अणुभाष्य (महाप्रभु वल्लभाचार्य - शुद्धाद्वैत वेदान्त ब्रह्मसूत्र महाभाष्य प्रकाश टीका सहित)

is the important and chief element of bhakti; that is why Vyāsa
has shown the example of 'pradīpa' – lamp (Dīpaka) – instead of
'ayo-golaka' – heated iron ball – in his sūtra “pradīpavad-āveśaḥ;
tathā hi darśayati”. This 'sneha' has 'śṛṅgāra' as its chief element
as shown by the damsels of Vraja whose 'sthāyi-bhāva' was
nothing but 'rati' and hence, bhakti-rasa also means the same
'śṛṅgāra'. This experience is non-worldly and is of the nature
of 'saṁyoga' – togetherness – and 'viprayoga' – separation. This
alaukika śṛṅgāra – non-worldly love, though similar to the
worldly love, is not the same; because, it is known through the
non-worldly means of knowledge, and not known through
the worldly means of knowledge.
In fact, in this bhakti, the mere doubt of its being this worldly
is meaningless. Ṛṣis like Vātsyāyana and others wrote their
treatises just to elucidate this bhagavat-bhāva experience. Ṛṣis
intentions are not to convey the worldly experiences at any
time. That is why, it is said – “tadetat brahmacaryeṇa parameṇa
samādhinā vihito lokayātrārthaṁ na rāgārtho'asya samvidhiḥ;
rakṣan dharmārthakāmānstrīn sampaśyam-lokavartinām; asya
śāstrasya tatvajño bhavatyeva jitendriyaḥ”. If the intention of
those writers were to be of this world, then they would not
have said the end-result as ' jitendriya-bhavana' – becoming
one who has won over his senses. This meaning has been
elaborately shown by the Āchārya in his Bhāṣya on
“liṅgabhūyastvādhikaraṇa” and in “kratuvaj-
jyāyastvādhikaraṇa”. Likewise by Śrī Puruṣottamacaraṇa in
his Prakāśa and by Śrī Gopeśacaraṇa in his Raśmi.
The nature of this bhakti is 'śṛṅgāra' and it is of the nature of
togetherness and separation; separation generates a suffering
of longing; how then can it be of the nature of pleasure and
that too, immeasurably? The answer is the śruti “yo vai bhūma
tat sukham”; therefore, it is of the nature of only pleasure. In
Vedānta, at all places, mukti has been described as of the nature
of enjoyment of pleasure. In the Puṣṭi mārga also, the nature of
Bhagavān being of ānanda, His prāpti – attainment – is the
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