ pravṛtteti vakṣyate sa yad agrataḥ ||10||
The word rati in the Bhāgavatam verse indicates bhāva, not prema, because, two verses later, the appearance of prema is indicated with the words “My bhakti (prema) then appeared.”
Purport
This ecstatic love is prior to the pure love of Kṛṣṇa, because in the next verse Nārada confirms that by the gradual process of hearing from the great sages he developed love of Godhead.
— A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda
Gauḍīya Ācāryas
Jīva Gosvāmī
Gauḍīya
Durgama-saṅgamanī
Commentary
In verse 1.5.28 of the Bhāgavatam (quoted in the next verse of the text), Nārada says bhaktiḥ pravṛttātma rajas-tamopahā. The word bhakti indicates prema. Thus in the context, rati, in this verse, means bhāva, since it is the preliminary state, and bhakti means prema, since it is the superior state. Thus, the difference between bhāva and prema, as stated in the definition of bhāva, is illustrated: bhāva is like a ray of the sun of prema.
My note
Source: vedabase.io