Divine Love is Joyful Knowledge

Abstract

This article delves into the contrasting definitions of human love for God and divine love (prema/prīti) as elucidated by the Gauḍīya-Vaiṣṇava scholar Jīva Gosvāmī in his Prīti Sandarbha. Juxtaposing Jīva's theological perspective with Erich Fromm's psychoanalytic understanding of love presented in The Art of Loving, the essay highlights fundamental differences in their origins and aims. Fromm posits love, including love for God, as stemming from human needs, particularly the desire to overcome separateness. In contrast, Jīva establishes prīti as a divine power (svarūpa-śakti) originating in the Personal Absolute (Bhagavān), directed towards Bhagavān himself, and intrinsically linked to joyful divine knowledge (ullāsa-ātmaka jñāna-viśeṣa). The analysis of Jīva's anuccheda 61 reveals that prīti is not a human emotion or learned art but a divine capacity characterized by a favorable disposition towards the beloved (God), a desire for what pleases the beloved, and the joyful knowledge derived from witnessing the beloved's satisfaction. Ultimately, the article argues that divine love, unlike human love which can be self-serving and "blinded" by māyā, is a form of absolute, joyful knowledge bestowed by divine grace, enabling selfless service and true understanding of the Divine.