Love has its own life, and it needs its own food to survive and thrive. The food that love feasts on is the glory, the beauty and, in fact, every attractive quality of the beloved.

This universal principle underlying all love is the basis of the primary activities of devotional service: hearing, chanting and remembering centered on Krishna. The more we hear, speak and think about him, the more we feed our tender love for him. And the more we nourish that love , the more it assumes its own life and speed of growth. It grows – and grows fast – thereby making us even more eager to hear about him.

Increased contemplation on Krishna and enhanced love for him mutually enrich each other in a joyous and glorious cycle that fills our heart with divine ecstasy.  Though such ecstasy may be presently inaccessible to us, we can glimpse it by hearing the words of advanced devotees who are relishing it. The Bhagavad-gita (10.18) shares with us one such first-person account when Arjuna expresses his intense and immense longing to hear Krishna’s glories ceaselessly.

Such ecstasy beckons us, but our mental inertia shackles us. This inertia refers to our mind’s tendency to become lethargic in thinking about and connecting with Krishna. Under the spell of inertia, we miss the feast of relishable devotional activities.

Meditating on verses like these reminds us of the feast that awaits us, thereby stimulating our devotional hunger. By such stimulation, we can overcome the inertia and engage in devotional service enthusiastically. Earnest engagement in devotional activities prepares our heart to gradually relish the ultimate feast: ongoing, absorbing and fulfilling remembrance of Krishna.

Bhagavad Gita Chapter 10 Text 18

“O Janardana, again please describe in detail the mystic power of Your opulences. I am never satiated in hearing about You, for the more I hear the more I want to taste the nectar of Your words.”