Chaitanya and His Companions

In the vast literature of the Vaisnavas, a stress is laid on Prema oi* spiritual love. It is not that romantic sentiment Avhich a man feels for a woman, nor that a mother feels for her child, though for the purpose of expressing it in literature, it hecomes inevitable to adopt the phraseology of human passion. The Chaitanya Charitamrta says that an earthly passion is 'Kama' and not 'Prema.' The former limits tlievision to a narrow place, nay darkens it; it does not allow a person to see beyond his self, while the latter (Prema) is like the glorious sun illuminating the truths of the Universe.