Text
rāgātmikā-bhakti—‘mukhyā’ vraja-vāsi-jane
tāra anugata bhaktira ‘rāgānugā’-nāme
Synonyms
rāgātmikā-bhakti—spontaneous devotional service; mukhya—preeminent; vraja-vasi-jane—in the inhabitants of Vraja, or Vṛndāvana; tara—that; anugata—following; bhaktira—of devotional service; raganuga-nāme—named rāgānugā or following after spontaneous devotional service. ¶
Translation
“The original inhabitants of Vṛndāvana are attached to Kṛṣṇa spontaneously in devotional service. Nothing can compare to such spontaneous devotional service, which is called rāgātmikā bhakti. When a devotee follows in the footsteps of the devotees of Vṛndāvana, his devotional service is called rāgānugā bhakti. ¶
Purport
In his Bhakti-sandarbha, Jīva Gosvāmī states: ¶
tad evaṁ tat-tad-abhimāna-lakṣaṇa-bhāva-viśeṣveṇa svābhāvika-rāgasya vaiśiṣṭye sati tat-tad-rāga-prayuktā śravaṇa-kīrtana-smaraṇa-pāda-sevana-vandanātma-nivedana-prāyā bhaktis teṣāṁ rāgātmikā bhaktir ity ucyate…. tatas tadīyaṁ rāgaṁ rucyānugacchantī sā rāgānugā. ¶
When a pure devotee follows the footsteps of a devotee in Vṛndāvana, he develops rāgānugā bhakti. ¶