If brahmānanda, the transcendental bliss derived from understanding impersonal Brahman, were multiplied a million times, such a quantity of brahmānanda could not compare with even an atomic portion of the pleasure relished in pure devotional service.
“Compared to the ocean of transcendental bliss that one tastes by chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra, the pleasure derived from impersonal Brahman realization [brahmānanda] is like the shallow water in a canal.
In the Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu (1.1.38) it is stated:
- brahmānando bhaved eṣa cet parārdha-guṇī-kṛtaḥ
- naiti bhakti-sukhāmbhodheḥ paramāṇu-tulām api
“If brahmānanda, the transcendental bliss derived from understanding impersonal Brahman, were multiplied a million times, such a quantity of brahmānanda could not compare with even an atomic portion of the pleasure relished in pure devotional service.”