In plain words
Man turns this Prema onto the worldly path, through that devotes this Prema to worldly desires, and through that loses his real Ānanda. We must turn this Prema towards the highest principle and experience it in such a way that we make the holy state our goal and our fulfilment. Such divine Ānanda is not in book learning. It is not in the śāstra. It dwells in the heart alone. Divinity that has known such a heart never enters the worldly vāsanās of the senses at all. Will this bee, which can sip the nectar in the hibiscus flower, go rushing to the datura flowers? Will the swan that sports in joy in the heavenly Gaṅgā enter these foul waters of the world? Will a man who has drunk honey to his heart's content relish tamarind? Will this heart, filled with divine feelings, holy thoughts and infinite longings, desire a world that is of Prakṛti, impermanent, transient, Asatya and gone in a moment?
So Bhakti is nothing but the principle of perfect Prema. It is the ripening of the citta. As long as the fruit stays unripe, its taste is sour. When it comes to the ripe state, the very same fruit turns sweet. It takes shape as fruit. In the same way, as long as humanity is bound up with the world of the senses, it is bound up merely with happiness and sorrow, hope and despair, blame and praise. The one who has experienced this state of perfection is not elated or cast down by creation, preservation and dissolution; he does not rejoice, he does not suffer sorrow. Bhakti is just the road to the goal we are to reach. The Veda is only a road. Vedānta itself is the village. Until we reach the village that is Vedānta, we must follow the road that is the Veda. We must not think of the Veda as being in itself the form of God. We must think of it as only a road. We must trust it only as a Guide Post. Only when we recognise it well and act by it can we reach the goal without any hardship. So the principle of Bhakti is what turns one wholly into Prema and shapes one into a divine form. Prema is free of selfishness. The principle of God gives protection even in a punishment. Even in anger it scatters compassion. Even in chastisement it sheds mercy. So we must not grieve, crying, ‘Chastisement, chastisement!’ Chastisement is just the way to receive mercy. This anger is only to bring compassion.