"Being bounded by Prema of bhakta" - is one of the key notions of Shree Gaudiya-Sampradaya.
The first part of the Tika by Om VishnuPad Vishwanatha Chakravarti Thakur is just beautiful and dwells on 9 Types of Madhurya.
"Shreemad Bhagavatam", 10.3.31
विश्वं यदेतत्स्वतनौ निशान्ते यथावकाशं पुरुषः परो भवान्
बिभर्ति सोऽयं मम गर्भगोऽभूदहो नृलोकस्य विडम्बनं हि तत्
vishvaM yadetatsvatanau nishAnte yathAvakAshaM puruShaH paro bhavAn
bibharti so.ayaM mama garbhago.abhUdaho nRRilokasya viDambanaM hi tat
Translation: "At the time of devastation, the entire cosmos, containing all created moving and nonmoving entities, enters Your transcendental body and
is held there without difficulty. But now this transcendental form has taken birth from my womb. People will not he able to believe this, and I shall become an object of ridicule".
is held there without difficulty. But now this transcendental form has taken birth from my womb. People will not he able to believe this, and I shall become an object of ridicule".
Fearing such words from the Lord, Devaki speaks, “I do not want fame or position. You hold the universe within the temple of Your body (sva tanau) comfortably (yatha avakdsam), but You have appeared in my womb. Common people will make fun of me, for how is this possible? The neighbors will joke, O foolish Devaki, the Lord who has a gigantic form of thousands of universes is situated as your son in your little womb. Are you not ashamed to make this claim?’ I will not get any fame for this event.”
Here a question arises: “How is it that Devaki and Vasudeva who realize the Supreme Lord directly with their senses can be afflicted with fear and lamentation arising from ignorance?” One should not raise such a question.
Such fear and lamentation is actually an expression of Prema arising from Cit-Shakti, Krishna’s internal spiritual energy, which is the basis of the external energy, material knowledge and ignorance.
The fear shown by Vasudeva and Devaki is one of the vyabhicari-bhavas (33 transitory bodily symptoms manifest in ecstatic love). Their fear did not arise from ignorance. Such an idea would attribute a fault to Prema.
What is the proof that Prema is beyond Maya? If Prema is Maya then the Supreme Lord would be controlled by Maya. By studying the scriptures one will conclude that Lord Sri Krishna is only controlled by Prema not by Maya.
This point is explained in the Bhagavad-gita 18.55: भक्त्या मामभिजानाति यावान्यश्चास्मि तत्त्वतः (bhaktyA mAmabhijAnAti yAvAnyashchAsmi tattvataH),
and confirmed in Srimad-Bhdgavatam 11.14.21: भक्त्याहमेकया ग्राह्यः (bhaktyAhamekayA grAhyaH), without bhakti one cannot understand the spiritual situation of the Lord.
Thus the Lord Himself emphatically declares that He is known only by pure devotion or Prema.
Bhakti may be considered in three stages, called guni-bhuta, pradhani-bhuta and kevala and the results are also different.
From guni-bhuta Bhakti comes jnana (simple knowledge);
from pradhani-bhuta Bhakti comes jnanamayi rati (knowledge mixed with love);
and from Kevala Bhakti (pure love) comes Prema.
Through jnana one realizes the Brahman, transcendental bliss without variety (Cit Sukha Mayam),
through jhanamayi rati one realizes the Lord in majesty and opulence (cidAishvarya Mayam);
and through Prema one realizes the sweet aspect of Krishna, Rama and others (Madhurya Mayi).
Although all the forms of God are one (Vishnu-Tattva), due to varieties of taste or rasa there are different appearances of God.
There are seven types of sweetness pertaining to the transcendental form of the Lord: sweetness of form, touch, smell, sound and taste, the sweetness of the Lord’s affection for the devotee (bhafcta-valsalya), and the sweetness of His pastimes (Lila-Madhuri).
The sweetness of Vraja has two additional types of sweetness: Krishna’s flute (venu-madhuri) and His loving exchanges with His associates (prema-madhuri).
In total there are nine types of sweetness. It is said in the scriptures: “In Vraja, Krishna displays four unique types of sweetness: rupa-madhurya, lila-madhurya, Prema-madhurya and venu-madhurya. ”
There are four types of Prema: dasya, sakhya, vatsalya and ujjvala or madhurya.
The glory of vatsalya-Prema is that it makes Krishna the object of pity and extreme attachment. Although Krishna’s majesty (Aishvarya) is present, the mood of vatsalya (affection) covers it in such a way that Krishna becomes subservient and bound by the ropes of attachment.
In return, Krishna gives those devotees a taste of sweetness unavailable to others. The taste (rasa) arising from such intense attachment is millions of times more than that experienced through jnana or jnanamayi rati.
Because of great attachment a mother derives more pleasure from her son, though he is full of faults and lacking all good qualities, than from seeing the full moon which extinguishes all suffering and bestows all bliss. If that is so, then just imagine the bliss produced from having a son who is the Supreme Lord? This is the difference between jnana and Prema.
Just as ignorance binds the living entity with attachment that gives suffering, similarly Prema binds Krishna, who is the personification of bliss, with attachment that gives rise to great joy.
Though a criminal is bound with ropes and chains, a respectable man is honored by binding him with a costly, soft and fragrant turban and coat. One type of bondage gives suffering and the other bondage gives pleasure. The living entity bound by ignorance experiences suffering, whereas Krishna experiences great joy being bound by Prema.
As there are degrees of the five types of suffering experienced by the living entity due to the covering of ignorance, so there are different levels of happiness in Prema due to the different degrees of covering of jnana and Aishvarya.
The Prema of mother Yasoda and other pure devotees of Her caliber mutually binds them to Krishna with the ropes of intense attachment and completely covers jnana and Aishvarya.
This in turn creates a type of happiness not available to devotees like mother Devaki, whose Prema has less strength due to the mixture of jnana and Aishvarya (appreciation of Krishna’s power and opulence).
Why do Yasoda and Devaki have different types of Prema?
Although they are both nitya-sicidha devotees (eternal associates of Krishna), their difference in Prema is also nitya-siddha. There can be no further discussion on this.
