Sri Priti Sandarbha By Satyanarayana Dasa (2 Vols Set) - Prīti Sandarbha is the sixth and final volume in the Sat Sandarbha anthology by Sri Jiva Gosvami, following the previously published Tattva, Bhagavat, Paramātma, Kṛṣṇa, and Bhakti Sandarbhas. In this book, Sri Jiva Gosvami unravels the mystery of prīti in a rigorously systematic manner, placing it on the highest pedestal of all human pursuits.
Everyone talks about love, but most people have no idea what true love actually is. Prīti is not just an emotion, a fleeting quality of the mind; rather, it is a conscious functional capacity constituted of the intrinsic potency of Bhagavān (svarūpa-śakti-vṛtti) and is thus transphenomenal by its fundamental nature. It should not be confused with worldly love, which is based on the identification with the material body. Prīti categorically transcends such egoic identification and is thus bereft of all ulterior self-serving motives.
This prīti is not to be found in material relations. Although worldly love may externally appear similar to spiritual love, it is always self-centered because it is based on the egoic identification with the material body. Accordingly, material love is a functional capacity belonging to material nature (prakṛti). Spiritual love (prīti), however, is a functional capacity of Bhagavān’s own intrinsic potency. It is conscious and perpetually evolving, and its very nature is bliss. It is bereft of all vested interest and awards complete fulfillment of the heart. Having once attained it, nothing further remains to be obtained.
By the vivid disclosure of prīti’s limitless and variegated unfolding within the transcendental domain of prīti-rasa, the intentful yearning for prīti is awakened in the heart of sincere practitioners, extinguishing the desire for all other lesser pursuits. Although prīti it is not inherent in the constitutional makeup of living beings, it can be sympathetically imbibed through the grace of a highly realized devotee or Bhagavān.