Invocation

āmnāyaḥ prāha tattvaṁ harim iha paramaṁ sarva-śaktim rasābdhiṁ
tad bhinnāmśāṁś cha jīvān prakṛti-kavalitān tad vimuktāṁś cha bhāvat
bhedābheda-prakāśaṁ sakalam api hareḥ sādhanaṁ śuddha-bhaktiṁ
sādhyaṁ tat prītim evety upadiśati harir-gaurachandro bhaje tam

Here, in one verse, Bhakti Vinod Thakur has given the very gist of Gaudiya–Vaisnava philosophy. He says, «We are not interested in the opinion of anyone ordinary: there is no value to any opinion other than what is revealed truth (amnaya).» Amnaya means revealed truth or scripture that is coming through a reliable source: the Guru-parampara, a genuine succession of Gurus.

And what do they say? They enumerate these facts: Hari is all-in-all (Harim iha paramam). What is His nature? He is the master of all potencies (sarva-saktim). And He Himself is the ocean of rasa, ecstasy (rasabdhim).

And the jiva-soul is not a direct part of Him, but a part of His potency (Tad bhinnamsams cha jivan). Not a plenary portion (svamsa), but a partial portion (vibhinnamsa ). Everything is a part of Hari, but svamsa means an Avatar, and vibhinnamsa means a part of His potency, tatastha-sakti. And by nature, some souls are engrossed in the external potency, and we find some in the lap of the internal potency (prakrti-kavalitan tad-vimuktams cha bhavat). By their very existence, some souls are within the svarup-sakti and some are outside the svarup-sakti. Some souls are liberated and some are nonliberated (mukta and amukta). Everything is a part of Hari and has something in common with Him and something different (bhedabheda-prakasam sakalam api Hareh). And the only means to attain Him is pure devotion, exclusive devotion (sadhanam suddha-bhaktim). Hari Himself, in the form of Gaurachandra, is giving us the understanding that divine love is the highest goal of life (sadhyam Tat-pritim evety upadisati janan Gaurachandrah Svayam Sah).