SLOKA OF THE WEEK:

Nārada Bhakti Sūtra 55
tat prāpya tad evāvalokayati tad eva śṛṇoti tad eva bhāṣayati tad eva cintayati

tat — it; prāpya — having obtained; tat — Him; eva — alone; avalokayati — one looks at; tat — Him; eva — alone; śṛṇoti — one hears about; tat — Him; eva — alone; bhāṣayati — one speaks about; tat — Him; eva — alone; cintayati — one thinks about.

TRANSLATION

Having obtained pure love of God, one looks only at the Lord, hears only about Him, speaks only of Him, and thinks only of Him.

JOURNAL:

Sri Satsvarupa das Goswami writes in his purport; This is samādhi, or trance, and whether one achieves it by the eightfold yoga system or by bhakti-yoga, it is the same. In the case of the bhakti-yogī, he is fixed in devotional service at all times, and whatever he sees contributes to his meditation on Kṛṣṇa. 

To help us understand pure Kṛṣṇa consciousness, the ācāryas give us examples of samādhi-like states, even in ordinary affairs. When a mother sees the shoes of her little child, she doesn't just perceive them as neutral objects: she feels protection and love for her child. Similarly, when a lover picks up his beloved's comb (especially if he is in separation from her) he may feel intense emotions of love. In the case of Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, everything is His energy. So wherever the bhakta goes or whatever he perceives throughout the universe, he is reminded of the Lord. Moreover, this recognition is not merely an intellectual habit but a total, overpowering state of love.

In his Brahma-saḿhitā (5.38), Lord Brahmā describes the devotional qualification for seeing Kṛṣṇa always and everywhere:

"I worship Govinda, the primeval Lord, who is Śyāmasundara, Kṛṣṇa Himself, with inconceivable, innumerable attributes, and whom the pure devotees see in their heart of hearts with the eye of devotion tinged with the salve of love."

In his purport, Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī writes, "The eye of devotion is nothing but the eye of the pure unalloyed spiritual self of the jīva. The form of Kṛṣṇa is visible to that eye in proportion to its purification by the practice of devotion."

What prevents most of us from seeing Kṛṣṇa with eyes of love? We have a "cataract" on our eyes that consists of our material attachments.