CC Madhya 8.249
Madhya-līlā, Chapter 8, Text 249
‘মুক্ত-মধ্যে কোন্ জীব মুক্ত করি’ মানি?’
‘কৃষ্ণপ্রেম যাঁর, সেই মুক্ত-শিরোমণি ॥’ ২৪৯ ॥
‘কৃষ্ণপ্রেম যাঁর, সেই মুক্ত-শিরোমণি ॥’ ২৪৯ ॥
‘mukta-madhye kon jīva mukta kari’ māni?’
‘kṛṣṇa-prema yāṅra, sei mukta-śiromaṇi’
‘kṛṣṇa-prema yāṅra, sei mukta-śiromaṇi’
Word by word
mukta-madhye — among the liberated; kon — what; jīva — living entity; mukta — liberated; kari’ — considering as; māni — we accept; kṛṣṇa-prema — one who loves Kṛṣṇa; yāṅra — of whom; sei — such a person; mukta-śiromaṇi — the topmost of all liberated souls.
Translation
Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu then inquired, “Out of all liberated persons, who should be accepted as the greatest?”
Purport
Rāmānanda Rāya replied, “He who has love for Kṛṣṇa has attained the topmost liberation.”
In Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (6.14.5), it is said:
muktānām api siddhānāṁ nārāyaṇa-parāyaṇaḥ
su-durlabhaḥ praśāntātmā kotiṣv api mahā-mune
su-durlabhaḥ praśāntātmā kotiṣv api mahā-mune
“O great sage, of the many millions of liberated persons and of the millions who have attained perfection, he who is a devotee of Lord Nārāyaṇa is very, very rare. Indeed, he is the most perfect and peaceful person.”