prabhu kahe, — "eho bÄhya, Äge kaha Ära"
rÄya kahe, "jñÄna-miÅ›rÄ bhakti — sÄdhya-sÄra"
prabhu kahe - the Lord said; eho - this; bÄhya - external; Äge - ahead; kaha - say; Ära - more; rÄya kahe - RÄya replied; jñÄna-miÅ›rÄ bhakti - devotional service mixed with empiric knowledge; sÄdhya-sÄra - is the essence of perfection.
RÄmÄnanda RÄya then replied, “Devotional service mixed with empiric knowledge is the essence of perfection.â€
Devotional service mixed with non-Vedic speculative knowledge is certainly not pure devotional service. Therefore ÅšrÄ«la BhaktisiddhÄnta SarasvatÄ« in his AnubhÄá¹£ya preaches that self-realization following the execution of ritualistic ceremonies is in the neutral stage between liberation and conditioned life. It is a place beyond this material world, in the river VirajÄ, where the three modes of material nature are subdued or neutralized in the unmanifest stage. However, the spiritual world is a manifestation of spiritual energy and is known as Vaikuṇá¹haloka, “the place where there is no anxiety.†The material world, known as brahmÄṇá¸a, is the creation of the external energy. Between the two creations — the material creation and the spiritual creation — is a river known as VirajÄ, as well as a place known as Brahmaloka. VirajÄ-nadÄ« and Brahmaloka are shelters for living entities disgusted with material life and inclined to impersonal existence by way of denying material variegatedness. Since these places are not situated in the Vaikuná¹á¸¥alokas, or the spiritual world, ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu proclaims them to be external. In the Brahmaloka and VirajÄ-nadÄ«, one cannot conceive of the Vaikuṇá¹halokas. Brahmaloka and VirajÄ-nadÄ« are also attained after difficult austerities, but in these realms there is no understanding of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and His transcendental loving service. Without such spiritual knowledge, simple detachment from material conditions is but another side of material existence. From the spiritual point of view, it is all external. When ÅšrÄ« Caitanya MahÄprabhu rejected this proposal, RÄmÄnanda RÄya suggested that devotional service based on philosophy and logic is a more advanced position. He therefore quoted the following verse from the Bhagavad-gÄ«tÄ (18.54).