FolioCorpusŚrīmad-Bhāgavatam

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 7.4.40

नदति क्‍वचिदुत्कण्ठो विलज्जो नृत्यति क्‍वचित् । क्‍वचित्तद्भ‍ावनायुक्तस्तन्मयोऽनुचकार ह ॥ ४० ॥
nadati kvacid utkaṇṭho
[nadati kvachid utkantho]
vilajjo nṛtyati kvacit
[vilajjo nrityati kvachit]
kvacit tad-bhāvanā-yuktas
[kvachit tad-bhaavanaa-yuktas]
tanmayo ’nucakāra ha
[tanmayo ’nuchakaara ha]
nadati — exclaims loudly (addressing the Lord, “O Kṛṣṇa”) kvacit — sometimes utkaṇṭhaḥ — being anxious vilajjaḥ — without shame nṛtyati — he dances kvacit — sometimes kvacit — sometimes tat-bhāvanā — with thoughts of Kṛṣṇa yuktaḥ — being absorbed tat-mayaḥ — thinking as if he had become Kṛṣṇa anucakāra — imitated ha — indeed.
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
nadati kvacid utkaṇṭho
nadati
exclaims loudly (addressing the Lord, “O Kṛṣṇa”)
kvacit
sometimes
utkaṇṭhaḥ
being anxious
vilajjo nṛtyati kvacit
vilajjaḥ
without shame
nṛtyati
he dances
kvacit
sometimes
kvacit tad-bhāvanā-yuktas
kvacit
sometimes
tat-bhāvanā
with thoughts of Kṛṣṇa
yuktaḥ
being absorbed
tanmayo ’nucakāra ha
tat-mayaḥ
thinking as if he had become Kṛṣṇa
anucakāra
imitated
ha
indeed.
Sometimes, upon seeing the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Prahlāda Mahārāja would loudly call in full anxiety. He sometimes lost his shyness in jubilation and began dancing in ecstasy, and sometimes, being fully absorbed in thoughts of Kṛṣṇa, he felt oneness and imitated the pastimes of the Lord.

Prahlāda Mahārāja sometimes felt that the Lord was far away from him and therefore called Him loudly. When he saw that the Lord was before him, he was fully jubilant. Sometimes, thinking himself one with the Supreme, he imitated the Lord’s pastimes, and in separation from the Lord he would sometimes show symptoms of madness. These feelings of a devotee would not be appreciated by impersonalists. One must go further and further into spiritual understanding. The first realization is impersonal Brahman, but one must go still further to realize Paramātmā and eventually the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is worshiped by the transcendental feelings of a devotee in a relationship of śānta, dāsya, sakhya, vātsalya or mādhurya. Here the feelings of Prahlāda Mahārāja were in the mellow of vātsalya, filial love and affection. As a child cries when left by his mother, when Prahlāda Mahārāja felt that the Lord was away from him he began to cry ( nadati ). Again, a devotee like Prahlāda sometimes sees that the Lord is coming from a long distance to pacify him, like a mother responding to a child, saying, “My dear child, do not cry. I am coming.” Then the devotee, without being ashamed due to his surroundings and circumstances, begins to dance, thinking, “Here is my Lord! My Lord is coming!” Thus the devotee, in full ecstasy, sometimes imitates the pastimes of the Lord, just as the cowherd boys used to imitate the behavior of the jungle animals. However, he does not actually become the Lord. Prahlāda Mahārāja achieved the spiritual ecstasies described herein by his advancement in spiritual understanding.

— A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda
Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura Gauḍīya
Translation
Sometimes in great longing he would cry out or would dance without shame. Sometimes, lost in thoughts of the Lord, identifying with the Lord, he would imitate the Lord’s pastimes. When Prahlāda would see the Lord suddenly appear at a great distance, with intensified longing, the Lord would cry out. “O Prahlāda! Dear child! Without seeing you, I get no satisfaction, since you alone are most dear to me.” When the Lord would say this, Prahlāda in great bliss would become confused and dance without shame. Then when the Lord disappeared, out of great pain of separation, he would lose himself in deep thoughts of the Lord, and identifying himself as the Lord out of the strength of the vyabhicāri-bhāva of unmada (madness), he would imitate the pastimes of Rāma and Kṛṣṇa which they displayed when they appeared in this world.
Seeing the Lord, Prahlada would lose shyness and dance; absorbed in oneness, he sometimes imitated the Lord's pastimes. The devotee's progression moves from impersonal Brahman to Paramatma to the Supreme Person. Spiritual maturity grows more, not less, personal.
Reflection Questions
  • Where in your spiritual life have you stalled at the impersonal when the personal is calling?
  • What 'losing shyness' before the Lord might mean for you this week?
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