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162
BHAKTI-YOGA.
except Thee"#-aspire after that kiss of the Beloved, that touch of His lips which makes the bhakta mad, which makes of man a god! To him, who has been blessed with such a kiss, the whole of nature changes -- worlds vanish, suns and moons die out and the universe itself melts away into that one infinite ocean of Love! That is the perfection of the madness of love. Aye, the true spiritual lover does not rest even there. Even the love of husband and wife is not mad enough for him. The bhaktas take up also the idea of illegitimate love, because it is so strong. The impropriety of it is not at all the thing they have in view but its power and intensity. The nature of this love is such that the more obstructions there are for its free play, the more powerful it becomes. The love between husband and wife is smooth-there
otato di attaa ya ug gladi इतररागविमारणं नृणाम् वितर वीर नस्तेऽधरामृतम् ।
(Bhagavat, Gopi Gita, Canto X.)
