Swami Prakashanand Saraswati, a revered spiritual leader and scholar, dedicated his life to elucidating the nature of divine love and devotion. He teaches that true spiritual fulfillment comes from understanding the diverse expressions of God’s divine personality and cultivating a deep, intimate relationship with forms like Krishn and Radha-Krishn.
Swami Prakashanand Saraswati teaches that..
With the grace of Krishn, there are two kinds of Divine attainments or Divine en- trance available to a soul. A devotee who conceives God in His impersonal aspect, surrenders wholeheartedly to Him, and purifies his heart through yog practice, receives Kaivalya Moksh (absolute liberation). Whereas, a devotee who worships a form of Godhead personality to experience the Divine personal bliss and servitude to his Divine beloved receives entrance into the Divine abode.
There are many Divine lokas (abodes), but God is only one. He has uncountable forms, and every Divine form is omnipresent, having the power of grace. The same God appears as Vishnu, Shiva, Shakti, Durga, Ram and Krishn. In Sanskrit there are four general words for God: Brahm, Paramatma, Ishwar and Bhagwan. Then, there are special words like: Vishnu, Shiva, Durga, Ram and Krishn etc., and there are even more specific terms to explain the status of their Divinity-Bhakti, Prema Bhakti, Sneh Bhakti, Man Bhakti, Pranaya Bhakti, Anurag Bhakti, Bhavavesh; then Mahabhao, jalp, kinjalp, avjalp, madan, modan, etc.
All these words are revealed in the scriptures, Bhakti Rasamrit Sindhu, the Bhagwatam and Ujjwal Neelmani. They explain the exact status of that Divine bliss in the Divine world. All the Divine states, however, are unlimited.
Limitation produces discontentment.
In this world there are stages and degrees of discontentment, but in the Divine world there are stages of contentment which are beyond intellectual conception.
All this happens due to Krishn’s very special power called yogmaya.
Whatever is impossible in the material world is made possible through the power of yogmaya. It is the most intimate personal power of Krishn.
If you attain any form of the bliss of God, you are contented, yet there are variations. All the original Jagadgurus have explained this variation in their own terminology but summarized that it is a question of faithful understanding, not intellectualization.
All the powers of God are divided into two main categories: almighty forms and Divine-love forms. The almighty forms like Vishnu, Durga, Kali, Ganesh, etc., collectively share one Divine abode called Vaikunthalok, where a Saint experiences the bliss of God.
There is a difference between the contented bliss and the experience of Divine- love. In the Divine-love aspect there are many forms; Bhagwan Ram, Dwarikadheesh, Krishnand Radha-Krishnare the main forms. Their abodes are called respectively: Saket, Dwarika lok, Golok and Vrindaban dham. The same Brahm, with Divine-love power is Ram, Dwarikadheesh, Krishn and Radha- Krishn; Brahm (God) is one.
You worship a power of God, not just God. For example, “color” cannot be bought, because “color” is an abstract word. You can buy red-color, green-color, blue-color…the word “color” does have some significance, yet it cannot be seen or bought. Only a specific color can be perceived and purchased. Similarly, when you worship Brahm with the aim of Divine perception, you worship a particular power of Brahm which has a form. Divine-love powers and almighty powers are the two main categories. Almighty powers have many forms, but all the forms have a similar kind of blissfulness. In Divine-love forms there are variations. It is an extremely complex philosophy. You can understand like this: variation is experienced in the degree of proximity and intimacy with the Divine beloved, which a Saint experiences in the Divine abode.
For example, someone is looking at a beautiful woman and thinking, “How attractive she is.” Another person looking at the same woman thinks, “My mother is so pretty.” Both are admiring the woman’s beauty, but the second person has admiration plus heart- to-heart intimacy of a relational feeling. Likewise, in the experience of just “bliss”, there is an experience of Divine beauty, but with “Divine-love” there is an added feeling of heightened intimacy.
The beauty of Brahm is bliss, which appears alike through the almighty forms of Shiva, Durga, Vishnu etc. But, in Divine- love, there are heightened variations of intimacy. In the world you are intimate with your servant, friends, parents, children and spouse, but the degree of closeness varies from person to person. Similarly, in the forms of Divine-love the experience of intimacy starts from Bhagwan Ram and culminates in the form of Radha-Krishn of Divine Vrindaban.
With these profound insights, Swami Prakashanand Saraswati explains that Divine bliss varies across different forms of God, with the deepest spiritual fulfillment found through intimate devotion to forms like Krishn and Radha-Krishn. Embracing this understanding allows devotees to experience the highest spiritual joy and connection with the Divine.