Attracting Krishna
\n\u015ar\u012bla R\u016bpa Gosv\u0101m\u012b has stated that devotional service attracts even K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a. K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a attracts everyone, but devotional service attracts K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a. The symbol of devotional service in the highest degree is R\u0101dh\u0101r\u0101\u1e47\u012b. K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a is called Madana-mohana, which means that He is so attractive that He can defeat the attraction of thousands of Cupids. But R\u0101dh\u0101r\u0101\u1e47\u012b is still more attractive, for She can even attract K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a. Therefore devotees call Her Madana-mohana-mohin\u012b \u2013 the attractor of the attractor of Cupid.<\/p>\n
To perform devotional service means to follow in the footsteps of R\u0101dh\u0101r\u0101\u1e47\u012b, and devotees in V\u1e5bnd\u0101vana put themselves under the care of R\u0101dh\u0101r\u0101\u1e47\u012b in order to achieve perfection in their devotional service. In other words, devotional service is not an activity of the material world; it is directly under the control of R\u0101dh\u0101r\u0101\u1e47\u012b. In Bhagavad-g\u012bt\u0101 it is confirmed that the mah\u0101tm\u0101s, or great souls, are under the protection of daiv\u012b prak\u1e5bti, the internal energy \u2013 R\u0101dh\u0101r\u0101\u1e47\u012b. So, being directly under the control of the internal potency of K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a, devotional service attracts even K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a Himself.<\/p>\n
This fact is corroborated by K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a in the Eleventh Canto of \u015ar\u012bmad-Bh\u0101gavatam, fourteenth chapter, verse 20, where He says,
\n\u201cMy dear Uddhava, you may know it from Me that the attraction I feel for devotional service rendered by My devotees is not to be attained even by the performance of mystic yoga, philosophical speculation, ritualistic sacrifices, the study of Ved\u0101nta, the practice of severe austerities or the giving of everything in charity. These are, of course, very nice activities, but they are not as attractive to Me as the transcendental loving service rendered by My devotees.\u201d<\/p>\n
How K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a becomes attracted by the devotional service of His devotees is described by N\u0101rada in \u015ar\u012bmad-Bh\u0101gavatam, Seventh Canto, tenth chapter, verses 48 and 49. There N\u0101rada addresses King Yudhi\u1e63\u1e6dhira while the king is appreciating the glories of the character of Prahl\u0101da Mah\u0101r\u0101ja. A devotee always appreciates the activities of other devotees. Yudhi\u1e63\u1e6dhira Mah\u0101r\u0101ja was appreciating the qualities of Prahl\u0101da, and that is one symptom of a pure devotee. A pure devotee never thinks himself great; he always thinks that other devotees are greater than himself. The king was thinking,
\n\u201cPrahl\u0101da Mah\u0101r\u0101ja is actually a devotee of the Lord, while I am nothing,\u201d
\nand while thinking this he was addressed by N\u0101rada as follows:
\n\u201cMy dear King Yudhi\u1e63\u1e6dhira, you [the P\u0101\u1e47\u1e0dava brothers] are the only fortunate people in this world. The Supreme Personality of Godhead has appeared on this planet and is presenting Himself to you as an ordinary human being. He is always with you in all circumstances. He is living with you and covering Himself from the eyes of others. Others cannot understand that He is the Supreme Lord, but He is still living with you as your cousin, as your friend and even as your messenger. Therefore you must know that nobody in this world is more fortunate than you.\u201d<\/p>\n
In Bhagavad-g\u012bt\u0101 when K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a appeared in His universal form Arjuna prayed,
\n\u201cMy dear K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a, I thought of You as my cousin-brother, and so I have shown disrespect to You in so many ways, calling You \u2018K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a\u2019 or \u2018friend.\u2019 But You are so great that I could not understand.\u201d
\nSo that was the position of the P\u0101\u1e47\u1e0davas; although K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the greatest among all greats, He remained with those royal brothers, being attracted by their devotion, by their friendship and by their love. That is the proof of how great this process of devotional service is. It can attract even the Supreme Personality of Godhead. God is great, but devotional service is greater than God because it attracts Him. People who are not in devotional service can never understand what great value there is in rendering service to the Lord.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Attracting Krishna \u015ar\u012bla R\u016bpa Gosv\u0101m\u012b has stated that devotional service attracts even K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a. K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a attracts everyone, but devotional service attracts K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a. The symbol of devotional service in the highest degree is R\u0101dh\u0101r\u0101\u1e47\u012b. K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a is called Madana-mohana, … Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":81,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-37640","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-english"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-21 15:14:35","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.isvara.org\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37640","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.isvara.org\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.isvara.org\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.isvara.org\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/81"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.isvara.org\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37640"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.isvara.org\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37640\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.isvara.org\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37640"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.isvara.org\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37640"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.isvara.org\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37640"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}