Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrī Caitanya Caritāmṛta Ādi 3.20

āpani karimu bhakta-bhāva ańgīkāre

āpani ācari' bhakti śikhāimu sabāre

SYNONYMS

āpani — personally; karimu — I shall make; bhakta-bhāva — the position of a devotee; ańgīkāre — acceptance; āpani — personally; ācari' — practicing; bhakti — devotional service; śikhāimu — I shall teach; sabāre — to all.

TRANSLATION

"I shall accept the role of a devotee, and I shall teach devotional service by practicing it Myself.

PURPORT

When one associates with a pure devotee, he becomes so elevated that he does not aspire even for sārṣṭi, sārūpya, sāmīpya or sālokya, because he feels that such liberation is a kind of sense gratification. Pure devotees do not ask anything from the Lord for their personal benefit. Even if offered personal benefits, pure devotees do not accept them, because their only desire is to satisfy the Supreme Personality of Godhead by transcendental loving service. No one but the Lord Himself can teach this highest form of devotional service. Therefore, when the Lord took the place of the incarnation of Kali-yuga to spread the glories of chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa — the system of worship recommended in this age — He also distributed the process of devotional service performed on the platform of transcendental spontaneous love. To teach the highest principles of spiritual life, the Lord Himself appeared as a devotee in the form of Lord Caitanya.

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His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, Founder Ācārya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness