So someone may think, “Okay, nishkam prem (selfless love). If you could do nishkama prem in the world, that would be a great thing, right? Certainly much better than sakam prem (desire-based love).”
No, it’s not so.
Wherever you attach your mind in the world, whether it be with sakam prem or nishkam prem, you will get the same exact result, because you get the result of what your mind is attached to. In other words, if you love a sattvic person (one dominated by purity) or any devata (celestial deity), you’ll go to swarg (heavenly realm). If you love a rajas person (one dominated by passion), you’ll be reborn in mrityulok (the mortal world). And if you love a tamas person (one dominated by ignorance), you’ll go to narak (hellish realms) or you’ll be born in the lower species.
“Oh, but my prem (love) for that tamas person was selfless. I loved that person selflessly! I was like a Saint!”
It makes no difference. You attach your mind to a tamas person (then you’ll) go where they go.
And on the Divine side, the one who loves with sakam prem, who you would think, “Okay, the one who loves with nishkam prem in the world must be better than the one who loves God and Guru with sakam prem”.
No, it’s not so, because even Kubja went beyond this mayic (illusory) realm. Her love for Shree Krishna was 100% selfish. But she only desired Him. She didn’t ask Him for anything from this world. She said,
“I want You! Seeing You and being with You is going to make me happy!”
So she was freed from maya (material illusion), and she attained a level of Divine bliss beyond what is even accessible to yogis and gyanis.
So look at how high sakam prem can take you if it’s directed to the right person - towards Radha Krishna or towards a true Saint. Then it takes you into the field of Divine bliss and beyond maya.
Whereas even Ved Vyas ji says that nishkam prem in this world, or towards any devata, just keeps you bound in maya, and sakam prem towards Shree Krishna (and) that takes you beyond maya.
